Chacham's Journal: Verbiage: Cautioned for letting child wait alone for parent

Sensationalism? Overprotectiveness?

I think I need to find another planet to live on.

here

Holiday grandmother left girls in airport car park

Dave Mark
A CHILD safety charity has condemned a Yorkshire grandmother who abandoned two young girls in an airport car park so she could jet off to Greece.

The woman from Goole, who has not been identified, left the 11- and 12-year-old girls in a car at Stansted Airport, Essex, when she discovered their passports were invalid and they could not accompany her to the island of Corfu, along with their uncle.
The two adults were both stopped from getting on the plane to Corfu when the girls were found sitting in a car in the airport car park. They had been waiting for more than two hours.
The grandmother, 61, and uncle, 36, were cautioned by police after being arrested the adults on suspicion of child cruelty.
Last night, town residents said that the two had shamed themselves and the town.
Former town mayor Pat O'Neil said: "What were this family thinking of? You don't just turn your back on your own flesh and blood, no matter how much you want to go and top up your tan.
"Those girls were so vulnerable, especially given that it's an airport where all sorts of people are coming and going all the time.
"The jungle drums beat pretty loudly round here and everybody will know who they are. They won't be made welcome."
Essex Police last night confirmed that the four had travelled to Stansted Airport from Goole on Monday afternoon, for a family trip away. When they arrived at the check-in desk they discovered the girls' passports were about to run out and would not be valid when they were due to return home.
An Essex Police spokesman said the adults decided to take the girls back to the car, and rang their mother to tell her they were leaving the children behind, despite the girls not being able to travel.
The mother, who was unable to fetch her daughters immediately, asked a friend who had never met the girls before to collect them for her.
The spokesman said that before setting off from her home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, the friend contacted police.
After a search of the airport car park the girls were found safe and well in an unlocked Ford Focus.
A police spokesman said that after being cautioned the pair returned to the check-in desk to find out if they could continue with their holiday. It was not known if the two eventually travelled to Corfu.
A spokeswoman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, condemned the two adults.
She said: "It's just dreadful to think what those girls must have been feeling, sat in a car in a place like an airport, waiting for a stranger to pick them up. When you are responsible for a child your ultimate priority has to be their safety and well-being."

Pro-Choice

[superyooser]

What were this family thinking of? You don't just turn your back on your own flesh and blood

Hey man, it's her body, her life. Women's lib means being liberated from kids, too. This was nothing more than a post-birth abortion (a stage beyond partial-birth abortion).

Re:Pro-Choice

[Chacham]

Heh. A bit harsh, but they're taking it too far as it is.

Re:Pro-Choice

[superyooser]

Seriously, there are mainstream abortion activists (is that a contradiction of terms?) who say that it should be legal to "abort" a fetus/baby after full birth if the mother doesn't want the baby. I'm not sure if this is just for botched, late-term abortions (accidental births), but it really is post-birth (full-birth) "abortion."

Parenting

[mfh]

Without getting into it too much, I would like to say that anyone who would leave two girls alone in an airport for any number of hours has to have their head examined. I'm not sure if it's criminal, but it's pretty damn stupid. I know I would never leave anyone that age unattended in a big city. Sure if you're in the country or near home, it's a bit different, but in an airport? I think the selfish factor comes into play too. The grandma and uncle should have delayed their flights or had the girls wait wit

Re:Parenting

[Chacham]

But at ten and eleven, with the parent coming to get them, its a problem?

The girls couldn't be that stupid where they needed constant care. Do you think they shouldn't be allowed to ride around the block either?

I don't see the problem at all.

Re:Parenting

[freejung]

The problem is not leaving the kids alone, they are old enough for that. The problem is leaving them alone in an unsafe place for an extended period without well-formed plans to get them out. I agree that this is pretty irresponsible. If the kids are not your top priority, you shouldn't have care of them.

Re:Parenting

[Chacham]

The airport is unsafe?

And calling their mother who agreed to come pick is not a plan?

Re:Parenting

[ncc74656]

And who shows up to an airport without a passport?

I do, all the time. Then again, the last time I headed out of the country was 1998. You only need a passport for foreign travel, and maybe not even for all of that (if I'm not mistaken, you can travel from the US into Canada and (maybe) Mexico without a passport). Given the expense ($65 when I last updated mine) and lead time (a few weeks) involved in obtaining one, I suspect most Americans don't even bother obtaining a passport until it becomes necessa