A Wilmington woman has been charged with leaving her son alone in a car in the parking lot of a casino.
State police say a security guard patrolling the parking lot at Delaware Park Racetrack and Slots spotted the 12-year-old boy alone in the car around 9 p.m. Sunday. Police say the 33-year-old woman left the boy in the car for more than two hours.
12-Year-Old Left Alone Inside Car Parked At Delaware Park - cbs3.com
I am having a hard time deciding which is stupider- bringing your child to an unfamiliar public place, where people are willing to gamble their lives away, and leaving the kid in the car as a way of protecting him, or the fact that the state pressed charges on the lady for bringing a 12 year old (almost a teenager) child with her to the races, who may very well have been well set to be left at home during that two hours..
I remember being 12- I spent hours on my own, either outside with my friends, or at home, or at a friends house, etc.. and never had any difficulty. Hell, there are plenty of kids out there that are younger than 12 and spend a couple of hours a day outside without parental supervision, and don't have any problems- at least this is the case for a couple neighborhoods I have lived in. I think some parents are a little overprotective, also.. but "supervision" can be defined broadly or narrowly-
We lived in another state where several neighbors of mine (it was a small town) including the two home child care providers, informed me of DCF visits based on the provider going into the house for a couple of minutes, or the parent watching the child from the kitchen window (and these are children in fenced in yards, lol).. Compare that with kids of relatively the same age being allowed to ride bikes around the neighborhood, or run around with no parent watching- and I think you end up with one DCF person who may have an issue with power and control, or job stability, etc- or simply have rigid ideas about a child's capabilities, and another one who may even be too lenient when it comes to a child's freedoms and capabilities, also..
I would be interested in getting more details on this, because something is amiss.. In some ways it makes sense, and in other ways, it does not make any sense at all. Seems like a waste of tax dollars, but who knows if the kid had documented emotional problems or a physical handicap, and whether the mother had a history of neglect..
I hope you keep us updated on this..