The day I left my son in the car
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The day I left my son in the car
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Re: The day I left my son in the car
#2I'd be interested in hearing non-US perspectives on this.
Is it acceptable elsewhere to leave your small child alone in the car for 5 minutes while you get something from a store? Would you fear for the child's safety, of legal action, or neither? Is the US leading the way criminalizing parents who do such things, or are there other countries that have been doing this for years?
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#3he had agreed not to pursue the charge if, over the course of nine months, I completed 100 hours of community service and attended parenting education
Superbly written, but the underlying story and outcome disturbs me. That someone is dissuaded from presenting a fair case because a court is considered to be bad at its job and taking a revenge-not-justice punishment is the best option serves as a serious indictment of 'justice' in whatever loony tunes jurisdiction she lives. Judicial systems are meant to apply laws contextually based on actual facts, not condemn anyone who falls into a gray area.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#4I'd be interested in hearing non-US perspectives on this. Is it acceptable elsewhere to leave your small child alone in the car for 5 minutes while you get something from a store? Would you fear for the child's safety, of legal action, or neither? Is the US leading the way criminalizing parents who do such things, or are there other countries that have been doing this for years?
I find this pretty crazy. Going with a really contrived example, using the same logic, we could make it illegal to step next to your children because you could potentially break their skull with your elbow. Way too many ifs.
However, the goal itself, namely protecting children is noble. I guess hitting the sweet spot between being neglective and overly protective is hard. Such is the nature of most social issues.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#5I'd be interested in hearing non-US perspectives on this. Is it acceptable elsewhere to leave your small child alone in the car for 5 minutes while you get something from a store? Would you fear for the child's safety, of legal action, or neither? Is the US leading the way criminalizing parents who do such things, or are there other countries that have been doing this for years?
Yes, I would love to hear about this too. I once left my son in the car for literally 2 mins while he was sleeping to buy a soda in a gas station. I am in the US.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#6Is this story fiction?
The last line of the article reads: "Kim Brooks' fiction has appeared in Five Chapters, Glimmer Train, One Story, Epoch, and other journals. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she teaches writing and is at work on a novel. You can follow her on Twitter @KA_Brooks."
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#7I'd be interested in hearing non-US perspectives on this. Is it acceptable elsewhere to leave your small child alone in the car for 5 minutes while you get something from a store? Would you fear for the child's safety, of legal action, or neither? Is the US leading the way criminalizing parents who do such things, or are there other countries that have been doing this for years?
Grew up in France in the 90s, in a small upper middle class town. My mother definitely left me alone in the car while she was running errands many, many times (which I liked because it meant I could just read my book, which is all I cared about as a kid). My parents also let me walk back and forth to the library (half a mile or so away) on my own fairly early on.
When we lived in the US for 2 years (pre 9/11), my parents definitely experienced a few police-state-related cultural shocks.
One time, a kid started hitting me in the school bus. It turned out that the kid lived in the same apartment complex as we did. That evening, my dad saw him playing outside, went up to him, and gave him a few stern words. A few hours later, his mother had called the police, and my dad ended up spending a few hours at the local police station.
We still lived in the US for another year or so after that, but nowadays my parents heavily dislike this country, and tend to avoid visiting me as much they can. FTR I don't see myself staying in the US when I start having kids.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#8Is this story fiction? The last line of the article reads: "Kim Brooks' fiction has appeared in Five Chapters, Glimmer Train, One Story, Epoch, and other journals. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, she teaches writing and is at work on a novel. You can follow her on Twitter @KA_Brooks."
I think that's just pointing out her actual occupation, rather than suggesting the story is fictional.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#9I'd be interested in hearing non-US perspectives on this. Is it acceptable elsewhere to leave your small child alone in the car for 5 minutes while you get something from a store? Would you fear for the child's safety, of legal action, or neither? Is the US leading the way criminalizing parents who do such things, or are there other countries that have been doing this for years?
When I got to the bit about being arrested I was completely baffled... there's a law against this? I'm from the UK and as a child was left in the car for short periods, which is almost certainly commonplace.
I'm simply stunned that parents can be prosecuted for this. Another wtf America moment.
Re: The day I left my son in the car
#10he had agreed not to pursue the charge if, over the course of nine months, I completed 100 hours of community service and attended parenting education Superbly written, but the underlying story and outcome disturbs me. That someone is dissuaded from presenting a fair case because a court is considered to be bad at its job and taking a revenge-not-justice punishment is the best option serves as a serious indictment of…
Judicial systems are meant to apply laws contextually based on actual facts, not condemn anyone who falls into a gray area.
But that's hard, and maybe unfair, and it barely scales.
EDIT:
Somewhat more productively, one wonders if this is a side effect of there being simply so many ways to get pulled into court--parking citation, drug possession, etc. I could understand if we took a more bureaucratic approach simply to keep up with the "demand".