Saturday, January 3, 2009

are there Consequences to pay when there is Tragedy?

Just a thought and a discussion to see what others think?? This is in no way intended to slam anyone or hurt anyone, but to discuss a very important matter.

When there is a tragedy like the death of the little 4 year old, or the death of the baby in left in the back seat all day at the hospital, or the death of those 4 beautiful teens, or someone crosses a center line on accident and kills someone.................these are all accidents............or are they Negligence? Are they any different than any other thing that others are charged with. If you run a red light and don't hurt anyone you are issued a ticket. If you shoplift and get caught you go to court, if you rob a place and don't even kill anyone or get any thing, you may go to prison. Seems to me like our laws are double standarded in some cases. I have been thinking alot about the accidents with the 4 yr old, the baby, and the teens........should there be a price to pay for this or not................? Of course the family and friends all pay one price but is that enough. With no Consequences maybe thats why these things happen over and over. IF YOU SPANK YOUR CHILD IN PUBLIC, YOU RISK LOOSING YOUR CHILD AND YOUR OTHER CHILDREN, IF YOU DON'T TAKE CARE OF THEM AS THE SYSTEM FILLS YOU SHOULD, YOU PAY THE PRICE....... so what about all these accidents? If there was a price to pay on the norm..........just like if you know you get caught speeding you are more careful............. if people knew they were going to pay a price besides the high price of a life........would it be different. Money is very mysterous, having fines, time in jail or prison, not very appealing. Like I said, I am not expressing my personal opinion here as I don't know that I have yet formed an opinion, these are just thoughts that are crossing thru my head and I know others have said the same to me.
Please post your thoughts..................

19 comments:

  1. I prefer to think accidents. I know that the Bible says an eye for an eye and another popular saying that follows closely on the heels of that saying is-An eye for an eye and the whole world will be blind.
    But, here are my thoughts on the subject. If someone is driving under the influence and gets in a wreck and hurts someone, then yes there should be some form of consequences for the party at fault to pay. They had the option to call someone to give them a ride home.

    What happened in Ulysses in 2008 is tragic but accidents, in my eyes. The Accident in March which took four lives. Where that happened is a bad intersection. With the hill coming into town, the age of Jennifer and the fact that the car she was driving was full of girls. Regardless of what she has done since the accident, I still say it was an accident.

    Onto Ethan-I have read the other site and I am reading a lot of keep the families in your thoughts and pray for them. Also, where were the parents? First, let me say that I agree with the first two statements. Please, please, please keep the families in your thoughts. Now, for the last one. I somewhat agree with this but the parents do have three other children. You can not watch all the children all the time. Plus, kids can be sneaky when they want to be. Example, my son and I were watching TV. My husband and daughter were at Grandma's across the street. I went into a different room for a second and when I came back, my son was gone. I looked outside and there he was running to Grandma's.

    Also, being four, one must realize that he might have not remembered the do not go out in the street rule. Or, he saw something that he wanted across the street. I can't say what was going through his mind.

    But, I will say this and I said it on Topix, too. Keep the Blame and finger-pointing to yourselves for once.
    Sarah

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  2. Hi Sarah, The accident was the truck driver running over the little boy. I think that if a couple is going to one ,two, three or how ever many children they may have, then they need to be able to watch over them and if they can't, then they shouldn't have kids. I am sure that everyone knows a familiy that has multiple kids that run crazy through the neighborhood and have very little parental supervision. If the situation was like this, what would you say Sarah? If the parents had a habit of allowing their kids to run unattended on a regular basis would they then be negligent in he death of child that was killed like this. The reason I ask is because it sounds like this might be the case in this accident.

    Sarah, I am not pointing fingers and I do not believe Upap is. It is terrible that this happen and no little child should die this way. But you did not answer the question. If a mother leaves her child in a car all day and the child dies is she negligent and should she be charged. Do the police not charge negligent parents becasue they decide the parent has suffered enough? Should they make that determination or leave it to a judge and jury to decide their punishment?

    It was after dark and they two boys were riding bikes across a highway 2 blocks from home. They were somewhere over on the west side of Highway 25 and the little one was chasing his brother.

    If there is a history of letting their play in the streets unattended, then I believe the police should investigate it and file charges. If the trucker was breaking the law and killed the boy, everyone would want him to be charged.

    MSK

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  3. In the case of the mother leaving her baby in the car. Yes, I think she should be charged. After all, how can you miss a infant carrier?

    Kids in my neighborhood play in the street all the time. Not my kids, though. Thank goodness. But, the cops out here know about the kids and don't do anything about it. At least, we don't have as many vicious pitbulls out here as we once did. To answer another question I am sure you have, yes the dogs are running loose in the streets along with the kids. We still have some pits out here and no, the dogs won't come into my yard. But, I keep an eye on my kids and they know better than to play in the street.

    As for the finger pointing, That was a general comment not meant to be directed at anyone in particular and if anyone took it that way, I apologize. It's just on Topix.com there are hateful things being said. I know that is par for the course but I for one am tired of it. As are we all.
    Sarah

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  4. Hi Sarah, how is the mother leaving the infant in a car seat all different from a mother not knowing where her four year old after dark? When my kids were four they were not outside without me. MSK

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  5. leaving your kid in the car is way different than your kid riding a bike

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  6. Two very young children and parents not knowing where your child is and it results in their death. That is the same in both cases. MSK

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  7. I agree with Red Man. Leaving a child in a car even with the windows rolled down just a bit is fatal. After all, that is one of the main things we hear when it becomes summertime. "A car parked in the shade even with the windows rolled down a crack can have its interior temperature soar to over a 110 degrees."

