Can public shaming and name dropping solve the issue of parental negligence?
A new Facebook group in Kenya named “Dead Beat Kenya” is garnering national exposure because of its goal to expose parents who have refused to care for their children.
Jackson Nieru, one of the group’s administrators and founders, explains that "Dead Beat Kenya" targets both fathers and mothers and is supposed to help those who could not afford to go through a costly judicial process to make their claims.
On their Facebook account, they gave a short description of what ‘dead beat’ means:
‘This is a descriptive term that refers to parents of either gender who have freely chosen not to be supportive parents or who do not pay their child support obligations. Deadbeat dad and deadbeat mom are commonly used by child support agencies to refer to men and women who have fathered and mothered a child but are unwilling to pay child support ordered by a family court or statutory agency.’
With over 172,433 members as to date, this only shows that a lot of people are supporting the group’s cause and purpose. One woman even wrote, “This is the best thing ever for single mums”. According to an article from The Guardian, the group has about 2,000 pending requests.
But not all are happy about what the group is getting at. A man who was shamed by a mother told BBC that the accusations publicly made against him were wrong. "What she is saying is not true, and she is damaging my reputation... It is just a forum that is made to destroy relationships and put people on the line”.
The majority of the shamed and accused composed of journalists, businessmen and officers – most of them men. Because of many allegedly false accusations, administrators and people who have commented may face legal actions.
