Shame on Parents for Leaving Their Children Home Alone!

How many times have we turned on the news, or read an article in the paper about children being home alone, or left in cars without a parent in sight? I know I've heard dozens of stories. I remember hearing one a few years ago about a half dozen kids living alone in New York, while their parents were out on a drug binge. It's sickening and becoming more prevalent as our society plummets into the toilet.

When I found out about the most recent event; a 6-year-old taking care of his 4-year-sister, I wanted to find the parents and throttle them. Where was the adult supervision and why has leaving children alone become epidemic? What could be so important that a parent would think allowing their kids to be home alone was okay?

Do you remember growing up and begging your parents to let you stay home alone? As a child, I used to ask my parents. The answer was always the same. "You're too young." I was in the 8^th grade before staying home alone was permitted.

So then, what has happened to this society? Where have our brains departed to? Children at the age of 6 can't do anything without adult supervision. If we still have to instruct them on how to brush their teeth properly, or to remember to wipe their bums after using the bathroom, then they are too young to be home alone! These children deserve a parent or guardian who will take care of them, and yet more and more people are putting their kid's at risk in pursuit of their own selfish desires.

Parents routinely leave their kids alone in the home, or car to go to work, run into the store or to get gas. In addition; many parent's tuck the little one's into bed and head out to the bar to party and some even leave them alone for days at a time! How many times have we heard about several children home alone for days with little food, left alone in filthy apartments while mom or dad are out on a bindge?

Twin Rivers, a local video casino in Lincoln Rhode Island, or Lincoln Park as many locals will remember, has been the site of unattended children a half dozen times. Parents want to gamble and since kids aren't allowed inside, they opt to leave them alone in the car. How sick is that?

I recall several years ago, a small child had been left alone in a car on a hot summer day in the Lincoln Park parking lot. A stranger noticed the child and called the authorities, just in time. The child was badly dehydrated because the car had heated up to an ungodly temperature and if the child hadn't been found, might have died.

The Department of Child Services should take all children away from parents who get caught. Placing these kids in foster care would be better than taking the risk of leaving them alone in a car, or in the home. So much can happen. Fires, abduction, robberies, you name it. A child cannot defend themselves, nor do they know how to determine what's safe and what isn't. They don't understand "consequence." It's outrageous, many times we find out a parent is unfit usually when it's too late to do anything about it.

To all of those readers who are as fed up as me, pay attention when you're out shopping, running errands, or just checking the mail. Pay attention to your neighbors and if you find a child has been left to their own devices, make a call. Call the authorities and let them know. I believe this is our civic duty, to help protect our youth.