While in the store, the little girl rebelled against her captor, got a phone and called 911, and refused to leave the store telling everyone "I ain't going anywhere. I'm waiting right here for my Momma." She kept her head and showed bravery that a lot of adults couldn't muster. Her captor fled the store and was later arrested a couple of miles away.
Watch the video and tell me if you think I'm off track....
Ok.... I dig this story because the little girl managed to get herself out of a seriously dangerous jam. What bothers me is how she got in the predicament to begin with. Going by the info in the news story, her enormously fat father is waiting at home for her every day. What the fuck is the fat bastard doing sitting around the house while his 9 year old walks home alone from school? Can he not hoist himself out of the easy chair, walk down to the school, and walk home with his little girl?
I know kids should be able to walk the streets and be safe. I know you can't smother kids and be over protective. I know sometimes financial reasons make it where both parents have to work while their kids come and go from school. I know the sole person to blame for the abduction is the pedo that abducted her (may he rot in hell).
I also know that what "should" be able to happen can bear little resemblance to the world we live in today. My first impulse upon seeing the weeping father was "Get off your fat ass and keep your kid safe!" There wasn't any reason for him not to escort her other than laziness.
Maybe I'm wrong feeling this way. Wouldn't be the first time. What do you think?
8 comments:
Have to agree. Used to live in a moderately safe city here in Canada (Vancouver) about twenty years ago and I would always make sure that I at least had a line of sight to the bus stop when it dropped my kids off.
Teaching kids "stranger danger" is all well and good, but you are a participant in your kids' safety. You can't expect the school or the state to do it all for you. Raising your kids is your job as a parent. Keeping them safe is part of that job.
M.D. - I'd like to know if the Dad is going to do anything different now that they've had a scare - or if it will be back to watching Oprah while the kid walks home alone.
You are correct...he should get off his fat ass and take that child to and from school. I take my grandchild every morning. God help the SOB that makes an attempt on her.
I agree our children are my wife and my first priority full stop.
I may worry about what modern safety measures do to the mindset of children today(and the adults they turn into), however an ordeal like this little girl escaped from would be enormously worse.
Stephen - I think my reaction really kicked in when I saw the parents. Just wanted to make sure my opinion wasn't being overly influenced by the air of "sloth" that they were giving off.
Odysseus - I'm with you. I know we can't childproof the world, but to take uneccessary risks with our kids based solely on being too lazy to walk a couple of blocks is nuts.
Thank God that SOMEONE in her life taught her how to be safe when it really counted. In this world it's a delicate balance between letting kids remain innocent and street proofing them.
I don't think you're off base here. When Weebot started middle school, I drove him to the bus stop and waited with him. The world just isn't a safe place.
Cal - Yeah, I started off reading the story thinking well of the Parents for raising their kid well... but I had to jump off the admiration train as the story progressed.
Jennifer - Agreed!
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