Posted on 02/08/2022 6:04:35 PM PST by fruser1
A single mother faces one year in prison after she let her 14-year-old daughter babysit her siblings while she went to work at the beginning of the pandemic - an act some are calling 'reckless,' and others defend as the act of a desperate mother.
Linley was reportedly engaging in online learning and did not notice that her four-year-old brother, Thaddeus, had slipped out of the house when he saw his friend outside and went to play with him in Blairsville, Georgia.
Within about 10 to 15 minutes, Linley noticed he was gone and found him at his friend's house down the street.
But in the meantime the friend's mom called the police, and Henderson was arrested in front of her children about two weeks later, according to Reason Magazine.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
So…she “endangered” the children but wasn’t arrested for 2 weeks?
Back in the old days, this happened all the time...I remember one time when I was in the kitchen, cooking, and I got a call from my neighbor because my 3-year-old daughter had turned up in her yard...wearing only her birthday suit.
My youngest daughter hated clothing, but fortunately now that she’s older, she’s improved and has gotten with the clothing program.
However, I was right there in the kitchen and my daughter - who I thought was taking her nap - slipped right by.
It happens. It’s not neglect.
I see this all the time, even nowadays. A while back, a neighbor’s little kid was on the loose; I gave them a knock on the door to make sure they knew where he was. They didn’t; they thanked me; that was the end of it.
Calling the police is absurd. Putting the parent in prison is beyond absurd.
tossing mum in jail is the solution!
ridiculous. I would say that my babysitting brother was in charge of us from the time he was twelve. There were 4 of us younger siblings. This is the way virtually every generation of children has been raised since before we left Africa.
I’m old enough to remember when girls this age were responsible enough to look after kids for a day..
What happened?
My eldest brother too. My sister was babysitting the neighbor kids at 11-12 years old.
When I was 2 or 3, I wandered across the street to play in the park. A neighbor brought me home.
Instead of saying “stuff happens” and moving on, especially when no one is hurt, these people want to destroy people over nonsense.
Fourteen year olds have been babysitting forever, especially 14 year old siblings. And toddlers wandering outside, while definitely an “oh, crap” moment is hardly unheard of. We had to put alarms on our doors not long after they learned to walk. They are smart enough to unlock doors and being too short to reach the lock is easily remedied.
The youngest Pony Express rider was 11 year old Charlie Miller. To think a 14 year old can’t manage siblings in a suburban home is pretty absurd.
You are correct. As a little kid I probably annoyed many 14 year old girls who were in charge of making sure I behaved myself while my parents were not at home. And they were not family members, just teenagers working part time as babysitters.
A hundred years ago, a 14 year old girl might be the mom. No one questioned their ability to look after young kids back then.
I babysat my neighbors’ children (including babies who needed changing) when I was 12 or 13. The parents knew my mother was at home on the same street, though. A trustworthy adult was close by.
I am sure I was babysitting my younger siblings at 14. My parents were not gone for a whole work day, but still. (I am 62)
Karens.
There is no hope left for western civilization....
Unless this 14 year old has some sort of mental deficiency she is more than capable of babysitting her siblings.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but the world has gone friggin mad!/s
I was babysitting at 12 (including infants), and doing it full-time for summer work at 14.
Sometimes little ones can slip away without anyone realizing it. There are 4 adults in our household — our 4 yr-old grand-daughter decided she’d like to take a little walk by herself around the block this past summer. We were all working in either the front or back yards and we all thought she was in the “other” yard.
A sweet neighbor brought her back, safe and sound. Thank goodness she didn’t think to call the police instead! Sounds like the friend’s mom in this report is a ‘Karen’.
If your parents let you run around the neighborhood at 4 years old with no supervision, they were grossly negligent.
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