Putting the Heat on Negligent Parents

One would think that there are just certain things in life that seem so steeped in common sense that no one would have to be reminded to do these things. Things like: get dressed before leaving the house, don't mess with a bee hive, don't walk across a freeway. Things like that  There are also aspects of parenting that one would think shouldn't need to be pointed out to parents; especially those with children under the age of five. Little things like, don't let them play in the street, make sure they don't have access to sharp objects, make sure they get a bath regularly and, oh yes, don't leave them unattended in cars; especially in hot weather. For most of us, that last one seems like a "no brainer". Sadly it's not a universal gem of parenting that all parents embrace.

Last week alone, eight children, left unattended in cars in hot weather, died across the nation. Since 1998 there have been at least 550 deaths of young children dying because an adult forgot about them or intentionally left a young child in a vehicle. So far this year, 23 children have died as a result of such negligence. More than half of the deaths are children under the age of two. Based on the statistics available, 52% of the chilodren who died between 1998 and 2011 were accidentally forgotten by caregivers, 30% were playing in an unattended vehicle and 17% were left in the vehicle intentionally, perhaps by a parent running an errand.

David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains that these tragedies "can strike even the most loving and conscientious parents." It seems a bit inaccurate to me to label a parent as "conscientious" who has lost a child to heat stroke, left in a car. I may be overreactive here, but who leaves a toddler or baby or any child unattended in a car these days or anywhere for that matter? It's just not a good idea on so many levels.

If deaths occur by accident, it doesn't negate the death of an innocent child or make it any less tragic. Besides, anyone with a toddler knows that you don't let them out of sight for any length of time. That's just inviting trouble or worse, disaster. I think to most parents, keeping a close eye on your child is a given. Why it alludes some of these parents whose children die in unattended cars alludes me.

Now Federal officials are considering requiring some sort of device installed in automobiles that will alert parents when a child is left in a car. I really hope that we don't, once again, have to let the federal government step in to regulate the private lives we SHOULD be capable of running on our own. My feeling is that if we need a device to warn parents that the safety of their child is being compromised, then those people shouldn't have been parents in the first place. At some point, people need to take personal responsibility and step up to the expectations of what it means to be a mature and concientious parent.