Abandoned Children

[Zanathie Avuna]

My bro and I thought it'd be a good idea if people hear this story. It's one easier told out loud, but I'll do my best to tell it as it was.

My english teacher has a daughter who works in downtown Denver at a level one school (which is for the poverty stricken), and two weeks ago this happened to her:

Her name is Sarah and she teaches 4th grade. Two Thursdays ago, a girl walked into her classroom holding her little brother's hand. She was a student of Sarah's, and she said that her mom wasn't there to pick her up. Sarah told her that her mom would be there soon. But the little girl then said that her mom hadn't been there since Sunday. Sarah then brought the two kids down to the principal's office and they called the police and filed a missing persons report.

They then went to the bombed-out motel that the little girl and her brother were staying in, the girl unlocked the door, and walked in. The room was completely empty, no sign of the mom anywhere.

Turns out the mom just got up and left. She just left!! Her two little kids there to fend for themselves! The girl and her bro had been coming back to this motel room for four days and did their homework each night. They had no food except what was provided at school. The only thing that kept these kids going was their homework. It was some sort of normality in their lives that kept them sane.

Sarah and the principal then took the kids to the Childrens Hospital where they have a whole ward dedicated to abandoned kids. They even have little baggies with pj's, a teddy bear and a little book for every age group and gender. The kids stayed over night there, while the police called around and finally found a relative that lived in Denver. She was the kids' grandma but she lived on the streets.

So the next day, the kids went into the custody of that grandma and are now living in a common house (owned by the gov). Sarah had said that she just wanted to adopt these kids, but she realized that working where she does, she will encounter this more than once.

That's the end of the story. I find it truly amazing how this little 4th grader and her younger brother lived by themselves for four days and didn't tell anyone, thinking that their mom would come back. Talk about a bitch- the mother. No mother should ever abandon her children That just doesn't sit well with me, and I think most people would agree.

[Shir'le E. Illios]

I saw True Blood a few weeks ago. One of the characters had the same thing happen to him as a kid (he came home from school and everything in the house was gone, all the furniture and everything, except for the things in his own room; his parents had just picked up and left). I thought it funny at the time because I couldn't for the life of me imagine something like that actually happening.

It's just... surreal.

I hope that those kids (and any kids really) will be ok.

Things like that make me think that people should pass some kind of personality test first before being allowed to have children. But then I'm not in favor of some kind of police state like that either.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

[veraka]

It's crap like this that makes me see red all over. I can't for the life of me seeing a rational human being actually doing such a thing to their own child, but sadly, I hear about it and in some cases, see it all to often.

It's truly sad for me to say this, but in some cases, animals due a better job of raising their offspring then humans do.

[Alak Xiltyn]

Sadly Sarah is right, she WILL be seeing more of this. My sister teaches at a similar school and tells stories likes this all the time. Happens to one of her students every 2-3 years and to someone in her school at least once a year. It's sad really.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

You'd think that someone could do something about this. It is wrong, horrible, and illegal. I wonder if they ever found the mother. Hope she got the book thrown at her for this. It's just despicable.

[Alak Xiltyn]

There's a lot that CAN be done, sadly most of it barely works. Most of these kids end up with relatives who are little better than their parents and if they are rarely have the resources to take care of more kids.

Failing that they end up in the already over crowded foster system, maybe with their siblings, maybe not. If they're lucky they end up and a crowded house with stressed out foster parents who try like heck to keep them on track and other kids who often have serious mental damage... and that's if they're lucky.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

There should be a better solution, though. over-crowed foster homes or uncaring relatives are not the best thing for already hurt kids. Perhaps parenting classes or some sort of support for mothers in poverty situations.

[Zanathie Avuna]

The only thing is, though, is that the mothers might just abuse that system. I have a friend whose boyfriend's bro is in the same predicament. He and his girl friend got evicted for their apartment and are now living with his parents and they keep asking them for money to feed their two little kids (a one-year-old and a three-year-old). They has money, but whenever they gets it, they just spends it on drugs, and not on their kids. For some twisted reason, some people just don't care. And V has a point, sometimes it does seem like animals take better care of their kids (but i have seen cases that prove otherwise, though rare).

And I asked my teacher about the kids and she told me that they are still living with their grandma and doing well. She and her family had gotten the kids some clothes and what not, so the kids were happy about that.

It makes me wonder what drives people to do these things. There are just so many reasons why someone would think to do that, but who would actually have the heart the follow through with it? The world is so corrupt, and there are so many things that make this world good and absolutely appalling, it almost hurts my head just thinking about it all.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

Abuse it? I was talking about support groups, not financial support. Parenting classes would really go a long way with some people, as would the support. I've seen so many cases of mothers simply drowning or shooting their kids because they can't handle it any more- makes me think that if they were given mental or spiritual assistance, these things would never happen. Seems like abandonment is just one step away from that sort of thing. Perhaps not as horrific, but just as bad in its own way. If mothers were educated and given goals and confidence, perhaps they might be better equipped to care for their children!! (And maybe include some sort of drug-rehab, as well, for those caught in that vicious cycle...)

[Alak Xiltyn]

A lot of programs like that do exist through Churches, community centers, etc. But sadly people like that rarely realize they're doing anything wrong, and even if they do they often don't care.

My sister has often remarked on how easily you can tell the difference between children whose parents are poor but trying and the kids whose parents just don't care.

[Zanathie Avuna]

I gotcha. Although I don't know if the mothers would be willing to admit they have these problems, or maybe they think they don't but they really do. Situations varies so much, it's hard to say. It just really depends on the predicament and the mother, if she's willing to realize how she is and change that.

But it's still a good idea, and I'm sure there's things like that our there, it's just a matter of attending, and also money. It seems like nothing is free nowadays because everyone wants something for something.

[Aylstra Illianniis]

Most communities I've lived in DO have some sort of program, usually govmt-funded. But the problem is that by the time a woman NEEDS an intervention or whatever, it's usually past the point of helping. It should be run more like the at-risk schools for kids, and have the mothers who need that sort of help the most get it from DAY ONE. Not after they are already caring for three kids while doing drugs in a low-rent, one-bedroom hovel, but as soon as they find out they are pregnant. Women with financial problems, or who have had track records of drug abuse or whatever, should get counseling and support and such from the community as a matter of course- PREVENTION, not INTERVENTION. If would work better than trying to fix things after there is already a problem.

[Zanathie Avuna]

I completely agree with you on that one.