Well, the thing about latchkey kids is that they have access to keys, isn’t it?
And they don’t need to climb out a window in order to find a toilet.
Well… not exactly. Every latch-key kid in America is not locked in his or her bedroom. They have, if I can be a little pedantic about it, a key. If there’s a fire, they can leave out the front door. If there’s some other kind of trouble, they can approach a telephone and call 911 (or, in the vast majority of cases, their parents). Four hours is a long time, and a lot of bad shit can happen in that period.
Plus, frankly, I have way more sympathy for parents who leave their kids alone because they have to work than for parents who leave their kids alone to watch the Packers in a casino. The former are doing the best they can; the latter are bad parents who can surely afford a babysitter.
(or to, you know, watch the game in the living room)
Kalhoun, are you being deliberately obtuse? I was a latch-key kid and it wasn’t remotely comparable - I had access to the kitchen to eat, and to the bathroom, and to the telephone when I needed to. The bathroom especially! We’re not even allowed to be at offices after a certain length of time without a functional bathroom, I believe.
Why these parents are asshats:
- they locked him in a room without access to even the bathroom
- they left him alone just so they could have a good time
- the good time they had could have just as easily been done at home, or at a venue where the kid could come along/be monitored
- they have the money for a babysitter and didn’t bother.
Clearly, they don’t consider the kid much more important than a cat. The jail time is just phase one of several years of probation and rehab.
I’m sure that’s true for most latch-key kids. The fact that these parents made a bad choice for *four hours * of the kid’s life (and as far as I know, nothing bad happened while they were gone) is the difference. I’ve known people who didn’t have enough money to have a phone and they would leave their young children at home. My old roommate left her children (ages 8 and 5) alone after school. Free to start fires, fall out of windows, cut themselves…all the perils that go with children being unsupervised. Sure, there was the four hours of bucket humiliation while they were gone (if the kid even had to go in that short amount of time), but that’s minor compared to the fact that millions of kids are left to their own devices far too often, and for far too long.
As far as I’m concerned, the parents are none too bright, but no fucking way do they deserve that kind of jail time. That’s all I’m saying.
Like I said in the post of mine which you quoted above, my objection is not focused on the kid being left alone, it’s specifically focused on the kid being locked up for that time.
And don’t think for a minute that having access to the front door ensures kids can get out of the house if it goes up in flames. Unless the fire starts in his room, he’s probably better off in it if there’s a fire.
People shouldn’t leave young children unsupervised. Period. That’s why there are laws. People look the other way when parents are at work, but alone is still alone.
Paranoid bullshit. I was a latchkey kid myself at or very slightly older than this kid’s age. I find myself wondering what defect the kid or the parents have that made locking him up necessary.
Have I missed the obligatory “hope the parents get ass-raped in prison” posts, or is the board just slow today?
One could hypothesize that, when questioned by the authorities, the boy told investigators that this wasn’t the first time he’d been locked away for his parents’ convenience, and that on previous occasions he’d had to clean his slop bucket when they got back.
Well, the law would have determined you were too young to stay home alone if you lived in Illinois.
Maybe the kid is hyperactive and too inquisitive for his own good. Who knows?
People screaming “the children the children”, now this kids life is torn upside down- is this the best thing for this child?. Assuming they are good parents who made an error in judgement, give them a week or two in jail to scare them straight, and probation, and make them clean the trash off the road, anything like that. Any or all of this will give them the message without a kid being taken away from his parents for several months. The room isn’t a death trap if there’s a window, and I’ve pissed in a cup when I had a townhouse apartment and was too lazy to go upstairs. And I’ve seen kids play video games for four hours straight without leaving the room to piss or eat or anything.
According to this article, leaving the boy locked in his room was a regular thing for his parents lasting 6 hours or more. It was hardly a one-time thing or for a short amount of time.
I have a niece and nephew who were latch-key kids at around the same age due to having a single parent. The authorities around UIUC didn’t seem to have a problem with this.
'Course, they also had a couple of aunts and an uncle within walking distance.
My roommate was told that the next time her kids were caught running down the street with carving knives, she’d be cited. Shit happens.
Like I said, if they busted everyone who left young children unattended the jails would be standing-room only. If something bad happens, my guess is you’ll be cited with neglect or worse.
Eleutherophobia.
Aha! Hypothesis confirmed.
Just out of curiosity, what would the reason be that the couple are no longer allowed to be in each other’s company in the presence of the kid? I don’t know what purpose such a thing would be designed to serve.
I’m guessing this story prompts more of a What the fuck? reaction than a Those fuckers! reaction.