Yesterday a couple was convicted of unsubstantiated neglect for letting their 10 and 6 year olds walk to the park. They live in Silver Springs, MD. A pretty affluent part of the world. I've been there.
Maryland Child Protective Services began investigating the Meitivs on Dec. 20 after someone called police to report that their children — Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6 — were walking home from a playground about a mile from their suburban Washington home. Another caller alerted police when the children were walking from a playground two blocks from home, According to USA TODAY.
I also saw a post on Facebook yesterday where a grandparent put their infant grandchild in a roasting pan in the oven while they were babysitting and texted the pic to their adult children who had obsessively called to ask if the kid was ok, or to remind the grandparents to do this or that with the baby, like the people hadn't raised a couple of kids themselves or something. I found this hilarious! But the comments were mixed. Some folks said that the grandparents should be turned into children and youth and it was the most horrific thing they had ever seen!
Well, people I am here to tell you to get over yourselves. If a 10 yr old and a 6 yr old walking to a nice park in a nice neighborhood or a grandparent busting on his over protective, first time parent adult children is the worst thing you have ever seen then your are damn lucky!
I find it appalling, first of all, that this is getting all kinds of attention when the real question here is why the rich people are getting the government to care about their kids when there are thousands of under served poor and middle class populations that have to, I said HAVE TO, leave their children alone to work because they can't afford daycare, have no one to help or are just plain worn out from working two jobs and raising a family. Those kids play in the streets all the time. And not in the nice park. They play in truly dangerous parks. Why aren't you worried about those children?
Beside, walking to a park...really?
There are plenty of great parents who, because they had no one to help, have left their 6 year old in the car in charge of three babies , who were all in car seats, locked in, while she ran into the store for milk and diapers in a blizzard with 10 below wind chill while her husband was at a convention in California eating caviar. I am not naming ANY names!
Of course, the flip side, is my mother who left Amber in the car to go get milk at a convenience store and forgot to put the car in park. As my mother got out of the car it started to roll backwards into the Erie Canal with 7 yr old Amber inside yelling, "Hey Grandma, the car's rolling into the canal."
Luckily my mother somehow, along with an assist from 7 year old Amber, jumped back in the car and got it in Park before anyone was drowned.
But let's face it the baby in the oven pic...that was too funny. This is coming from a mom, who has an adorable video of her little girl's 10th birthday party. The girls are all doing crafts in the kitchen while dad is videoing and the twins are running around the table playing cowboys. At some point, one of the twins comes up to dad, the camera slowly moves down to see his crying face. Dad says, "James, what's the matter?"
James, a pitiful little three year old, says, "Chris won't play cowboys with me." sniff sniff.
Dad, "Awwwww, why don't you go stick your head in the oven. Go play!"
How are kids ever gonna learn problem solving skills if they can't even walk to the park at 10 years old for goodness sake. I was babysitting at 11 for babies!!
Get over yourselves people! Abuse? Neglect? Really?
Abuse is a three year old who tells you her daddy plays spider with her and he can touch her where ever he wants and when you turn him in the county tells you they have no proof and can't do a thing about it. Abuse is a 15 yr old who weighs 100 pounds and loses 10 over Christmas break but is non verbal and can't tell you what is going on. Abuse is the stuff you are not seeing on the news... that 's for sure!
Abuse or neglect is NOT letting your kids walk to a park in an affluent section of Silver Spring, MD., if you ask me. Never giving your kids the opportunity to succeed or fail on their own is child neglect.
What is also neglectful is our society telling parents they have to hover over their children, never let them fall on their butts or to have to figure something out for themselves, and then when they fail at being perfect and making a decision to let a kid walk to a park you arrest them.
In the old days, people would have yelled out the window at the kids, "Hey, does your mom know you're walking to the park alone?"
Then they would have called the mom and asked if she really did know. If she knew and they didn't think it was a smart idea that person would have done two things.
1. They would have said to themselves, that women is a dumbass.
2. Then turned to their kid and said, "Hey Johnny...you aren't allowed to walk to the park alone, it's dangerous." "Ok, Ma!"
The end.
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