Culture & Lifestyle

Rant

Rambling Children

Posted 34 months ago|6 comments|365 views
Written by
SBailey
Elkton, KY
I am a teacher, so maybe I am a little more intolerant of a child's behavior. However, I am also a mother with a very rambunctious four-year-old, so I see both sides of the coin. Still, I think as parents we have to put limits on our children. There is a mother in our neighborhood who has not quite gotten this concept. She has a boy the same age as my son. He is constantly wandering the streets at all hours. I have found him in our fenced-in backyard. I have found him in our garage, in our camper, and in our shed! This child definitely has no boundaries. He will even leave his toys in our yard for days and days. I allow my son to play with this boy, but they both have to be supervised by my husband or by me. When we try to send him home, he says he doesn't want to go home, and we have to shoo him away.

Actually, I feel sorry for this boy. I try to be nice, but I also don't want him in our yard at all hours of the day and night. I know that someday he will be in my high school class, and he will have many problems because of his upbringing. It's a classic story in the education system.
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COMMENTS
34 months ago: And why haven't you called child services? Any child who doesn't want to go home has a good reason. What happens when/if this child is abducted? Oh, I know....it's too late!
SBailey
SBailey
Elkton, KY
34 months ago: Actually, calling child services was my first reaction; however, my mom is a retired social worker who used to work for the state, so she's handled many cases where the child was removed from the home. She explained that neglect without the evidence of physical or sexual abuse is very hard to prove; therefore, the state shies away from cases of neglect. The only way they would even make a home visit is if the parents were not at home during the time the child roams. This is not the case: the mother is home. So...what do you do?
34 months ago: Well, getting their attention by having a child services worker show up might be a start. The child is at risk of accident, abuse, kidnapping, etc, whenever the poor thing roams outside unsupervised. I'd at least make the call and report it. It might be useful and you'd never forgive yourself if something bad happened.
SBailey
SBailey
Elkton, KY
34 months ago: Thanks for all of the advice. I will be glad when school starts. For some kids, school is the only place they get a good meal and safety. It's one of the main reasons I love teaching. I can be a beacon of light for so many neglected children.
34 months ago: Here in the Los Angeles area, we're dealing with the heartbreak of a 6-year-old boy who was (apparently) beaten to death by his stepfather. His mother has five more children, all of whom are in "protective custody" (she should be involuntarily sterilized, IMHO) and she claims total ignorance of the danger she placed her child in when she left him with her boyfriend.

If only someone in the neighborhood had complained about his screams!

Of course, the social workers are all blaming someone else about this little boy's troubles...and, ultimately, the child will be buried and social workers will go on and (who knows?) the mother might just BREED again.

Your neighbors have abandoned their parental responsibilities. Please consider speaking to them and then, if they don't supervise him more closely, report them!

The absolute worst thing which could happen is that they would be embarrassed and try to prevent further encounters with child welfare services.

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