Parents Gamble Kids' Safety, Leaving Them in Cars at Casinos

People who gamble are not the brightest people to start with. Too many OTB around there and people who should not even have one kid. Go back to your trailers and eat your Ramen noodles!

Reply

You are strange. Sorry, but Jersey is pretty much the same as PA. By insulting people who are close enough to drive to where you are everyday......well, you are pretty much insulting yourself as well.

Reply

The fact is, millions of kids born in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s--and yep, 1980s were left "unattended in cars" and we're all still alive and well. Parents left kids in cars while the parent or parents took care of a sick relative; visited a "beer garden" (bar to young people today); helped a friend with yard work; went to work for a day or a few hours; went to see a movie; did a month's worth of grocery shopping (yeah people actually filled up the cupboards a month at a time which meant about 2-3 hours of shopping); etc, etc. As reprehensible as the topic sounds, kids will continue to survive without undue harm....remember this 50 years from now when your kids are having your grandkids.

Reply

Someone earlier had the best comment -- when my son was small, my husband and I first tried a casino down in the Mississippi area that offered a child's "play room" and then, I believe, when we first moved to New Jersey, one of the Atlantic City casinos had child care. It was pricey, but worth it. Our son had a good time, we didn't leave him there long, and the casinos got our money. No casino in AC now offers child care, so we never went back, ever. I live 50 miles from AC, and because I got out of the habit, it holds no attraction for me. The casinos in AC are dying, because an entire demographic is cut out of your customer base. Make it so people CAN have fun at your establishment AND have a place for the kids. Simple solution. Anybody agree? I'd love to hear from someone in the casino industry on this.

Reply

Being this fanatical about leaving children in a car for a few minutes is like pretending that everyone who drives is speeding at 100+ MPH, and therefore it should be a felony for parents to drive.

I wouldn't leave a kid in the car to go and gamble, but then, I don't gamble. Maybe there's a reason why gambling is illegal in most places in the USA. You know, kinda like LSD.

But as for kids overheating in the car. I spent quite a while perusing the website of some organization dedicated to stop this. It included many heart-wrenching stories of kids dying from the heat of a car. However, in every single case, the child was left for a long time on a hot day (when the sun was up). It was ALWAYS a case of clear neglect (babysitter shopping in mall for an hour) or completely forgetting that the child was in the car in the first place.

Now we're pretending this is likely to happen at night (it's the sun that heats up the car). That it can happen in a few minutes. That it can happen when it's neither hot nor sunny. That's letting your emotions take over your logic.

And as for kids being abducted in cars - first, don't leave it unlocked and take the keys with you. Then, park in a place where you can see the car, and don't be away from the car for more than 10 minutes (less if it's very hot or cold). Obviously, don't try this in a place known for high crime. Could someone still steal your kid? Possibly, but it's also possible for them to be snatched out of their beds. Possible, but so extremely improbable that it doesn't justify making this a felony. (Or should letting kids sleep alone also be a felony?)

There are risks to pulling toddlers and preschoolers out of the car for every quick stop. Kids get hit by cars in parking lots, pull away and run into streets, touch stuff that is dangerous, etc. There are times when it would be SAFER to leave them securely fastened into their car seats in a locked but ventilated car. So it's very unfortunate that so many people are allowing senasational stories to cloud their reason and advocating a law that does not make sense.

Reply

Alot changes in 30 years. I remember when the casino was getting constructed. When a casino enters a town, there is about 2 years of priliminary investation of conartists, hookers, bums and general pick pockets. I guess the investation is finally complete, with the greed of gambling leaving these poor souls thinking they can leave their children in the parking lot while they ask for another hit at the black jack tables. Just wait until the riverboat is passed and their is a clear shot to the river via Street Road. Then these poor bums will have to remember which port they parked their kid in when their done with the slots. Have the PA casinos really saved realistate taxes yet? If PA government officials want to play "chairman of the board" then maybe they should move to Atlantic City before dancing with guys named "Bubba" with 42 inch necks!

Reply