okay probably unpopular take but im of the opinion that the legal institution of mandated reporters is actually more dangerous to child safety than it is helpful.
the stated purpose is to protect children from being abused by their guardians, yes, but the way it does that, it *requires* that the guardians are informed before any helpful action can be taken. these people are suspected of being abusers and therefore the most dangerous people to tell about your suspicions. many abusers, when they're caught or think they're caught, will take it out on the victim. this particularly applies to abuse that doesnt leave physical evidence, so an abuser would assume that it was the child who told someone about the ongoing abuse. it's obvious that if theres enough risk to the kid that they might need to be removed from their guardians, you need to talk to the guardians. however that being first contact without ensuring that the kids have somewhere else safe to be is risky.
also, having most adults that regularly work with children, or in some states all adults, be mandated reporters means that many kids dont have adults who they can tell about harms they're facing without it being reported. a lot of kids would be or believe they would be at greater risk if their guardian knew that they were looking for help or if they need to interact with the government. this means that those kids are unable to safely seek advice or support.
to draw on personal experience, when i was growing up my family was reported to cps twice. both times i lied to their faces because i was more afraid of the consequences of my parents finding out what i said than i was of the continuation of the status quo. additionally, after both cps visits, even though no action was taken, my parents' stress made conditions worse than if there had been no visit in the first place. since there wasnt enough proof to intervene even if my siblings and i hadnt been conditioned to never admit suffering, the potential for good was tiny compared to the actual harm done by their presence.
even when cps does intervene and take action, removal is highly disruptive for the children involved and the foster system is horrifically lacking in many ways. i personally know someone who suffered significantly worse abuse in the foster system than in the home she was removed from. families of color and families in poverty are also disproprtionately separated compared to middle class white families. there are glaringly few positive outcomes either way, and the system of mandated reporting erodes the trust in what few supportive adults a child may have had in the first place.
mandated reporting is not the solution. we need better rights and support systems for children. we need structural ways for outside adults to help vulnurable kids that dont amount to calling the cops. as it is, there are next to no ways that an unrelated adult can materially help a child without the guardians' awareness. when kids are most likely to be abused by their own guardians, that absence is a fundamental flaw. a system that seeks to help victims of child abuse cannot rely on the guardians to act in the best interests of the child. we need for children to be able to remove themselves from dangerous situations rather than having to rely on highly fallible authorities that they have no reason to trust. we need kids to be able to seek out support and guidance without fear of retribution or government intervention. we need a system that treats children as people instead of as their guardians' property.
in essence. this system fundamentally fails at its declared purpose and we would be a lot better off if children actually had rights.
