Nebraska Dad Uses Law to Abandon Teens

[Principessa]

I'm not trying to start a thread war, but IMHO this is why Pronatalist is wrong and in addition some children need spankings.

Nebraska parents use law to abandon teens

By Timberly Ross
Associated Press
Friday, September 26, 2008

Omaha, Neb. —- Nine siblings are among 11 children as old as 17 who were left at Omaha hospitals Wednesday under Nebraska’s unique and new safe- haven law, which allows caregivers to abandon babies and teenagers alike at hospitals without fear of prosecution.

The law, originally intended to protect infants, was expanded in a legislative compromise to protect any “child.” Some have interpreted that to mean anyone under 19.

Gov. Dave Heineman, who signed the law, and some other former supporters are among those now saying changes are needed.

“People are leaving them off just because they can’t control them,” state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced the original bill, said Thursday. “They’re probably in no real danger, so it’s an easy way out for the caretaker.”

The nine siblings —- five boys and four girls ages 1 to 17 —- were left by their father, who was not identified, at Creighton University Medical Center’s emergency room, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Unrelated boys ages 11 and 15 also were surrendered Wednesday at Immanuel Medical Center.

At least 16 children have been abandoned since the law took effect in July, the state agency said.

Todd Landry, director of the state division of Children and Family Services, said that in nearly every case, the parents who left their children felt overwhelmed and had decided they didn’t want to be parents anymore. None of the kids dropped off so far has been in danger, he said.

“It was the parents not wanting to continue the journey with their kids,” Landry said Thursday at a news conference in Lincoln.

The department was still investigating Wednesday’s drop-offs. It wasn’t clear why their father gave them up, Landry said.

Five of the nine siblings were placed in a foster home and the rest were taken to an emergency shelter, he said. The department was working on a new arrangement that would keep the kids together.

In the other cases on Wednesday, one child was temporarily placed in foster care and the other was in the hospital for evaluation.

Youngsters abandoned under the safe-haven law are generally placed in protective custody while the courts decide where the child should live.

Parental rights don’t end automatically, but parents who change their minds about abandonment may find it difficult to regain custody. A county attorney may determine that a child should be allowed to return home, Landry said.

Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law. Under previous law, a parent who abandoned a baby could have been charged with child neglect or abandonment, both misdemeanors, or child abuse, a felony.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

Thats such a sad story.

 

[prepstudinsc]

I don't know why people would do this, especially to teenagers. It's better than leaving a baby in a garbage dumpster, but isn't there some middle ground?

As to NJ's comment about spankings...I agree. Many parents want to be friends to their kids instead of being parents. The parent is in control and needs to excercise control in a loving way. There is punishment and there is abuse and the two are different. I had many spankings as a child--usually with a wooden spoon from the kitchen. I also had my mouth washed out with soap for talking back to my mother. I don't do it now...I learned my lesson!

 

[Mr. Snakey]

I don't know why people would do this, especially to teenagers. It's better than leaving a baby in a garbage dumpster, but isn't there some middle ground?

As to NJ's comment about spankings...I agree. Many parents want to be friends to their kids instead of being parents. The parent is in control and needs to excercise control in a loving way. There is punishment and there is abuse and the two are different. I had many spankings as a child--usually with a wooden spoon from the kitchen. I also had my mouth washed out with soap for talking back to my mother. I don't do it now...I learned my lesson!

I agree with your comments and NJ's. I just found this story so heart breaking and sad. Its such a shame. What has become of our world? We live in a disposable society. Everything from electronics and so one is disposable. Now sadly humans are disposable too. When we no longer need them we just throw them away. So sad.

 

[Deno]

Totally unbelievable this happens but 9 kids, dang. Someone should have pulled when he pushed. It is possible the 9 kids will get some needed food and attention, I wish I could help them out somehow. I can't imagine many states taking the same approach as they did Neb. I can't imagine how someone feels when there rejected by there own parents. Its one thing not feeling loved but to be just dropped off like that has to be mind altering.

 

[marleyisalegend]

Thankyou NJ. I don't mean to make an example out of these kids because it's a sad story and I hate to think how this is going to affect them. HOWEVER, if you ever need proof that humans should NOT be procreating without restraint, this is it.

Some people would ignore these kids' suffrage for the sake of saying "Yay, more bodies, more babies into the world!" People who are pro-life are so blinded by the actual birth that they forget that it's NOT the birth that matters, rather what happens AFTER the birth that can diminish whatever joy these is in saying "Yay, I'm a parent!"

Some people do NOT need to be making babies. Unfortunately, often times, those are the ones who DO make babies.

 

[AllHazzardi]

It may be sad, but I'd rather see a bunch of kids raised by people who will take care of them, not by someone who would abandon them.

