I met with countless children during my years as a crisis therapist for a hospital. More often than not, I thought that the kid I saw had a lot of internal struggles and problems, but would behave much better if the mother and father knew how to "parent" better. If the kid was in a better environment (i.e., if he had different parents), the problematic behaviors would be greatly diminished.
Apparently, that was thinking of the folks in the great state of Nebraska when they designed a "safe-haven" law. I mean, why else would parents leave their 16-year-old boy at a hospital designed as a "safe-haven" zone, if there weren't some behavior problems? All that will soon change, however, when Nebraska switches to only accepting children younger than 4 days old.
The new law won't take effect until January, so you can still threaten to drive your incorrigible teen to Nebraska if she doesn't shape up.
I still think four days is a bit too little - when does colic set in? Six months might be more realistic.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile - read an interview with teh governor of Nebraska in which he indicated that one father dropped his son off for only 24 hours in hopes of scaring him... this is parenting?
I can't remember exactly, but I thought Indiana law stated that the child had to be younger than 30 days old. The hospital where I worked (Community) had a Safe Zone, but I never heard about anyone leaving their child there.
ReplyDeleteLemming, there were countless numbers of parents who brought their children to the Community crisis office, thinking that a few days in the psych word would fix all their years of bad parenting.
I can't remember exactly, but I thought Indiana law stated that the child had to be younger than 30 days old. The hospital where I worked (Community) had a Safe Zone, but I never heard about anyone leaving their child there.
ReplyDeleteLemming, there were countless numbers of parents who brought their children to the Community crisis office, thinking that a few days in the psych word would fix all their years of bad parenting.