Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Without having any other info this is stupid. The girl was at a park. Whether mom was "letting" her be there or "forcing" her to be there the result is the same. Unless the girl was upset about the situation it's nobody else's business since a 9 year old being at a park by herself is NOT a criminal act. Projecting your personal ideas on the situation doesn't count. I suppose she could leave her at home and nobody would have known, that would be ok then. It's NOT a criminal act to do that either, no matter how much you don't think 9 years old is old enough. Tough.
If more info comes out about this I'm open to changing my opinion, until then I don't even need an opinion.
Without having any other info this is stupid. The girl was at a park. Whether mom was "letting" her be there or "forcing" her to be there the result is the same. Unless the girl was upset about the situation it's nobody else's business since a 9 year old being at a park by herself is NOT a criminal act. Projecting your personal ideas on the situation doesn't count. I suppose she could leave her at home and nobody would have known, that would be ok then. It's NOT a criminal act to do that either, no matter how much you don't think 9 years old is old enough. Tough.
If more info comes out about this I'm open to changing my opinion, until then I don't even need an opinion.
I "let" my 11 year old ride his bike to the park alone for maybe 20 minutes at a time. When he's done, I'm waiting at home for him. If he doesn't come home, I can go look for him. BIG difference between that and leaving a kid for 8 hours with nowhere else to go.
In some states it IS illegal to leave a child under the age of 12 (it varies). That's kind of the point.
SC law doesn't specify an age at which it is legal to leave a minor unattended. And, it doesn't appear as though the mother made her daughter stay at the park either. The daughter asked if she could go there, and the mother said yes, and gave her her cell phone. She is being charged with abandonment.
While I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving a 9 year old on her own for any length of time, I think these charges are ludicrous. Now the mother has been fired, lost temporary custody of her daughter, and will have to go to court to answer charges based on very ambiguous laws.
She didn't "let" her kid play at the park. She forced her to stay there all day with no where else to go. The difference is obvious.
No, the 'difference' is irrelevant.
Unless there's statutory specifics on the matter, arresting a mother for having her kid play at the park across the street opens the door to arrest parents who ever leave their kids unsupervised, ever, for any amouont of time BECAUSE TERRORISTS WILL MOLEST THEM!
I wonder if one of the reasons that the responses varied so much was that some readers were picturing a park where there was some type of supervision.
Not me and I don't see a problem with what happened.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibbiekat
I "let" my 11 year old ride his bike to the park alone for maybe 20 minutes at a time. When he's done, I'm waiting at home for him. If he doesn't come home, I can go look for him. BIG difference between that and leaving a kid for 8 hours with nowhere else to go.
She had somewhere to go. She could go to McDonalds, just like your son could go home. The mother may have required the girl to check in with her every hour. Keep in mind that this was a mother who literally had her kid sitting in a restaurant all day until the laptop broke. That doesn't sound like the type of mother who let her child be unsupervised for hours without checking in. If she didn't mind her child being alone for so long, she would have left her at home instead of taking her to work with her.
Only 20 minutes for a 11 year old to go to the park would be highly unusual in my area. It's not even enough time to play a game with other kids.
When I was 9 my we'd have family trips to the casino. My parents would give my sister, who was 6, and I money, tell us to go to the arcade, and find them when we were out of money. We would have room keys and instructions in meeting for dinner. Hours of unsupervised time. We turned out fine.
She didn't "let" her kid play at the park. She forced her to stay there all day with no where else to go. The difference is obvious.
You haven't read all of the articles. Her daughter used to sit in the McDonalds all day playing on her laptop while her mother worked. The laptop broke two days ago, and her daughter ASKED if she could go to the park nearby (within walking distance) instead of sitting in the restaurant. The mother agreed to allow her to do that. Any mother who cared enough about her child's safety to bring her to work to sit all day instead of leaving her at home would have very likely set rules about checking in.
While I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving a 9 year old on her own for any length of time, I think these charges are ludicrous. Now the mother has been fired, lost temporary custody of her daughter, and will have to go to court to answer charges based on very ambiguous laws.
Did she lose her job too? That's so sad. I wonder if McDonalds insisted because of the negative publicity of her daughter sitting inside the restaurant all day while she worked. Surely the corporation didn't know that was happening at one of the franchises. Talk putting a women between a rock and a hard spot.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