 

[marleyisalegend]

It may be sad, but I'd rather see a bunch of kids raised by people who will take care of them, not by someone who would abandon them.

I don't think people realize how FEW people take care of kids. The parents don't. IF they get caught, the kids get put in foster care...with drug dealers, child-porn/prostitution rings, and people who just want a check. We can curb this problem by installing those at-birth chastity belts I've been lobbying for.

They don't get removed until you pass a basic literacy test, a paternal skills exam, common sense and logic exam, and a are-you-gonna-make-this-child-live-in-roach-infested-slop exam.

Since I know that's not realistic, I'll just go on cursing people for not keeping their legs closed. Has this dad never heard of a condom?

 

[beretta8]

It may be sad, but I'd rather see a bunch of kids raised by people who will take care of them, not by someone who would abandon them.

Me too. What are the chances of these kids getting into a caring home and not being bounced from foster home to foster home and possibly being treated worse and left to be raised by the system....?

 

[pronatalist]

What does a possible "bad" law, have to do with supposedly showing my position to be wrong? I have long advocated that people be free to procreate naturally, the natural flow of human life unhindered. But I do not say, that people should abandon taking proper moral responsibility for their actions. The standard presumption is, that the parents should be of stable committed marriages/families, and that they raise all their children themselves, or find suitable guardians or people to adopt their children.

And I thought whatever "safe haven" laws, were supposed to be about allowing people to have their babies instead of feeling pressured towards abortions? Where did abandoning older children enter in? Who are these liberals, who want to relegate parenthood, to "just another hobby?" I believe the planet can easily be adapted to hold more and more human population. But with freedom, comes the need for personal responsibility and self-control. Big Brother government can't be expected to "hold people's hands" to make their decisions for them, in a vast world of "burgeoning billions." People have to take responsibility themselves. If people like to be free, then they should exert "positive peer pressure" upon others, to make better choices, and not be behaving foolishly, that then invites Big Brother government to have to come in and try to solve the problems they foolishly create. For example, I don't think there should be laws against cellular phone use while driving. How can "the law" know what is really "an emergency" call, and what isn't? Some people caught on their cellphone, might rarely ever use it while driving. While I see others pulling out of the parking lot, already yack-yack-yack on their cellphone. If I had a cellphone, I would likely answer it if it rings while driving, as that would rarely happen, so it must be an emergency? But there will be such unjust "laws," if people don't show a little responsible restraint, and try to reduce on their own, some of the needless "distracted driving" going on. Now the news says that texting while driving, is a huge problem. Texting is even more distracting. Is "common sense" not so common anymore?

Babies are more easily placed for adoption. And what's the issue with older children? Most parents seem to soon bond with their children, so unless the culture is just hostile against children, or parents find no way to be instructed by their own parents or Church or something, how to raise children, presumably, most parents would keep their children living in their own homes, until their children are ready to move out and work jobs of their own to pay their bills/expenses.

It could be a symptom of a culture in which people are rarely home, too busy doing what? They used to call the children of such, "latchkey" children, meaning that the children have the key to their home, come home alone, some children are good and watch TV and do their homework, pop a snack into the microwave oven, watch themselves okay, while others get bored and go out and get into trouble. The answer is to examine why are people rarely home? And where are the absentee Dads, that leads to gang behavior, the gang serving as a substitute "family." And what can be done to encourage a more family-friendly culture? Maybe we have had a national stupid attack of rampant feminism or something, and need to relearn from our tradition, roots, or how other cultures still do it? Isn't one wage earner per family enough? Why not? Corporate greed and corporate welfare? Little or no respect in our culture for the Stay-At-Home Mom? Stagnant wages? It's not at all a problem of having "too many" children, as many of the people having the most children, often are among the least offending in such issues. Often it is the Stay-At-Home Moms and such, who tend to keep "popping out" more babies. Often it is the best and most moral families, that have the most children.

And oh yes, I do agree that some children occasionally need to be spanked, and that parents surely, have that right to discipline their children within some reason. Back in the old day, any neighbor or teacher could spank a child, and if that happened, the child could expect to be spanked again by their father. Strangely, there was very little discipline problems in schools, and children were very respectful of teachers. Back in the day, I hear Gasp! there were guns in school. Boys would bring loaded rifles to school, and go hunting after school. There were no metal detectors nor security guards, because weapons and respect for elders, weren't problems. And school wasn't so much an "entitlement" but a priviledge and honor to attend. So getting expelled or suspended would have been a huge and feared punishment?

I'm not trying to start a thread war, but IMHO this is why Pronatalist is wrong and in addition some children need spankings.

