Nebraska law allows abandonment of teens

I am a Magistrate in a Juvenile Court and I am troubled by the hateful, absent minded responses I have read to a serious and growing problem. Each day we process countless abused and neglected children whose parents, through drugs, alcohol or abandonement have given up on one of God's most precious gifts. Our state like many others is running out of funds to provide substitute care for these children. To open the doors to legal parental abandonement when we become angry or bored with chid-rearing is an abomination. I strongly support safe haven laws for young mothers to give their newborns up to waiting and eager adoptive parents. Our state is about to extend our law from 72 hours to 30 days but not beyond that. Every day in our country we read about babys left in bathrooms or dumpsters who die from these actions. A strong effort to advertise this option in youth shelters and teen hangouts would improve this . Please go the extra mile to share counseling with your child, to seek the help of other family members or the clergy. We are each responsible for our American future and that future starts with our children. TLC Dayton, Ohio.

personally cant believe that is even allowed children are basically reflection of there parents,if the parents didn't want the responsibility of raising a kid,there is such a thing a birth control.

And maybe, just maybe, the teen agers will put themselves in safe havens. Some of them think that their parents are the worst people in the world even though those same parents are trying their best to instill in their children good values, etc. and this sounds like a viable alternative for them. Not all parents are abusive; it's the child that is abusive of the parent.

Remember the old prayer which many a parent would like to say to their children, "just wait until you have children"..

Richie - the women's shelters need to be closed? Abuse doesn't happen? And if it does, tough luck? Hey man...when did YOU stop beating your woman?

Good lord...the nuts come out of the woodwork. Richie's the opposite end of the spectrum from the well-meaning but short sighted folks who wrote the Nebraska law.

To those that are reading this dialogue and wonder about the mental health of your fellow Americans: GET INVOLVED. VOTE. Or surrender your freedom and common sense to both ends of the lunatic fringe.

Sometimes allowing someone to walk away is the most responsible thing. If a person is unwilling or unable to for whatever reason, provide the support for the children or get the support they need for themselves, walking aways is the most responsible thing a person can do. It's sad and I don't think in reality there will be that many people to utilize this new legislation, but the ones that use such desperate measures will have to deal with that themselves, and we, as a responsible society will be there for the children when they need us. Orphanages may be making a comeback....

gjzAs usual the media has sensationalized this and not given the entire store in one "sound bite" or "package" as they refer to the story. I think the state is on the right track to help those parent whom need real help. Another

Sorry to disagree, I have helped raise a couple of great kids, but according to the "Parenting expert" Who ran a class we took years ago, I shouldn't even be a father. Because I called her on all her psych-babble and the fact that she was not a parent. And i truly have seen more rotton kids come out of home that believe in"parenting" rather then just being parents.

The fact that this idea is even being discussed and debated as a viable "alternative" to the responsibilities and joys of parenthood is disgusting. Coming up with ways for the government to take control of the natural function of parenting says a lot about the capacity for depravity of the wicked human mind. To speak of children as problems and "items" to be tossed around and treated as non-humans with no desire for love and connection even to people who are imperfect parents just blows me away.

Here's a what if: What if people taught their kids to have respect for other human beings? What if people taught their kids (and forced the schools to do so as well) that sex outside marriage is wrong and dangerous? What if people spent less time being self-absorbed and striving after consumables and focused their lives in a way that gave aid and love to other human beings -including their own kids? What if people stopped championing abortion and just learned to say "No" or practiced good birth control?

What if people stopped celebrating the darker parts of their souls (????) and exercised some moral decisions rather than following the lead of social engineering government entities, Hollywood dipstick "starlets", and deluded greedy people who care more for things than for humans?

Hellboy973... lucky you. Your mother didn't chose to abort your little selfish butt. I bet maxxiewillow above would come down on my side of this fence too. I'm sure maxxie would rather have been born than aborted, even with the drunk parents in the deal.

