Posted on 02/21/2008 7:54:03 AM PST by Pyro7480
OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Police say a mother of 4 teenage boys has been charged with neglect after saying she was going "on strike" because she was fed up with them.
Ocala police say 43-year-old Melissa Dean told the Department of Children and Families that she went on strike because no one would help her with the boys ages 17, 16, 14 and 13.
Police have gone to Dean's home 12 times since September 2007 due to the boys' misbehavior.
Dean tells the DCF that she thought there would be peace if she gave up her bedroom to 1 of the children.
She said she supervised them by making frequent calls and bringing meals to the house.
Very good point.
The fact that she had to do it with the father gone is certainly a factor in her defense.
“She can not make them behave at that age!”
You’ve got that right!
WOW...glad I don’t live in Ocala...43 looks like 63 down there...
LOL!
VERY inside joke. Besides, tioga’s my friend and I respect her.
She didn’t create the problem by herself. No way are those boys behaving like angels in school, and they clearly haven’t gotten appropriate discipline there. Given that the state is running the schools, the state gets plenty of the blame for how these boys have turned out.
You posted: The mom lost this fight years ago. You don’t have uncontrollable teenagers without first failing to control them as toddlers, preschoolers, etc..
That’s a lot of kids to take care of while they’re young (4 in 5 years). Parenting skills do not come naturally. They have to be learned. She probably threw up her hands very early in their lives because they were more than she could handle.
***
This woman has obviously made a number of mistakes. 4 kids, no apparent idea of how to raise them, poor choice of father(s). Teenage boys should be able to take care of themselves at that age, not sure about the neglect charge.
I guess I should be thankful for my two well-behaved 16 year olds, and a wife who makes sure they stay that way. I know some behavior is “hard-wired” into the kids, but it is hard to believe better parenting couldn’t have mitigated some of these problems.
She didn't just go on strike? She moved out? Hmmm. What kind of parent does that, anyway?
Hmmm, so what you are saying is that it takes a village to raise a child. I’m sorry to see your role model, Hillary, losing to Obama so badly.
aw, that’s sweet - it’s mutual!
But what about me?
Am I not your whiney boy?
Life.....its not like the movies.
I thought you didn’t like girls.
I’m a girl.
No, I don’t think the “village” should be raising children. Just pointing out that this mother has no control over the environment her kids are growing up in. She’s obviously in no position to afford private school or home-schooling, and the state has been taxing her income and her property to run both the public school system and the justice system. The public schools permit out of control behavior on a regular basis, so these kids come home from school every day — 4 of them — happily convinced that they can do whatever they like no matter how much it bothers anybody else or damages other people’s property. Not only do the schools not instill any discipline, the surrounding community doesn’t seem inclined to either, with the adult male neighbor of these young monsters opining that the poor widdle children need “love”. How is one mother supposed to fight off this tide of anti-discipline messages that her 4 sons have chosen to take to heart?
Naturally the blame all goes to Mom. Father and teens have no accountability .
They need some serious help restoring order;
Jerry Springer can step in !
The mom hasn’t been the greatest example for her kids.
She was evicted from her apartment in 2004. After that, she managed to buy a house that was foreclosed on in 2006. Then there’s an another eviction July, 2007. She got busted earlier this month and pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license. And there have been a few small claims actions filed against her in the past few years.
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