The study, being given some exposure in the press, claims that parents, stressed out by their economic situation, are shaking the life out of their infants. "A team of researchers led by child-abuse expert Dr. Rachel Berger at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh reported a significant increase in cases of shaken-baby syndrome." according to Alice Park's article.

Is this an increase in SBS, or an increase in reporting? Are more parents losing their cool or are more CPS teams misdiagnosing the situation? The articles in the press seem to say parents are shaking their infants to death, out of stress.

The other school of thought is that CPS departments around the country, to whom questionable injuries are reported, are designating accidents as SBS, in order to justify their existence and continue their funding. Sites like kidjacked.com and fightcps.com claim that CPS departments are out of control. The truth probably falls somewhere in between - doesn't it always. Yet,

There is a story of a toddler who fell and hit her head on a table. Her mother took her to emergency and was reported to CPS. It took 2 years to have the case dismissed, according to the story, yet the parents were branded child-abusers and never got their kids back. Is this a true story, or one of those urban legend offerings, designed to fire up (my apologies) any idiot who'll jump on the band wagon?

It doesn't really matter what stories are true and what stories are fabricated. If nonsense is given front-page status, the wrong people will respond. And serious threats to our children will be buried in false truths.