I may receive some flak for this post, but before you react please read the entire post.
Over the last several years there has been many causes of children dying in hot cars. These children have been left in these deathtrap vehicles by their parents. Some left intentionally, thinking they would just run in and out of the store and some didn't even realize their child(ren) were in the vehicle. No matter which way you slice your bread, this is still neglect. Neglect is a form of child abuse. As defined in a previous post neglect means to pay little or no attention too.
I recall a story about a single parent who left her children in a car for over eight hours. I searched many search engines and couldn't find the actual story to correctly site; therefore, I will recite from memory.
A single mother of four babysitter cancelled on her at the last minute. The mother scrambled and couldn't find a sitter. Being that she had no vacation or sick days to use she decided to take her children to work with her. In her mind she would work her shift and take periodical breaks to check on the children in the car. The mother made a few trips and the children were fine but then her supervisor asked her to work a little longer than her normal shift. She agreed thinking the children would be fine and she could check on them.
On this particular day the temperatures were higher than usual and the mother wasn't able to check on the children as frequently as she would like. I feel its important to say this mother was not a part of the system, she did not receive any aid or welfare from the state. She had worked extremely hard to buy a home for her children and support them completely alone. In my opinion this mother did everything right except realize the danger she put her children in.
At the end of her long shift the mother walks to her car to find all four of her children dead. The life style she busted her butt to give her children ended at that exact moment. We can "what if" her situation to death but in the end she neglected her children.
This is a heartbreaking story but we have to be aware of every decision we make as parents. Child abuse is a very broad spectrum.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Isn't it nuts that we hear of this happening all the time? I can distinctly remember this happening here in the DC area twice this summer.
I was a bit confused, though, in paragraph two. You said, "I searched many search engines and could find the story to correctly site" did you actually mean you couldn't find it?
Was this mother charged with a crime?
Wow! I cant believe the story I just read! I find it crazy that people actually do things like this and think it is "okay". I get upset when people leave their pets in the car when running into the store but their own children? And for a full day of work? I understand the woman was in a bind but that is no excuse. Did the woman even try to get out of work or just assumed she wouldnt be able to take off? I too would like to know if this woman was charged with anything. Its sad to think about how deaths could be prevented with common sense.
I couldn't find this actual story, I believe it happened on the west coast. She was charged but received less punishment. The district attorney took sympathy on her saying she didn't really have a choice. Plus lots of character witnesses who testified how much she really loved her kids. After this incident I believe they tried to change the law where an employer couldn't fire an employee in a situation like this. However nothing really came of it.
I couldn't find this actual story, I believe it happened on the west coast. She was charged but received less punishment. The district attorney took sympathy on her saying she didn't really have a choice. Plus lots of character witnesses who testified how much she really loved her kids. After this incident I believe they tried to change the law where an employer couldn't fire an employee in a situation like this. However nothing really came of it.
Post a Comment