Nebraska parents use law to abandon teens

By Timberly Ross
Associated Press
Friday, September 26, 2008

Omaha, Neb. —- Nine siblings are among 11 children as old as 17 who were left at Omaha hospitals Wednesday under Nebraska’s unique and new safe- haven law, which allows caregivers to abandon babies and teenagers alike at hospitals without fear of prosecution.

The law, originally intended to protect infants, was expanded in a legislative compromise to protect any “child.” Some have interpreted that to mean anyone under 19.

Gov. Dave Heineman, who signed the law, and some other former supporters are among those now saying changes are needed.

“People are leaving them off just because they can’t control them,” state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced the original bill, said Thursday. “They’re probably in no real danger, so it’s an easy way out for the caretaker.”

The nine siblings —- five boys and four girls ages 1 to 17 —- were left by their father, who was not identified, at Creighton University Medical Center’s emergency room, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Unrelated boys ages 11 and 15 also were surrendered Wednesday at Immanuel Medical Center.

At least 16 children have been abandoned since the law took effect in July, the state agency said.

Todd Landry, director of the state division of Children and Family Services, said that in nearly every case, the parents who left their children felt overwhelmed and had decided they didn’t want to be parents anymore. None of the kids dropped off so far has been in danger, he said.

“It was the parents not wanting to continue the journey with their kids,” Landry said Thursday at a news conference in Lincoln.

The department was still investigating Wednesday’s drop-offs. It wasn’t clear why their father gave them up, Landry said.

Five of the nine siblings were placed in a foster home and the rest were taken to an emergency shelter, he said. The department was working on a new arrangement that would keep the kids together.

In the other cases on Wednesday, one child was temporarily placed in foster care and the other was in the hospital for evaluation.

Youngsters abandoned under the safe-haven law are generally placed in protective custody while the courts decide where the child should live.

Parental rights don’t end automatically, but parents who change their minds about abandonment may find it difficult to regain custody. A county attorney may determine that a child should be allowed to return home, Landry said.

Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law. Under previous law, a parent who abandoned a baby could have been charged with child neglect or abandonment, both misdemeanors, or child abuse, a felony.

 

[B_Think_Kink]

Wow abandoning 9 children. That is a kick in the pants for the state. I hope they change the laws. I hope they slap the father with a huge neglect fine too. I can't imagine how much being dropped off by your father would change your life.

 

[marleyisalegend]

Wow abandoning 9 children. That is a kick in the pants for the state. I hope they change the laws. I hope they slap the father with a huge neglect fine too. I can't imagine how much being dropped off by your father would change your life.

Worst of all, if there are any loving, responsible gay people in the area who would be glad to adopt and raise those kids, they can't.:frown1:

 

[Principessa]

It may be sad, but I'd rather see a bunch of kids raised by people who will take care of them, not by someone who would abandon them.

That's a lovely sentiment except for the fact that most foster familys are not equipped to take in 9 children from the same family. Being abandoned is extremely traumatic, being split up from your siblings probably for the first time ever is devatstating to the soul.

Wow abandoning 9 children. That is a kick in the pants for the state. I hope they change the laws. I hope they slap the father with a huge neglect fine too.

I can't imagine how much being dropped off by your father would change your life.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Abandonment Issues. I have them and they suck. They are virtually impossible to get rid of w/o years of therapy.

The Five Stages of Abandonment are: 1. Shattering: Severing of love-connection, devastation, shattering of hopes and dreams. The emotions are shock, panic, despair, feeling you can't live without your love. 2. Withdrawal: You're in painful withdrawal of love-loss, as intense as heroin withdrawal. The emotions are yearning, craving, obsessing, longing for your ex's return. 3. Internalizing: As you try to making sense of the rejection, you doubt and blame yourself. Idealizing the abandoner at your own expense, narcissistic injury sets in and fear incubates. 4. Rage: Reversing the rejection and having retaliatory feelings. Displacing anger on friends who don't understand or are critical of the abandoner leads to more unhealthy action. 5. Lifting: Rising out despair, life begins to distract you. You begin to open to love again and all its possibilities. You “SWIRL” through all the stages over and over until you emerge out the end of the tunnel a changed person capable of greater life and love than before.

​

Totally unbelievable this happens but 9 kids, dang. Someone should have pulled when he pushed. It is possible the 9 kids will get some needed food and attention, I wish I could help them out somehow. I can't imagine many states taking the same approach as they did Neb.

I can't imagine how someone feels when there rejected by there own parents. Its one thing not feeling loved but to be just dropped off like that has to be mind altering.

See my answer to Think_Kink above.

 

[B_Think_Kink]

Worst of all, if there are any loving, responsible gay people in the area who would be glad to adopt and raise those kids, they can't.:frown1:

That's is heartbreaking.