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I discovered a while ago that my husband will often run into the gas station to buy things or to pay for gas and leave my kids in the car (they were 3 at the time)...I was so furious when I found out and scared and I begged him never to do it again. He agreed he wouldn't but he did...at least one other time I know of and probably many more that I don't. He is very stubborn and selfish and lazy (he says it is too much trouble to get them both out) and also just doesn't think it is any big deal. We are getting separated at the end of this month and I fear his careless behaviour will only get worse when he has the kids and I am not around when he gets to have them for the weekend, etc.
It is impossible to leave your child in a car on accident! You know you put them in there, and you know you are responsible for their life. Every person that leaves a child in a car whom is incapable of getting out of the car on their own should be in jail. And then people use the excuse that it wasn't their normal schedule - that is all the more reason the kid should be on your mind, because it is out of the ordinary. The only consolation anyone gets when these people don't go to jail for manslaughter is that the person has to suffer the rest of their life knowing they killed their kid making a stupid choice of convienence.
Have you written letters to your congressmen? Have you called the media and put your County CPS in the spotlight to answer for these shortcomings?
It is truly disgraceful that CPS has not removed these kids. But you are in a position to bring attention to it. Heck, put it in facebook, twitter, a youtube video - just make sure everything you say is factual and not an assumption or hearsay.
This is exactly why, even though I am a Social Worker, I will never work in CPS, I would kill someone. I can see working with parents who neglect their kids, because maybe they don't know what to do, but physical or sexual abuse should mean the kids are removed permanantly, no second chances.
And to someone elses post, some people have no family to rely on. It's very sad, but true. Especially anyone who uses drugs or has been in prison - their families have put up with their crap for so long, that they turned their backs on them. And who can blame them.
I'll be the first person to admit, I can't stand kids! I don't like being around them. But child abusers should be taken out back and you know what. I can't even comprehend how someone could harm a child - but then I really don't want to comrehend it, because that would normalize it.
The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,760 child fatalities in 2007. The number of children who die from hyperthermia when left in a car is about 40 a year, which is two percent of the number whose deaths are attributable to parental abuse of all kinds.
For every child who dies from the heat when left in a car. there are about 45 children being killed in other ways by abusive parents. You are directing your concerns at a very tiny tip of an iceberg. Furthermore, for every one who dies when left in a car, there are four more who are killed when a car starts up while a child is in the blind spot, particularly common in SUVs.
The report in the link above (post #6) indicated that the color of the interior upholstery of a car is a critical factor in how rapidly it heats up from solar radiation. If all cars were required to have light-colored upholstery, it could save as many as half those child deaths.
If the auto industry significantly reduced blind-spots and made all interiors light-colored, that would result in about an 80% reduction in needless child deaths, and the auto industry knows that. But fashion and style are much more important.
This parent has no right to have children in my opinion. Crazy. The most I have EVER left my kids in the car is to pay for gas, in the unfortunate event that I only have cash on me, which has been rare....but I drive away from the pump and pull up in front of the window, take the keyless entry with me and lock the doors. I am gone less than 2 minutes to pay for the gas and I can see them the WHOLE time! It is just stupid to leave a kid alone in a car, especially one that is running. If you leave your kids out of sight in public for a minute at an age where they can not fight for themselves, that is beyond neglect. You might as well put a sign up on your car saying to steal your kids.
So now the car companies should be responsible for preventing children from having heatstroke when left in a car? That's stupid! Lay blame where it belongs - on the worthless, neglectful parents that left the child in the car!
I could go for reducing blind spots, but all the driver has to do is turn their freaking head and look before they back up, and then back up very slowly, so if there was a kid there, you wouldn't just run them down.
Just another attempt to allow people to not be held accountable for their actions, while someone else gets blamed.
It is impossible to leave your child in a car on accident! You know you put them in there, and you know you are responsible for their life. Every person that leaves a child in a car whom is incapable of getting out of the car on their own should be in jail. And then people use the excuse that it wasn't their normal schedule - that is all the more reason the kid should be on your mind, because it is out of the ordinary. The only consolation anyone gets when these people don't go to jail for manslaughter is that the person has to suffer the rest of their life knowing they killed their kid making a stupid choice of convienence.
You are wrong. Those who leave their babies in the car by accident are devistated by their loss and honestly DID NOT remember the child was in the car because their minds were focusing on other things. It's human and it happens to everyone whether they admit it or not. 99.9% of the time it does not end in tragedy, thankfully.
My own parents left my brother at home, on the living room floor in his car seat, and remembered when they got about 3 blocks away. I myself forgot to pick up my kid from school on more than one occasion. And once, when my firstborn was about 6 months old, I was so engrossed in a book I had been reading for a couple hours that when I got up and walked by the babys room I was momentarily SHOCKED, and was jolted back to reality by seeing that I actually had a baby! It was such a strange feeling that I remember it clearly to this day...22 years later.
What is the problem with leaving a kid in a car with the air conditioning on while you go in to pay for fuel?
Surely different to leaving the kids in the car with no air con while you go into the casino.
it just scares me because of some story I saw on Oprah years ago about some mom running into a bakery, I think it was, while her child was in the car right outside the front door....she left it running, i think (for the air). An escaped convict looking for a gettaway car jumped in and took off...she saw what was happening and ran out and tried to get her baby out of his carseat/seatbelt but only was able to get him half way out when the man floored it...so the child was hanging out of the car out that point, stuck on the seatbelt, and was dragged to death down the road. I know...unlikely something like that would happen...but if it did.....
You are wrong. Those who leave their babies in the car by accident are devistated by their loss and honestly DID NOT remember the child was in the car because their minds were focusing on other things. It's human and it happens to everyone whether they admit it or not. 99.9% of the time it does not end in tragedy, thankfully.
My own parents left my brother at home, on the living room floor in his car seat, and remembered when they got about 3 blocks away. I myself forgot to pick up my kid from school on more than one occasion. And once, when my firstborn was about 6 months old, I was so engrossed in a book I had been reading for a couple hours that when I got up and walked by the babys room I was momentarily SHOCKED, and was jolted back to reality by seeing that I actually had a baby! It was such a strange feeling that I remember it clearly to this day...22 years later.
Our minds don't always work the way we think.
I agree the parent does not have to be a monster for these things to happen (excluding those that are going into bars, etc for hours). One day a man came back into the pharmacy where i work and said "there's a baby out there in a cart with no parent anywhere in sight ! " It was an infant in a carrier in the cart...just sitting there on the sidewalk all alone in the parking lot. After about 5 mintues or so...a car comes flying up, screeches to a halt, and mom gets out just bawling, and frantic. She had just flat forgotten her baby in the parking lot. She was in a state of distress that made it quite clear that she was not an unloving parent. the point being...it could happen to "normal" people.
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