In Nebraska, a law has been passed that gives parents of children up to age 19 the right to abandon their children at a hospital without risk of prosecution. Originally, this law was intended to prevent unwanted infants from being abandoned, and many other states have laws with similar intentions. However, the Nebraska law is broader and includes children of all ages, and this has led to a serious problem: many parents are abusing the law by abandoning their older children and teens. Reasons for these abandonments are varied, but in many cases, the teens have gotten out of their parents’ control. In other situations, the parents do not have the financial resources to support their children, or do not feel that they can provide an adequate home for their children. Jim Jenkins, a parent whose son was a difficult teenager to handle, says, “I can see some parents getting overwhelmed and deciding that giving up the child is the best thing” (1). Experts say that there are many programs in Nebraska designed to help parents in these circumstances; for example, counseling programs and welfare can aid such families. But parents quoted in the article reply that these programs are often difficult to find or too expensive, and therefore do not meet their needs and fix their children’s issues in time. Judy Lopez, a caretaker for her two young grandchildren, attests to this, saying, “Help is out there, but people have to know how to find it” (2).
I think that this article shows our society’s need for improved public assistance programs. The fact that parents feel so helpless and hopeless that they go to the extreme length of abandoning their children is a disgrace to our society. Clearly, more affordable and accessible programs must be established to come to these people’s aid. The longer families with such drastic problems wait for help, the more children are neglected and uncared for. In many cases, these kids probably feel unloved and unwanted, and a childhood with these feelings could easily lead to poor performance in school and an adulthood of joblessness, homeless, and crime. Many families and our society as a whole would benefit from giving all children the care and love that they need.
Work Cited:
Eckholm, Erik. “Parents Give Up Youths Under Law Meant for Babies”. New York Times 2 October 2008: A21.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/us/03omaha.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&em
4 comments:
This is an interesting article and I enjoyed reading about it. I like to know what is going on in society today.
When I read this it does make me a little disappointed in human-beings in general. The thought of abandoning anyone is dreadful, but especially a child under the age of 19. During teenage years I believe that although kids don't need their parents physically to care for them (but it helps for them to pay for stuff), but they're mostly there to help with the emotional stuff.
I know that when teens aren't cared for in the right way it can lead to poor decisions on the teens' part and poor life conditions ahead. These children lose their value as good citizens because they feel abandoned by society so they lash out, and do poorly in school and go to crime, etc.
I think that this is a problem worth rising some attention to.
Not just children but all humans need love.
This is a really sad thing, but I can see where Nebraska is coming from. Abandoning little babies is very different than abandoning teenagers, for one thing teenagers are emotionally unstable because of hormones and stuff like that, they are still trying to understand themselves, how can they understand the extent of their parent's hopelessness? I really agree with you that we shouldn't let such things go this far and this is a really big loop hole I think we need to close.
Wow, the fact that parents would go to the extremes of abandoning their children let alone their teenagers definitely says that there are problems that need to be resolved in our society. I agree with you, and think something has to be done with making more affordable and accessible programs to aide these people. I also think this is a program people could easily take advantage of if they are to lazy to support their child and just say oh well I can just give him up no strings attached. As you said this must have a negative affect on many of the children who have been given up especially those who are old enough to realize what is going on so the sooner something is done the better.
As sad as the idea may be, I think this is a good thing for pregnant teens. In the panic and desperation that comes with birthing a child, some teenagers might try to kill their baby. This place gives people a way to discretely and safely get rid of their baby without hurting the infant.
Post a Comment