Being a new parent, this is one of the things I worry about the most:
A North Augusta mother is in jail after witnesses say she left her nine-year-old daughter at a nearby park, for hours at a time, more than once.
The mother, Debra Harrell has been booked for unlawful conduct towards a child.
I do not worry about leaving my 9-year old child at a park, I worry about the inanity of public perception having very real consequences for parents – even leading to their children being taken away or being imprisoned.
What is important to remember in this story, is that the relevant question is, “should a parent be imprisoned for leaving their child at a park?” not, “is leaving a child at a park a good idea?”. Some of the comments mentioned in the story don’t get at the relevant question, but rather the second one. This sounds like social desirability bias to me.
"I understand the mom may have been in a difficult situation, not having someone to watch the child, but at the same time, you've got to find somebody,"
"what if a man would have came and just snatched her because you have all kinds of trucks that come up in here so you really don't know."
"you cannot just leave your child alone at a public place, especially. This day and time, you never know who's around. Good, bad, it's just not safe."
Everybody knows that in “this day and time” you can never be too safe. But the normal logic of risk says that you can. Safety is a spectrum, and we trade off safety every day, even with our children. Parks are generally safe places, and they don’t become much safer because a parent is sitting on a bench texting 25 feet away. Kidnappings are extremely rare, and when they do occur, it is almost always a separated parent unhappy with the child custody terms. It is hard to believe that this child was in any real danger. It is realistic to believe that the child would more likely die in the car on the way to the park than be kidnapped by a stranger at the park.
I don’t know if leaving a 9 year old at a park for a few hours alone is a good idea. It depends on the child, and it depends on the park, and it depends on the life situation. There are many relevant variables which news stories and judgmental parents don’t get to see the specifics of. One reason I would never leave my 9 year old at the park is not because actual safety, but because public perception is often far departed from reality. That puts every child and parent in danger, ironically, from the child protection people.
