Jail Her? Or Not?

[JustRalph]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/07/arrested-for-letting-a-9-year-old-play-at-the-park-alone/374436/

"Working Mom Arrested for Letting Her 9-Year-Old Play Alone at Park
A South Carolina woman thought it was better than forcing her kid to sit at McDonald's all day. Now the state has taken custody.


Debra Harrell works at McDonald's...

For most of the summer, her daughter had stayed there with her, playing on a laptop that Harrell had scrounged up the money to purchase. (McDonald's has free WiFi.) Sadly, the Harrell home was robbed and the laptop stolen, so the girl asked her mother if she could be dropped off at the park to play instead.

Harrell said yes. She gave her daughter a cell phone. The girl went to the park—a place so popular that at any given time there are about 40 kids frolicking—two days in a row. There were swings, a "splash pad," and shade. On her third day at the park, an adult asked the girl where her mother was. At work, the daughter replied. The shocked adult called the cops. Authorities declared the girl "abandoned" and proceeded to arrest the mother."

Please read the entire article........interesting stuff..........

[johnhannibalsmith]

Not to go off course, but the first line of the article struck me as odd, as though the author had more to say but had to compromise.

On course - this shit is ridiculous and people really ought to finally revolt against this absurd extension of the "what about the children" mentality if the facts as presented are an accurate and complete representation.

[tucker6]

when I was growing up and was that age, my mom told us to go outside and not come back unless it started to storm. She had her soaps to watch.

[PaceAdvantage]

It really disappoints me to see what has happened to the child rearing process in the past 20-30 years...these so-called "improvements" certainly have not resulted in any measurable PROGRESS, has it?

[Tom]

9 year olds out on their own?
Duh....of course.

What the authorities should be doing here is protecting the friggin park.
Or heading to Texas to do something about the 80,000 unattended kids crossing the border.

This country is freaking nuts.

[kingfin66]

It is ridiculous. 9 yo kids can walk home from school alone, but cannot play in a park? It is absurd. The world has changed since I was a kid, but I think the key is to provide kids with instruction on how to avoid, evade, and otherwise react to danger.

[tucker6]

I've seen 8 and 9 year old Amish boys pulling eight horse plow teams up and down the fields all day. I guess they can "mistreat" their children on religious grounds? Our society really does suck these days. The mother was doing the best she could under trying circumstances. Rather than subjecting her and her child to this inquisition, why can't someone help them instead? I'm not talking govt assistance, but one or more of the other mothers.

[tucker6]

I see someone voted yes and slinked away without comment. Figures. The lot of them are gutless.

[PaceAdvantage]

It is ridiculous. 9 yo kids can walk home from school alone, but cannot play in a park? It is absurd. The world has changed since I was a kid, but I think the key is to provide kids with instruction on how to avoid, evade, and otherwise react to danger.A lot of parents (dare I say most, at least here in the NY Metro area), will NOT allow their 9yo to walk home alone from school. I'm not even certain if they even have the authority to make that decision any longer...but I'll look into that... :faint:

[Tom]

When I was 4, I was going downtown on my own.
I used to but cigarettes off the 3 year olds on the corner.

[cj's dad]

Ridiculous- when I was 9 we played ball all day in Patterson Park which was 4 city blocks from home.never any issue. Just had to be home for dinner at 5 or so but definitely before the old man got home.

cj and his younger brother spent half their childhoods playing at the ball field a block away- no parents in sight.

[NJ Stinks]

My kindergarten school was about a mile away. The walk included going through the "downtown" area of town. My buddy (and classmate) and I walked it each way most days.

I don't remember Mom looking relieved when I got home. :eek:

:)

[kingfin66]

A lot of parents (dare I say most, at least here in the NY Metro area), will NOT allow their 9yo to walk home alone from school. I'm not even certain if they even have the authority to make that decision any longer...but I'll look into that... :faint:

Ya, I suppose things are different in different parts of the country. In my area, a master planned community, it is normal. I can see how it would be different in urban areas.

[Tom]

I don't remember Mom looking relieved when I got home.

You have no idea how much restraint I just showed.......:D

[Johnny V]

I voted no but the question I think we should be asking ourselves is would you drop off your child or grandchild to play in a park all alone for the entire day? I think not for the most part.
Going back to when I was a child and comparing it to today is not the same. We were out all day playing by ourselves and I grew up in a very tough urban environment. But we were hardly ever by ourselves, there were plenty of kids playing together in the streets, stickball, other games and plenty of fights among ourselves. Safety in numbers I guess. The difference was there were lots of woman and men around, sitting on stoops, strangers for the most part, but part of the neighborhood. These were for the most part WWII vets, tough men and woman who grew up in the depression and they kind of looked out for us in some way. No one was going to try and molest a kid without getting their head kicked in. Those days are gone. Todays playing environment is much different for most children.

[Robert Fischer]

9 years old is too young for a lone kid to be on their own, especially a girl.

No she should not be in jail. She should however have some common sense talked into her, and have to deal with a bunch of BS now as far as public worker monitoring her to make sure she starts being a better parent.

If she works at McDonalds, that means she is also likely eligible for a child-care subsidy.

If not, she needs to find a safe environment for child care, or find a different job. It's her responsibility as a parent. She's not a victim, and she can decide to have some power in this situation.

[tucker6]

9 years old is too young for a lone kid to be on their own, especially a girl.

No she should not be in jail. She should however have some common sense talked into her, and have to deal with a bunch of BS now as far as public worker monitoring her to make sure she starts being a better parent.

If she works at McDonalds, that means she is also likely eligible for a child-care subsidy.

If not, she needs to find a safe environment for child care, or find a different job. It's her responsibility as a parent. She's not a victim, and she can decide to have some power in this situation.
who made you or any of us the arbiter versus the parent of what is an appropriate age under a variety of circumstances? Why aren't the Amish prosecuted for allowing 9 year olds to work with dangerous machinery?

[TJDave]

I think what bothered me most about this article was before, when she took her daughter to work. The girl must have been bored to tears...never mind an employer allowing this.

[Robert Fischer]

who made you or any of us the arbiter versus the parent of what is an appropriate age under a variety of circumstances? Why aren't the Amish prosecuted for allowing 9 year olds to work with dangerous machinery?

Charles Ramsey appointed me arbiter. He said he's retiring this winter, and moving to Florida.

[tucker6]

Charles Ramsey appointed me arbiter. He said he's retiring this winter, and moving to Florida.
So in other words, your post had no personal conviction, and was just a talking point?

[Robert Fischer]

So in other words, your post had no personal conviction, and was just a talking point?

You caught me. I'm simply a layman offering my opinion on an off-topic news story.

[HUSKER55]

I am going to tell you guys and gals something. In our neighborhood everyone knows we are always home. Sometimes parents need to stay late just to keep their job and make a few bucks extra. Most of the kids play with the grand kid so they just send them down. They can play, watch TV, and we keep a bunch of pot pies and tv dinners on hand.

People need help. You can lend assistance or sit on the side. If everybody does nothing then what do you expect to change?

A 59 cent pot pie or a 99 cent tv dinner is not going to break anyone. Sometimes they need help with school work and then there is the real problem,....the cat expects to be petted, ...alot,...and played with at least for 20 minutes.

[thaskalos]

The sad truth is that some parents are forced to make some pretty tough decisions in order to provide for their kids. When the state decides to get involved...it should endeavor to make things better instead of worse.

Buy the mom a new laptop.