The rush is on in Nebraska

Comments

4 responses to “The rush is on in Nebraska”

1. 

   November 16, 2008

   Angie

   Besides the obvious, proving they’re breeders rather than parents, what’s really the problem with this, if it saves lives of children who are so painfully obviously not wanted and likely to be beat or worse, gives them a chance at a REAL life and gives a family who REALLY wants them a chance to open their hearts and homes?

   Give them a chance to drop their children of any age into Safe Haven – but under NO circumstance allow them to come whining later for their children back immediate TPR.

   Reply
2. 

   November 17, 2008

   Ihavekidstoo

   It’s one thing to abandon an infant that is not capable yet of comprehending the implications of that abandonment. It’s quite another to abandon a child old enough to understand that mommy and daddy no longer want him. Further, infants are far more adoptable and have a much better chance of living a normal life with a loving family after abandonment than does an older child – say a teenager with health, mental or behavioral issues.

   I simply don’t buy the excuse these parents are giving that it was the only way they could get “help” for their teens. Community support programs are simply everywhere these days. If you can’t find a goverment agency to give you a hand out, you can almost certainly find a church to do it — of course, you’ll have to start ATTENDING that church, which might be what some of these families really need.

   I realize they can’t prosecute these parents because of their ill-thought-out safe haven law, but the least the state of Nebraska should do is make a public spectacle out of each and every one of them. Maybe then they would feel some shame at their actions.

   Reply
3. 

   November 17, 2008

   Kathy

   If help is readily available, these parents obviously don’t know about it. the information on this help needs to be made more accessible to parents. The problem with the help is that parents usually dont even know it exists until the teen has gotten into so much trouble, law enforcement has become involved. Parents don’t want it to go that far.

   The church idea is a good one, providing that the family actually is ok with worshipping, but it also assumes that the family is not already attending a church. That is a huge assumption to make.

   My father had trouble with my brother when he was growing up. They asked for help from everywhere. The only thing that was available to them was a very expensive one week boot camp…because he had never been arrested. If this meant he would get help, I don’t know if I could see my dad dropping him off in Nebraska, but I can see him seriously contemplating it.

   Hell, I could see him thinking about it now and my brother is 22.

   Reply
4. 

   December 2, 2008

   Anon

   People who are critical of the drop off have probably never been the parent or sibling of an extremely troubled teen. My parents weren’t perfect, but they managed to raise two bio-kids to be reasonably stable, productive members of society. Their adoptived kid? Well, his problems started long before he arrived in our family, and no amount of love and discipline ever fixed what was already broken.

   Should a parent ever have the right to say “I’ve tried everything I know and I can’t do it anymore?” Maybe…maybe not in all cases, but let’s face it…many parenting programs cost $$, sometimes BIG $$. Programs for kids aren’t free either, so who is going to foot the bill if the parents can’t afford it or won’t? I’d be surprised if tax-payer money would go to pay for it if the minor child hadn’t committed any crimes.

   I certainly not an advocate of abandoning troubled children, but on the other hand, I think most families that are brought to that point have tried everything else they know. And the kids that are in danger of being abandoned? What are the chances that they don’t even want to be with that (bio or adoptive) family anymore? Certainly you would think that they would have complied with their families requests about their behavior long ago if they really cared to be part of that family unit and respected the wishes of the parents.

   Just a thought…

   Reply