In the bible, and I'm not a bible thumper so don't even go there....

but in the bible, there is a verse that says God knew you even before you were born, when you were being knitted together in your mother's womb. Given how old the written bible is and how little human beings really knew or understood in those days about basic biology, it's hard to fathom that the words in that book were not inspired by God when the writers set them down on the old scrolls. To have an understanding that a baby forming in the womb is already a person in the eyes of God should be enough for any of the rest of us to respect that life as a precious gift, to be protected and nurtured and treasured. To even make an argument for abortion is to show total ignorance for the intrinsic value of each human being, from the moment they are conceived until they die a natural death.

No wonder kids are abused and abandoned. Their parents are just ignorant of the wonderful gift that a child really is. Or as Barack Obama puts it, he wouldn't want his daughters "punished" with a baby in an unplanned pregnancy. How selfish and ignorant can a person be? Pro-choice is a stupid position and totally indefensible.

smrtcookie04 really is a smart cookie

This is a very dumb law. I think todays kids are 100% better then their parents. Stop blaming kids for having bad parents. I was a waiter during college and was shocked by the number of crazy couples that came in with offspring. I felt bad for these kids that kids get trapped with crazy and bad parents. Its a dumb law, but allot of people in this country had no business producing offspring. Yea some kids are bad, but I'll trust young people with my future over dumb old people that have run this country into the ground. Todays kids are the best yet. I own three companies and would rather hire an 18 year old off the street then anyone over 30.

What does it mean to "abandon" a child? If a parent is unable to take care of their children doesn't it seem wise for the state to take over the care of those children? Do we need to wait until the children are abused or malnourished and the state is forced to act? There should be a compelling interest in doing what is best for the child rather than punishing the parents, and forcing them to punish the children in turn.

Lets give the parents there right's back, I am the oldest of eigth and the only thing that scared me was my Mother and Father getting mad at me and I would not dare tell them if you touch me I will call 911. I turned out to be a good father and all my siblings turned out to be real good parents also. Wake up America, no more goverment telling us what to do because of a few people that are abuser's. WHAT NEXT THE GOVERMENT IS GOING TO TELL US WE CAN'T HAVE KIDS OR MAYBE WHEN WE CAN EAT DINNER? WAKE UP THE LAND OF THE FREE NO MORE, WAKE UP

Kudos to Nebraska!! All I gotta say is, if my kids were still teenagers, I would be movin' to Nebraska!!

Todays kids are the greats generation. I don't have any kids, but my sisters and brothers do and they tell me wait until you get some, your view will change. I'm around young people all the time and they are always polite and respectful. I think it's a bad law, but if it helps a kid get away from bad parents then I'm cool with it.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of parents are ill equipped financially and emotionally to deal with children. Institutionalization to me would be the last resort. At least there's a choice in Nebraska.

There's all kinds of children who don't behave or tell their parents what to do. They are the ones who need to be dropped off. Too many kids today are disrespectful and could care less about their parents. It's a disturbing world out there. Plus a lot of kids are abused and someone else should have them, to love, instead of being abused. I'm glad there are states, where one can drop off any child and no questions asked. It could work out for the best.

They just make more anyway so why let these parents off without telling them if they have another kid they should be given a choice, jail or neutering.

As a 'older' adult I feel sorry for the young parents of today. Society has taken away the 'real' parenting process, ie, "You can't spank a child or you go to jail", "Do not correct a child or you might inhabit his natural growing stages", and etc.
What ever happened to the rule of "out behind the barn" if you got out of line or misbehaved? When I grew up we stayed out of trouble because of the fear of the punishment, where is the fear of punishment in today's children? Children of today are being trained to be utterly useless. A child of today does not know how to spend time alone in his room without the stereo, t.v. video games and cell phone! Some say parents are so busy making a living they do not have time to keep track of thier children or what they are doing. So ------------ get a smaller house, give up that damn big car, and quit trying to collect all that darn material stuff just to 'keep up with the Jones'. Your kids are going to pot and you are to darn busy to notice! Throw out that t.v., video games and cell phones! Invest in some books and spend time WITH YOUR CHILDREN. There used to be a comment that came across the t.v. years ago "It is now 10:00 p.m., do you know where your kids are?" Today it is: "It is now 10:00 p.m., do you know where your parents are?"
The children of today are our future. Just take a walk around any mall and watch the parents and teenagers there. You will hang your head in shame . I feel sorry for you all. I am glad I will be gone from this earth when they grow up and take over the mess you parents have left them.
If you have to, give the dang kid to the government! They can't do any worse than you are!

