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Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

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Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#61

Post by tarboreus »

celticninja wrote: post #51
icebraining wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know something about "those two", or are you just judging from appearances?

Well she is heavily pregnant and is holding a pack of cigarettes in her hand, so even if you ignore everything else in the picture, I can judge a prospective parent on that alone. If you cannot stop smoking for the 9 months that you are carrying a child inside you then you are already failing a child that has not even been born yet.

I think you could try to be a more tolerant person.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#62

Post by icebraining »

0xbear wrote: post #53
rayiner wrote: post #31

This is a great way to analyze the purposes of the criminal justice system. Typically, there are three: punishment, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Prosecuting someone who forgot their kid in the car can't have deterrent effect--to the extent the event was avoidable, the possibility of prosecution couldn't possibly match the deterrent effect created by the risk of harm to the child. Likewise, there is no rehabilitati…

You don't just need to consider whether they would do it again. You also need to consider whether, if he gets off scot free, some unhappy depressed parent will do it on purpose and then claim she "forgot". So in this regard a punishment would both serve as a deterrent and reinforce societal norms.

Doesn't that mean we should do away with involuntary manslaughter? After all, the perpetrator of a murder may claim it was an accident. Of course, you can try to prove that it was intentional - but the same applies here.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#63

Post by celticninja »

icebraining wrote: post #55
celticninja wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well she is heavily pregnant and is holding a pack of cigarettes in her hand, so even if you ignore everything else in the picture, I can judge a prospective parent on that alone. If you cannot stop smoking for the 9 months that you are carrying a child inside you then you are already failing a child that has not even been born yet.

I've often carried packs of cigarettes, yet I never smoked in my life.

Do you have a photo of you with a pack of cigarettes that you could access now? Probably not because if you dont smoke you probably dont carry them often enough to be photographed doing so.

Also the guy has an iron cross tattoo on the colours of the Confederate flag and an SS tattoo right next to it. Sometimes you should judge people by how they present themselves because that is how they want you to see them.

If these two turned up at my house for a babysitting gig I would judge them as unsuitable to be around my children, so in this instance my point remains, shitty parents usually end up rasing shitty kids that turn into shitty adults and yes in this situation you can tell when you look at them that their child is probably not going to be a net benefit to society.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#64

Post by tarboreus »

thedevil wrote: post #9

It actually is a misdemeanor in my state to leave a child unattended in a car if it's in public and there's risk of "hyperthermia, hypothermia, or dehydration." I looked it up after a stranger hung out at my car to nag me for leaving my son (who refused to leave the car) for five minutes in a locked car in a safe neighborhood in 75f weather.

75 F is not safe. Neither is 65 F. I'm not saying you did something wrong, but what your neighbor did was certainly right

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#66

Post by celticninja »

tarboreus wrote: post #61
celticninja wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well she is heavily pregnant and is holding a pack of cigarettes in her hand, so even if you ignore everything else in the picture, I can judge a prospective parent on that alone. If you cannot stop smoking for the 9 months that you are carrying a child inside you then you are already failing a child that has not even been born yet.

I think you could try to be a more tolerant person.

Its funny you say that, I am a tolerant person. That doesn't mean I cannot hold an opinion on these people. Do you think they are tolerant people? Is it the Confederate flag tattoo or the Nazi SS tattoo that conveys their tolerance to you?

Have you ever seen a child that is living with parents like these? It's not a happy life, it's not good for the child and the best you can hope is that the child is nothing like the parents. It is very sad to know that in many cases they will not be much different to their parents and will likely raise their children in a similar way. Being tolerant doesn't mean being blind to the reality of these situations.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#67

Post by icebraining »

nervousvarun wrote: post #41

As others have said this is a problem that in 2017 should already be solved by technology. But in the event you don't have access to a technological solution try this: If you have an infant in your car get in the habit of taking your shoes off and putting them next to the baby when you drive. When you reach your destination you might forget the infant...but you won't forget your shoes. Edit: My dad (who was an absent…

Eh, most countries don't have a non-pedal shoe - we use the other to operate the clutch :)

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#68

Post by tarboreus »

musgrove wrote: post #23

Here's the pivotal and incorrect question asked: "What kind of person forgets a baby?" And the author proceeds to reassure us it certainly just could be anyone, as asked. The real question is "What kind of parent forgets a baby?" Answer: A shitty one.

Ignorant, uncharitable, and internally inconsistent. I wonder...if a comment is downvoted enough times, does the text become completely white?

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#69

Post by simplydt »

To all the people posting here who are thinking this certainly couldn't happen to them, please, read up on some psychology and neuroscience; you are just like all the people who thought only the Germans could have done what they did in WW2, until Milgram and co proved the world wrong (it could have been any of us). TLDR lesson here? Our brains are not built for multitasking. Safeguard yourself from human error, don't multitask! Laser focus is your friend.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#70

Post by Inconel »

nervousvarun wrote: post #41

As others have said this is a problem that in 2017 should already be solved by technology. But in the event you don't have access to a technological solution try this: If you have an infant in your car get in the habit of taking your shoes off and putting them next to the baby when you drive. When you reach your destination you might forget the infant...but you won't forget your shoes. Edit: My dad (who was an absent…

That's definitely an interesting method. I'm always surprised that I don't see more people relying on checklists in day to day tasks. I use checklists religiously at work and have incorporated them into my daily life as well. I have a number of friends who are constantly leaving things behind(cellphones, wallets, house/car keys), I don't think I'm any less of a naturally forgetful person than them, but because I use simple checklists I rarely forget things compared to them, even when I'm exhausted or stressed out.

Whenever I babysit my two young nieces I now just add an extra step to my checklists; don't forget kids in car.

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