Should children be left home alone?
A 25-year-old Dorchester mother of two and her friend, also a mother of two, left their four children alone at approximately 2:20 a.m. this morning to get cigarettes, only to come home to the children having been taken by the police, who received a 911 call from someone reporting a barefoot child under the age of 6 wandering the streets looking for his mother.
When the police arrived at the home, they found four children, all under the age of 6 in the home with no adult supervision and promptly removed the children from the home. Although the children seemed healthy and well-fed, The Department of Children and Families was brought in to investigate the situation. When the two mothers arrived back at their home, they found the children had been taken by the police and went to the Area C-11 police station, only to find out that the children had been sent to Boston Medical Center to be examined. DCF has placed the children with relatives, as of right now, until it can be determined whether these women are fit to retain custody of their children again.
There seems to be some kind of debate as to whether DCF had the right to remove the children from the home, and whether leaving your children home alone for 30 minutes to go to the store makes you an unfit parent. Perhaps we should bring to light all the possible scenarios that could have occurred while the parents were gone to put into perspective the severity of this issue. What is there was a fire? What if one of the children began choking and was left with no one to intervene for 20 or 30 minutes? And think of the myriad of things that could have happened to the small child that was allowed to roam the streets of Boston at 2:30 in the morning.
It is our responsibility as parents to protect our children to the best of our ability at all times. Putting our children first is a sacrifice we must make to be sure that these fragile, vulnerable creatures survive this scary world we live in. Hopefully the Department of Children and Families will take this into consideration when deciding whether this woman should be given her children back.
What do you think? Do you think that this is a forgivable "mistake" on the mother's part or the unacceptable behavior of an unfit mother? Let's hear from the Boston moms on this issue. Leave a comment and let the debate begin!
Comments
I am not a mom, but I am appalled by their actions. They are unfit and irresponsible and should not get their children back.
I'm a mom, and call me unfit, but I wonder as to the background of the moms in question. How were they raised? Were they prepared to become parents? Do they understand the possible consequences of their actions? Where were the dads? Are they around? Perhaps what these mothers need is some parenting classes and a few real life lessons. (Perhaps a visit from some parents whose bad decisions turned out worse?) Without the background of the story, I'm certainly not qualified to determine the right outcome. Hopefully, they'll see the error of their decision and work hard to get their little ones back and create a good life for them. They should have come first.
That's just bizarre. One of the women could have stayed home.
Does it really take two adults to go out at 2 a.m. to buy cigarettes and leave 4 children under the age of 6 at home alone? Obviously neither adult is a fit parent, I am a mother of 3 kids between the ages of 5 and 9 and I have never left my house after my kids went to bed unless my husband is home just in case someone wakes up for a drink of water or a bad dream. DCF has every right to remove these kids from their unfit mothers end of story. There is no excuse I don't care what their background was or if the father is around, when you have children you have a responsibility to their well being that does not include leave them home alone at such a young age no matter what time day or night. Seriously there was two adults I bet my last dollar they were not out buying cigarettes.
"What is there was a fire? What if one of the children began choking and was left with no one to intervene for 20 or 30 minutes? And think of the myriad of things that could have happened to the small child that was allowed to roam the streets of Boston at 2:30 in the morning."
Given that it was 2:30 a.m., most parents wouldn't be supervising anyone; they would be sleeping. That doesn't justify leaving the house though.
"It is our responsibility as parents to protect our children to the best of our ability at all times. Putting our children first is a sacrifice we must make to be sure that these fragile, vulnerable creatures survive this scary world we live in. Hopefully the Department of Children and Families will take this into consideration when deciding whether this woman should be given her children back."
Sure and some people are far too quick to advocate taking children from their parents. I always think people that jump to have children removed from their homes are ignorant of the fact that it is severely injurious on an emotional and psychological level to remove an average child from their parents. Too many people don't have the sense to consider that seriously and weigh it with the factors involved.
One of the first things that came to my mind when I read this was whether these women had any kind of support system and whether they understood at all the impact that leaving their children could have. It may not be entirely "their fault" that they didn't know any better because of upbringing, etc., however, that does not change the fact that the end result is putting their children in danger. Obviously, this needs to be investigated fully to make the appropriate decision on the matter, but I don't think there is any excuse good enough for leaving your children alone at night. That is just my opinion as a mother.
Hey, at least they weren't buying crack at 2:20 am. Although, come to think of it; maybe that's how they manage to stay awake so late....
I'd like to know why they BOTH had to go to the store. If that's where they really were and how do they know the woman were only gone 30 minutes?
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!