Can a Mom Leave Her Kid Alone at the Library for Three Minutes?

First you never ask your child. you just bring them. Two you dont leave your child. Period.

in this day and age you can't do those type of things. not even your family you can trust.let alone the goverment is always taking from the childern necessities that keep them safe like afterschool program and daycare centers. i guess parenting is not what it use to be. noone stay on top of their child any more and we should if they are our future.

Criminals could only hope to be so lucky as to find a vulnerable child such as this. Teach your child to be responsible for her safety by your example.

I'm with you! Ask John Walsh of America's Most Wanted what he thinks about the dangers that do actually lurk around the corner and could get your child in 15 seconds flat. I'm sure he'd give anything to have his son Adam alive and in his arms. And by the way. . .a Library Media Specialist is NOT a babysitter. Asking her to "keep an eye on" your child while you roam away only takes a minute for her to get immersed in searching the catalog for a book for another patron or to answer a phone call, lose sight of the child, and to be liable and feel guilty forever. She is there to work, and there is plenty for a librarian to do on the job--childrens room included--without being infringed upon to take the onus for some nervy mother's child. Sorry. No sympathy from me.

A good test would be whether the writer or Mom would leave her wallet with a few thousand dollars in it on the library floor and run upstairs for few minutes? I doubt it.

I agree with Free Range Kids. It is so sad how the media has made everyone paranoid - sad for our kids and for our communities. I agree with Mindy and wish she were my neighbor because I am sick of mine coming in to my home uninvited to tell me my kids are in the front yard or climbing on our perimeter wall. I have carefully weighed the risk vs reward and and am fine with my kids playing in our front yard and am willing to risk a potential broken arm so that they can develop a sense of their abilities, build self confidence and learn to make good choices. And where is the sense of community - frankly, if we weren't all so unreasonably paranoid, a librarian wouldn't be afraid to keep her eye on a child in an empty library for 5 minutes. It is a public place and it is for the community after all. If I had been there with my kids, I would have offered.

Geesh, if that isn't the height of paranoia. Excuse me, but I walked to school...and never had any problems. Were there pedophiles even then? Of course. You will only encourage an insecure, overly protected child via your parental SMOTHERING!

I agree with you Eileen - Is she kidding ? I do not even have kids and I know I would Never Ever leave a 5yr old + or- alone period ! This is not the world we grew up in. Is risking someone taking your child
or your child walking off worth checking out a library book? In fact is it worth anything? The Librarian is not responsible for anyone's child and if someone distracts her that's all it takes. I'm shocked !

I agree with Eileen. Parents NEVER leave your child alone with ANY stranger. The libriarian does NOT have ifto-facto responsibility for YOUR child. You do. Nothing is more important than the safety of your child, and that safety is in YOUR hands.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH U!! and to add on to your comment what if that person's child is a total BRAT!! you cant just raise your voice and tell them to sit down or you can get into trouble for "harrassing" someone else's child or the child can b a liar and exagerrate the truth. Which lets face it most, kids at that age are lil fibbers lol. besides watching children is not in a librarians job description. and something is wrong with parents who just trust a random stranger to watch their child!! and another thing totally off topic i HATE parents that take children to an R rated movie or a late feature movie. IF U DONT HAVE A SITTER DONT GO!!! you're ruining the movie for everyone else!! and if u still go take your whiny, crying, talking baby/kid OUT!!

It makes me sad to say so, but I completely agree w/Eileen AND the Librarian,also, the child was alone! In ANY public place,i.e.where ANYONE can come through the door & into the area, children are NOT protected. NO one should ever ask a Librarian or Staff/Clerks in this kind of open, public place to watch/protect their children. It is simply, wrong! Workers in public places are responsible for many duties. To take them away from these assigned duties/ responsibilities is very unfair to them AND your child/ren. After having children "kidnapped" (usually by a non-custodial relative), we Educators have FINALLY locked all-school doors-during school hrs. & only release our precious Students to those with documented permission; THAT is done in the Office, so Tchrs. can TEACH. MLO

A REAL MOTHER WOULD NEVER LEAVE HER CHILD ALONE FOR A SPLIT SECOND LET ALONE 3 MINUTES. ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN IN 3 MINUTES. WHAT IF A PERV WALKED IN OFF THE STREET TOLD THE LIBRARIAN HE WAS AN UNCLE BROTHER OR EVEN FATHER HOW IS THE LIBRARIAN TO KNOW IF HE IS LYING OR TELLING THE TRUTH AND IN THE TIME IT WOULD TAKE TO FIND THE MOTHER AND ASK THE KID COULD BE GONE....AGAIN REAL MOTHERS WOULD NEVER LEAVE THEIR CHILD ANYWHERE...............

Eileen- I totally agree. I would never leave my child alone ANYWHERE public. I even have a problem leaving him along in the house. LOL. I once worked in a (kids safe) store where a women put her 4 yr old's hand in mine & said she would be right back. Before I could respond she hurried away. I was shocked & her kid just smiled at me. That lady was lucky i wasn't a criminal or pedophile. She was gone for 8 of the most uncomfortable minutes of my life. She returned with a no xplination & thanked me. I told her she shouldn't do that, her answer to me- you looked okay, you work her right. We all so stupid things, but when another person's life is in your hands- I know its a pain- but their needs r more important than ours.

Here is an example of the social contract. When you decided to become a parent, you accepted that being a parent means Every. Single. Second. There is no such thing as a free range parent.

WHEN ARE PARENTS GOING TO LEARN THAT LEAVING YOUR CHILD WITH ANYONE OTHER THAN YOUR HUSBAND OR TRUSTED FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND, FOR EVEN ONE MINUTE IS PUTTING YOUR CHILD AT RISK. WAKE UP PARENTS!!! YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO PARANOID WHEN IT COMES TO THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILDREN.

It seems that the mom is forgetting two things: One is that she's the mom, she brought her child to the library and she's the one who is responsible for her child. Two is that the librarian is working. Even if the librarian wants to be "neighborly" If she needs to go somewhere else in the library or if someone needs her or if she even just has to answer a phone call, she is not able to give her attention to your child. I wouldn't want to take that chance with my child.

Ditto. I agree Eileen. Any parent who thinks it is O.K. to leave their child in the care of a complete stranger in a public place must be so unaware of what goes on in the world today. Don't we take care of things and people we value? This parent wants to blame others rather than try to understand why she is so eager to place her child at risk.

Who would the Mother have blamed if something terrible had occured. It's not in the librarians job description to watch other peoples children. In this day and age you just take responsibility and take your child with you, period.!!!

Oh my Gosh! This should never happen. No parent should leave their child for even a second. This is coming from a Mother of an 8 yr old child. I have lost one child to death, and if I left my child and something would happen horrible and death happened and I could have prevented it, I would never forgive myself.
And to the one who was afraid to leave your name I think you must not be a parent or out of touch with reality to say that there is not danger around every corner. It is a sad truth that in today's society we have come to have to live this way, things are not like they were 30-40 yrs ago when even some of us could sleep with our doors locked.
Parents must protect their children at all cost, you can't trust anyone when it comes to your babies.

I work at a public library and we have a policy against unattended children. Children under the age of 8 must be with the parent at all times. We don't necessarily strictly enforce it, as long as children are well behaved and not running all over the place, they are allowed to play in our children's area, which is only monitored by video cameras. We don't have the staff to watch every child in our library so I can understand the librarian's position.