Father Loses 2 Young Children In Tornado
Why It's Hard To Get Along With Your In-Laws
Cops Ticket Mom for Letting Son, 14, Babysit His Pre-K Brother
Filed under: In The News, Opinions
Lovely. A mom in England was ticketed for "cruelty" for leaving her 14-year-old son in charge of his 3-year-old brother for half an hour while she went out shopping.
Well, they don't call it a "ticket" in England, they call it a "caution" -- but forget semantics. The fact is, by allowing her teen to babysit for less than an hour, the mom lost her job as a health care assistant, because now her record shows her "committing an act of cruelty on a child or young person."
Feel free to scream.
What, exactly, is so cruel about letting your teenage son act responsibly? What is so cruel about showing him that you believe in him, and that you like the young man he's becoming?
And what is so cruel about letting your younger son be cared for by his older brother? Is anyone in the English establishment aware that many of today's parents were themselves babysitters at age 11 or 12?
In fact, has it dawned on these government goons that since the beginning of human history, teens have even been popping out children of their OWN? That those teen parents must've been doing something right, because our species survived to this day? And, by the way, prehistoric pubescent parents didn't babysit for half an hour, they raised their children to adulthood. In caves. With food they killed themselves.
But no -- half an hour of babysitting at home is just too much for modern day kids.
David Lancy, author of "The Anthropology of Childhood," estimates that, to this day, somewhere between 40 percent and 60 percent of the world's children are raised, in good part, by their siblings. Their moms are too busy eking out a living to spend every last minute minding the kids. Maybe we should send every lawmaker in England a subscription to National Geographic.
My elderly neighbor was just lamenting that "kids today" are so inept. "They don't know how to do anything. They expect everything done for them."
It's an old-lady whine, but she has a point –- she's just wrong about the culprits. It's not the fault of indulgent parents, or spoiled kids. It's the fault of a society that deems young adults indistinguishable from infants: They're all helpless. England's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children actually states no one under the age of 16 should be allowed to babysit!
Glad they weren't around when our species was getting off the ground.
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Well, they don't call it a "ticket" in England, they call it a "caution" -- but forget semantics. The fact is, by allowing her teen to babysit for less than an hour, the mom lost her job as a health care assistant, because now her record shows her "committing an act of cruelty on a child or young person."
Feel free to scream.
What, exactly, is so cruel about letting your teenage son act responsibly? What is so cruel about showing him that you believe in him, and that you like the young man he's becoming?
And what is so cruel about letting your younger son be cared for by his older brother? Is anyone in the English establishment aware that many of today's parents were themselves babysitters at age 11 or 12?
In fact, has it dawned on these government goons that since the beginning of human history, teens have even been popping out children of their OWN? That those teen parents must've been doing something right, because our species survived to this day? And, by the way, prehistoric pubescent parents didn't babysit for half an hour, they raised their children to adulthood. In caves. With food they killed themselves.
But no -- half an hour of babysitting at home is just too much for modern day kids.
David Lancy, author of "The Anthropology of Childhood," estimates that, to this day, somewhere between 40 percent and 60 percent of the world's children are raised, in good part, by their siblings. Their moms are too busy eking out a living to spend every last minute minding the kids. Maybe we should send every lawmaker in England a subscription to National Geographic.
My elderly neighbor was just lamenting that "kids today" are so inept. "They don't know how to do anything. They expect everything done for them."
It's an old-lady whine, but she has a point –- she's just wrong about the culprits. It's not the fault of indulgent parents, or spoiled kids. It's the fault of a society that deems young adults indistinguishable from infants: They're all helpless. England's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children actually states no one under the age of 16 should be allowed to babysit!
Glad they weren't around when our species was getting off the ground.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 4)
2-17-2011 @ 10:56AM
Momof2 said...I think the biggest part of this story was left out. How did anyone become aware of the fact that the teenager watched his 3 year old brother for half an hour? Obviously, there was a problem that alerted someone to the situation which caused this outcome. The police probably felt the need to warn the mom in order to cover their arses in case something more serious happened in the future. I totally agree that a teenager should be able to watch after a younger sibling, however, if mom didn't raise a responsible child in the first place, then it would be neglectful for her to leave her 3 year old in his care.
Reply
2-17-2011 @ 11:52AM
Alicia said...Never had nosy neighbors? My next door neighbor used to call my mom if her car wasn't in the driveway and my friends came over. It wasn't her place and my mom usually already knew or didn't care to begin with because she knew all my friends, but this woman insisted on being nosy and bothering her because she thought I was being "bad."
2-17-2011 @ 11:24AM
jetta said...Momof2: Just because a piece of information was left out of the article does not make it right for you to make up what you want just to fill it in. You're assuming that the elder son was irresponsible and that that is why someone found out he had babysat his brother. This makes you just as bad as the people whom are saying he can't watch his brother.
Get real, momof2.
Reply
2-21-2011 @ 9:13PM
Momof2 said...Jetta, sorry you feel that way, but the authorities would not have gotten involved if something had not taken place. Even if the mom or teenager told someone about the incident after the fact, she would not have been reprimanded. How else do you think the police got involved? It wasn't for some innocent misunderstanding I can assure you. The article focuses on the mom's punishment, but forgets to inform us of the facts which caused her punishment. And again, I do think that a teenager can be competent enough to watch a younger sibling, but regardless of age, whoever watches your child should be a responsible attentive caregiver.
2-17-2011 @ 12:11PM
grebis said...And the UK has one of, if not the, highest teen mom rates in the world. I am stationed in the UK and US base rules allow children to be left unattended for varying amounts of time, on base, according to age. 14 year old's can get certified as babysitters! What a farce this poor lady is going through. Ah, the UK. Where you can't leave a teenager in charge of a toddler for 30 minutes but you can beat your child near to death numerous times and have child protective services leave you with your kid. Heck, "Life" in prison over here means around 16 years, max, for murder!