    And like I posted on Topix. Kids can be sneaky. My five year old son and I were watching TV. I went into my room to get something and came out and my son was nowhere to be found. I looked outside and there he was running across the street to Daddy and Grandma's house. Thabkfully, Daddy was outside watching him. The reason my son went outside was to find his dad.

    According to Topix.com, Ethan did have his older brother outside with him before the accident. Ethan went into the street and older brother went running into the house to get his mom. It's sad and tragic, but an accident.

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  8. They were more than 2 blocks from home. We're not talking in the street in front of their home. MSK

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  9. I can imagine an infant accidently being left in a car. Unfortunately parents are busy, busy...some of us are on medication that cause memory issues, emergency situations come up where we do things out of the ordinary, communication among spouses happen, and those carriers are so darn big, unless you hear the baby in a rear facing car seat, you cannot see if the infant is in the seat in the rear view mirror...at least not the one I owned. That is not an excuse and I know that, I try every day to double check on my little one, and every day I double check the backseat when I come in to work....even if I remember dropping my little one off at daycare. I am not saying that there should be no legal consequences, however for public opinion to turn as it has in these 3 cases is awful. Sometimes it is not widely published what the legal ramifications are for those that are in "charge" or "neglectful". I believe we should allow our legal process to take place and as a decent person be understanding and try to put ourselves in their shoes. I try hard to ask myself how would I be acting right now if it where me? What circumstances in my life do I forsee that could allow this to happen to me? We are all entititled to our own opinions, but I remember being 9 years old and across town with my little sister walking her to the pool. What if she drowned while we were there? Would public opinion turn on my mom for being at work instead of at the pool? What if my little girl were to choke on piece of food and I had not taken a CPR course, by the time paramedics arived it is to late, am I neglectful for not taking the CPR course? I believe that no matter what precautions you take, if it is your time to go, you will be taken. To all those who have lost in the past couple of years to these accidents, these unfortunate events, my heart goes out to you for your pain, loss, and the cruel actions taken against you by the public opinion. I only hope that as a young parent I will learn from others and try hard in my every day to keep myself and my little one safe.

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  10. I think that as a society we always want someone to blame for an accident. I know that at times you can think something is safe and it turns out that your children can be very sneaky. My oldest child and my little one were playing out back in a fenced yard when I went inside and changed the laundry in that time my oldest son unlocked the gate and took my little one out front. I was gone only a few minutes and I was panicked. If in that time something should have happened I would have never forgiven myself...but to be punished by law...I think we all need to remember what accident means :An unexpected and undesirable event, especially one resulting in damage or harm:Unforseen! We need to stop trying to punish everyone and try to remember some goodness and I am not meaning the good judgmental Christian I mean real true goodness(not a be so judgmental)

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  11. Enaqua and Steel say it perfectly. These tragic incidents that have happened the last year and a half in our community are truly accidents. If people think otherwise then they need to step back and think how they would feel if a tragedy like this happened to them personally. I am truly glad that we don't see more accidents within the younger generation due to them having more freedom to go out and do things and us as parents not being able to keep a close eye on them. If you have time go to this website and see that we are not the only ones that have terrible things happen to younger kids. Go to www.mydeathspace.com and click on recent articles and see all the people in the united states that were taken at a young age.

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  12. Ok, let me turn this around on you guys. This is a terrible accident, no one is responsible for the childs safety, kids are sneaky and parents can't be expected to watch their children all the time no matter how many they have. Right? That is what you all have said.

    Four year old at a Day Care Provider and this same thing happens. Kid sneaks out and gets run over by a car. Tradgic accident, kids will be kids and they are sneaky. And surely that poor babysitter can't be expected to watch all those kids all the time.

    Now look mem in the eye and tell me you wouldn't go after that sitter with everything you could, criminal and civil.

    MSK

    P.S. - I don't really want the family charged with a crime. I do think it is unfortunate that the children were not being watched closer. My prayers go out to them.

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  13. I dont know why you cant find something else to talk about

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  14. True, but it would also come up that you were paying for a service(watching your kids) and that daycare provider failed to provide the service that you were paying for. That is why there are laws for daycare providers on how many kids they can watch. If that happened with the daycare provider that I have now, I could honestly tell you that I would not press charges against her.

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  15. Red Man, what do you suggest we talk about then? I sure don't see you bringing up any new topics to discuss.

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  16. I was thinking something on the same line as Patriot. What if it were not the parents home. What if they had an in home day care provider. I bet the parents would want charges to be filed. Are parents less responsible than day care providers. Again, yes I am sorry for the parents, and no I do not want them to go to jail or get in trouble. This is just all food for thought............ something to think about.

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  17. All I have to say is I'm very fortunate I didn't lose a child to a severe accident. Thus I have to write what I read in the Gospel of Matthew. "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of judging you will be judged by your Father in Heaven." Joy

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  18. Red Man, I agree with Brainy. What do you want to discuss? What about the infomercial on tv in the middle of the night about you needing to have your colon cleansed and getting all the stale poopy and tape worms out, or what is your favorite movie, or why does some people think that Obamama is going to pay their car payment or their gas bill like he promised them in a Denver speech, etc. how dumb huh? Or why doesn't Marvin hang his head in shame instead of working at his business? or is it close to being the end of the world when Jesus returns for his people and gets rid of the anti-christ etc. Or something we can laugh about for a change. Go for it Red Man. joy

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  19. If Jennifer doesn't have a conscience, what help does it do to get her professional help? She has to want help before it helps her. joy

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