OT: What Has The World Come To

[geoschmo]

Well, I'm a little confused why every topic becomes a left vs right thing.

I have a 7 and 10 year old. Call me an irrational overprotective parent if you want, but I'll be damned if I'm going to leave them unattended in the car out in the parking lot. What's wrong with taking your kids into the store with you? Afraid they will act up? Well be a freaking parent for once. Teach them a little discipline maybe? For that matter get them interested in your home project. Teach them to build something and be creative. At least use them for slave labor and make them carry stuff. Heck, getting someone else to carry stuff has been a primary motivation to have kids for thousands of years.

Why the heck do we even have Dvd players's in the car? That's a rant I'd like to see someone make.
And beyond that, kids do stupid stuff sometimes. You can't be troubled to take them into the store with you, but you are going to leave them unattended in a car where they can damage it, or other cars in the lot?

On the other hand, I agree it's stupid arresting this guy. Last I checked stupudity and poor paranting aren't illegal. This doesn't quite fit my defintion of neglect. But he shouldn't have left them either.

As to why it's news, it's news for the same reason that kids getting kidnapped is news. If this van had been carjacked and his kids molested or killed it would be news. We'd all be clicking our teeth at the sad state of the world today that you can't leave your kids sitting in the car while you run into a store to get some nails.

Or if you are of the "It's stupid they arrested this guy." persuation I would think you would want gross abuse of police authority to be news.

Either way it's news. At least by the standards of local news in a country with an overabundance of 24 hour news networks. It's not exactly earth shattering national news level stuff.

We used to play in the woods when I was little too. But life was different then. But we didn't play in the parking lot. And if we tried to play in Dad's car we got yelled at.

Car's aren't daycare centers, and Dvd's aren't babysitters.

Be a parent.

[ April 02, 2004, 13:22: Message edited by: geoschmo ]