Just when you thought you had heard it all, well...you haven't. I haven't.
First we had the safe haven laws. These laws, basically, were created under the assumption that some scared teenager could drop off a newborn at a "Safe place" like a hospital, police station, etc. with no questions asked and no consequences, instead of dumping the baby in the garbage as has happened in the past. Nebraska, however, worded it wrong, referring not to a baby but to a "child", and not defining child.
Some sorry excuse for a human being dropped off her 14 year old daughter. Elsewhere I have read of people dropping off other children of different ages, including apparently many pre-teen and teenagers. One "father" (let's use that term loosely) dropped off 9 children. Say What?
As I read that, here I was in my dining room...with my five children all working more or less quietly on different projects at our table....children that include a 15 year old and a 13 year old...and I felt so sick inside of this. I know many people have joked (I think they were joking) with me about "just wait till they are all teenagers" but honestly, some things seem to just get better with age...like parenting. I like my kids. I enjoy being a mom to teenagers. I know, what a shocker. Way more fun than breastfeeding, not sleeping, and changing diapers.
What makes some "parent" drop off their kid (or 9 kids)? Here are the reasons cited:
1. "They were tired of their parenting role"
2. "child behavioral problems"
Maybe parenting for some of these folks is kinda like getting a puppy...they're cute while they're little, huh? ....As if it wasn't bad enough that people drop off once-cute puppies off to shelters when they get to be out of control dogs that they had failed to train, or cats that they didn't spay that are now breeding like tribbles, now they are allowing people to do this with HUMAN BEINGS?
I guess I can't fathom it, "I can't control my brat, so here you go. Take them off my hands, please. I'm tired of being a parent."
...and nothing happens to them.
They walk away from scarred-for-life children and teens with no consequences. I've always found it appalling that we don't have a "mandatory sterilization with your third abortion" law for those repeat customers down at planned parenthood, or a "dump your baby, lose an ovary" law for people who put newborns in garbage cans (or leave them at safe havens for that matter)....but I can't even come up with a suitable punishment for the emotional damage these people have done to their children.
Remember to pray for these poor young people who have faced the ultimate rejection: being walked out on by their own parents.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
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2 comments:
Right on!
Unborn babies do not have rights. Why stop there?
Dump your baby, lose an ovary. I vote YAY!
I agree that the children in these situations are the central and most important issue, but I don't find it hard to also have compassion for the parents.
(Maybe I'm off base here, if the parent is just looking for a way to stay high....)
It's obvious that many parents today have no common sense, no parenting skills to model, and have left their children to raise themselves & be brought up by the school system. It's an accepted way of child rearing, and prevalent in all income levels.
(It's incredible to me that a person can hold a job that they take great pride in being prepared for, and give no thought at all to how to guide a child.)
Think of how it would be to not have a clue how to deal with a troubled child.
I think a lot of the money spent to keep children busy out of school is to keep from having to interact and 'deal' with them.
I homeschooled three, and found myself overwhelmed many times. I could never imagine how hard it would be to raise children I spent very little time knowing.
Just my two cents.
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