Another Example Of Bad Parentingby Myra Turner | More from this Blogger 01 Jan 2007 09:29 PM It's always disturbing to read about parents who don't take their responsibilities as a parent seriously. I wanted my first blog of the year to be about something happy, but this is far more important an issue to me. This past Sunday yet another parent was negligent in her responsibilities as a mother when she allowed her 3-year-old to escape from their second floor apartment and wander off, ultimately finding his way to a busy interstate. According to police reports, the 3-year-old Indianapolis toddler was found playing on the busy highway, wearing nothing but a diaper and t-shirt, while his mother slept in their filthy apartment. Several motorists had to swerve to avoid hitting the poor child. Fortunately, a group of motorists stopped and retrieved the child before anything tragic happened and to take care of him while authorities were summoned. A few months ago a toddler was found wandering the street near Tyler's school headed toward a busy highway. It's unconscionable that these small kids are allowed to wander away while their parents remain inside totally oblivious to their whereabouts. When Tyler was that age, I made sure I locked both locks on my door and kept the keys where he couldn't reach them, plus I kept the door alarms on. I was determined that there was no way that kid was getting away from me. Call me overly cautious, I don't care. One thing is for sure, he never wandered outside. Sunday's story is even more disturbing because when the authorities arrived at the child's apartment they found it filthy and the boy's 2-year-old sister eating spaghetti off the floor! Oh, but it gets worse. When the authorities told the mother, and I use the term loosely, what had happened to her son, her response was simply, "Oh, he got out again." This cavalier attitude really makes me mad. Fortunately, the children were taken from the home and hopefully they won't be returned. Especially in light of the fact that the Child Protective Services had been summoned on Thursday after reports that the boy was outside unsupervised. I have to question why something wasn't done at that time but at least this time the mother was arrested and charged with two counts of neglect. I believe kids should remain with their parents if their parents are equipped to take care of them. Otherwise they should be removed and placed with someone who is capable of doing so. And in this case we can't blame the moms age. This wasn't some young mother, some teenage girl, this was a 33-year-old woman. Someone who you think would be more responsible. A few court-ordered parenting classes and the kids will probably be returned to the mother, that's the reality of the situation. Let's just hope that if the kids are returned the mother learns a lesson and does a better job of parenting in the future. See also: Make Sure You Know Who's Watching Your Kids Selling Our Kids and Using Them As Weapons Learn more about Myra Turner  I'm a proud mid-life single mom with an active seven-year-old son, Tyler. Relevantparenting tags User Comments  Hava Lyon (1545) 01 Jan 2007 08:55 PMThanks for the article, Myra. This story is heartbreaking. I am considering adopting myself, and when I read articles like this, I can only hope that these kids make their way through the foster care system and into a new home where a set of adoptive parents who LOVE the children can take care of them. It makes me sick to my stomach and so ANGRY to read about this sort of thing. :-(  Valorie Delp (49340) 02 Jan 2007 03:30 AMWhile it certainly sounds like the mother was negligent. . .I had a child who was quite capable of unlocking doors and undoing chains at that age (actually well before that age). He was quite capable of escaping regardless of our best efforts and we found ourselves on occassion searching for him. Very scary. . .but there was honestly very little we could do other than simply tell him it was against the rules to escape and give consequences every time he did it. I am grateful for police officers who twice found him and returned him without questioning my parenting ability.  Myra Turner (1560) 02 Jan 2007 10:29 AMI think the mother was negligent because she was home sleeping during the day while the child was wandering around and the other kid was in the filthy house eating off the floor. And I honestly think alarms are the way to go with young kids. If they get out at least you will be alerted before they have a chance to get too far.  Teresa McEntire (2984) 03 Jan 2007 02:28 PMI have the same situation as Valorie. My youngest has escaped a couple of times, usually when her older brother forgets to flip the top lock on the door. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But the mother in this case was negligent in that she was sleeping and didn't seem to care when he son was returned.  babydawn (7008) 03 Jan 2007 02:39 PMYes, I am with Teresa and Valorie who have experienced this instance with my own children. In fact, I know very few mothers that have NOT experienced a wandering child at least once in their journey of motherhood. My children also could undo locks, even the high ones. It is without a doubt the most frightening thing to come out from folding laundry or working on something, thinking your two year old is quitly watching Sesame Street or Blues Clues and having the front door wide open with a missing toddler. Fortunatly, I never had to notify the police, but I have know several others who have. It sounds as though this mother needs some help. I read it and thought that it sounded like she suffered from a severe case of depression. Depression can be dibilitating. Regardless, I still feel for the children involved.... Valorie Delp (49340) 03 Jan 2007 04:53 PMMyra. . .you obviously have not been tired enough to fall sleep with your child running about. I certainly have, and frankly, it's not that hard to do. I could not afford to put alarms on my doors--most people I know couldn't afford to do it either. That's an unrealistic solution for most people I know. I am not even sure it would be considered legal since we rent our apartment. Just to be clear, I think she was likely negligent as well. But I think that we have to be careful in implying that bc she was sleeping, bc her child escaped, or bc her child ate food off the floor--she's a bad parent. Things happen and all of those things are things that happen in my house. . .not regularly of course. . .but they've happened. It is quite disturbing that she didn't seem to care when her son was returned. Community Tags child abuse, neglect, parental neglect Discuss this article
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