ANAHEIM HILLS, Calif., Aug. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canyon Acres Children and Family Services, a charity organization committed to providing homes, care, treatment and supportive services for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children and their families, today announced opposition to the negative portrayal of a an adoptive child in the movie Orphan. Citing that foster and adoptive children lack the maturity to liberate themselves from the stereotypes they encounter on the screen or from the sentiments of moviegoers who subsequently disparage them, Canyon Acres believes Orphan recklessly perpetuates fear and the stigmatization of adoptive youth to such a degree that the film may damage many children's hopes of finding a stable, loving home.
"Canyon Acres' mission is to provide hope, care and love to the children who need it most," said Clete Menke, President of Canyon Acres. "Part of fulfilling that mission, in addition to helping our most severely abused and neglected children find loving families, is to lend our voice at times when these children are not able to speak for themselves. The real battle for a lot of foster and adoptive youth is overcoming their abusive environments; portraying them as possible violent abusers themselves turns back the clock for many children who need to be rescued from real-life nightmares. When you imagine putting the situations these children come from on the big screen, the images would be too hard to watch -- appallingly true and happening far more often than we think."
Canyon Acres feels that many foster and adoptive youth who come from a traumatically abusive background already struggle with the incorrect, self-deprecating belief that they were somehow to blame for their situation. The messaging in Orphan only perpetuates these beliefs. By portraying an adoptive youth as an antagonist, evil and negative behavior has a potentially damaging psychological effect on youth who are desperately trying to heal from their wounds of abuse and to gain a sense of well-being and normalcy. Canyon Acres thus identifies the film as a threat to the successful healing process of foster and adoptive children and to their hope of finding a loving home.
For more information about Canyon Acres or to make a donation, please visit www.canyonacres.org.
ABOUT CANYON ACRES
Canyon Acres Children and Family Services has been serving children throughout Orange County since 1980 providing the highest level of care and therapeutic treatment to children who suffer from a variety of emotional and psychological disorders. Canyon Acres gives children nurturing, treatment, and opportunities that they need to grow up in safe, loving, and stable families. For more information about Canyon Acres Children and Family Services, contact Bock Communications at + 1-714-540-1030 or canyonacres@bockpr.com or visit the Canyon Acres Children and Family Services web site at www.canyonacres.org.