Reply
2-20-2011 @ 9:38AM
kim said...im glad you commented because i had no idea that , that was how it was there. we cant even spank our kids anymore let alone get rough. its awlful , it really is.
3-05-2011 @ 3:41AM
jj said...This article is one of the biggest works of fiction outside of Fox 'news'.
If she was cautioned, there would be some other reason.
And no, it's not illegal to babysit at 14:
This site prevents me from posting a link, but a simple googling would tell you that
2-17-2011 @ 1:39PM
Morgan {the818} said...What the WHAT?! That is just plain insanity. I distinctly remember 12 being the age when everyone I knew started babysitting. I watched children on my own for hours after school at 13 years old, just like my older sister became my official babysitting somewhere around age 12. This is outrageous.
Reply
2-17-2011 @ 1:37PM
Jen G. said...This is a quote from the original article.
"Although there was no “incident” and they were not believed to be in danger, the mother was cautioned by officers for “committing an act of cruelty on a child or young person.”
So, as you can see, nothing bad happened. The teen was 14 and the law says 16. That's the only reason this mom was cited. Sounds like nosy neighbor issues after all.
Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/227553Police-caution-mum-for-leaving-son-14-to-mind-three-year-old-brother#ixzz1EF6WPPzU
Reply
3-05-2011 @ 3:33AM
jj said...Sigh, don't believe this crap.
THERE IS NO LAW REQUIRING BABYSITTERS TO BE OVER 16.
If she was cautioned, there would be some other reason. I'd post a link, but this site disalows it, but a simple googling will show you
2-17-2011 @ 2:52PM
Jenn said...This is the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. I'm only 34 and when I was 10 years old I would be in charge of my 6 and 2 year old brother all day. No problems. This is really pretty ridiculous.
Reply
2-17-2011 @ 6:52PM
curiousseeker13 said...so, what? england doesnt allow parents under the age 16 take care of their own children.. this is rediculous...
Reply
2-17-2011 @ 7:23PM
Steve said...dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/227553
for those who were bleating on about there must have been a reason the police were called.
Reply
2-18-2011 @ 2:13PM
Momof2 said...Thank you Steve; however that article also leaves out why the police where called. The reason doesn't really change the fact that it is an unreasonable law, I'm really just curious. It just seems odd that they don't tell us what prompted the call, a nosy neighbor, etc.
2-18-2011 @ 10:09AM
Natasha said...I was baby-sitting my younger brothers and sister by the time I was 13 and held after school baby sitting jobs by that time too! Guess my parents and my neighbors at the time were "horrible" parents.
Reply
2-18-2011 @ 2:44PM
Ann said...just like most of the other people I started babysitting at 12 I made a whopping .50 cents an hour. When I watched 5 kids I got 75. I fed the kids played with them and put them to bed To think thesr parents now would be charged with anything is outrageous.
Reply
2-18-2011 @ 4:04PM
Carol said...Welcome to the Nanny state. If the bleeding hearts here in the US have their way, we'll be right there with England. This is what the much-lauded (by some) English welfare/health care has come to. Complete control over lives!
Reply
2-19-2011 @ 1:35AM
NWGirl said...I can't even imgaine what the constabulary / CPS would have to say about how I was reared in the '60s and '70s near Los Angeles CA.
My parents both worked. They left in the a.m. before my sis and I went to elementary school down the street. We would spend an hour in the morn by ourselves before walking six houses down the street to school. After school, we and our slightly elder brothers would be home alone ("latch key kids") until the folks got home two or three hours after school ended. Between the four of us kids we were seven years apart.
I remember when my folks took my bros to Hawaii for vacation for about a week. They left my sis and me (elementary school age) at home. They had a teen (probably 19) who lived a block or so away check in on us each day in the afternoon after school to make sure we were ok. I recall that she stayed until the early evening before walking home a few blocks away. Other than that, we were alone. No problemo.
A few years later, our family lived overseas in the Middle East for a couple years when my sis and I were young teens (12-14 yrs). We attended an American school. At one point our grampa passed. Our parents went back to the states for a couple weeks for the funeral and to help Gram, leaving us behind so we could continue in school. Fair enough. We just kept doing daily stuff. We caught the school bus to/from school, got home, and spent the evenings alone doing homework and the like. No big deal.
Later, back in the States, when I was 16, I got cancer. My folks lived in So. Cal and had the jobs that paid the medical insurance. I ended up needing treatment in the bay area. So I drove up there myself, found an apartment, and then went to hospital every day for cancer treatment. I doubt my parents would have let me do that on my own had they thought I couldn't handle it. Frankly, it was pretty cool to be sans parents at that age. They were paying the bills (rent, food, etc.) so I didn't have to worry about any of that.
I have to believe if I could take care of myself (with parental financial support) doing cancer treatment and getting to the hospital every day for radiation treatment and all that stuff at 16, surely a 14 year old can handle watching a toddler sibling for half an hour (or even a couple hours) while his mum is at the store. Good grief.
Reply
2-19-2011 @ 1:57PM
Clyde said...I guess I missed something....How exactly did the cops find out???? Did they have the house under surveillance? Were they going door to door selling Tazers to raise money for new uniforms? I am confused....
Reply
2-19-2011 @ 8:17PM
Alicia said...As amusing as the taser idea is, they're illegal in the UK (as is CN mace and pepper spray). I'm going to guess nosy neighbor, as Jen G said, because the article she posted mentioned that there was no incident.