We are raiseing a nation of sissys and girly boys who dictate to their parents what they are going to do it is to the point that the coming generations will never survive

I assume that this is a conservative sponsored law. It is only typical of conservative folk to dump their problems on the government while taking no responsibility at all for the fact that they are the parents of these children.

I look at this dialogue and it's no wonder we are, as a nation, so confused. The folks that argue that 'hey, drop 'em off, they're misbehaving' are so weird and ugly; '4everamerica', here's a news flash: ALL kids don't behave and tell their parents what to do. But on the other hand you have the bible thumpers (yes, you, Cathy) who show no room for human error or human forgiveness.

Can't you people understand the difference between a living, thinking child and a fetus? The rights afforded to our citizens in the Constitution were to those BORN in these United States; even our slave owning forebears understood the distinction.

I have a young member of my family who is unmarried, working a minimum wage job, and is contemplating going to term with her baby. Thanks to you, Cathy and Cookie, we're going to have the conversation I should have had a month ago; it is STUPID and INDEFENSIBLE to bring a child into this world when you cannot afford to care for it, or do not wish to. I will offer to take her to a place that can offer her child up for adoption, but that is her call, not mine. Thanks for igniting that flame under me: I had resisted getting involved. But thanks to your dour, sanctimonious screeching, I realize that I must stand up for common sense.

I have to agree with "mom of the past". I'm a middle mom, one teenager left at home and I'm not 50 yet, but I spanked my kids when they needed it and would not hesitate to do it all again pretty much the same way. I sure could have used a respite like this for my oldest girl, though. She was a handful from 12 on up - still is and we get along best 1000 miles apart. I agree that sometimes there needs to be a safe place to put the horrendously unruly teen who constantly disrupts the rest of the household, but I can also see lazy parents abusing it. There needs to be rules for this to work, like a limited number of stays, mandatory counseling, parenting classes, etc. You get the picture. This should be part of a solution, not and end-all to a potentially fixable problem.

I think that this law goes too far it really is a law for people to just get rid of their kids. No offense, but I don't see how getting rid of your child in such a manner is easy for either for child or the parents. It really brings up the issue of whether or not this is considered cruelty to children and an easy out for parents who don't want to take the responsibility for their actions of bring a person into this world.

I'm sure that there are many who will disagree with my points, but I think such laws treat human life as if you were getting rid of some junk car or other unwanted items. Sure there are times when a child can be hard to handle and raise, but that is a part of parenthood and no one said it was going to be easy.

I read a few replies to this question and there are some sick people out there as well. Some the comments only reinforces that some people should never have children and should never be allow to hold political office and make up laws that endanger children. I wonder if we as a nation have gotten to the point that we scream for the rights of children and use the political slogans of we have to do this for the sake of our children and at the same time treat children as nothing more that disposable items and campaign slogans. What a sad nation and people we have become.

Paul Orlando

I think this is great because there are so many kids that are being abused and its sad. But, I really don't think alot of abusers especially child molestors will drop off their victims. alot of these abusers enjoy the power of intimidation and the sexual abuse. It should expand to children that if they are being abused, they could stay at their school and not be forced to go back home and have a full investigation and give the child the option of returning because I am tired of hearing about kids being beatened and they go to school and feel they have no where else to go, they feel trapped and are trapped to go home to evil people. I still think about a little girl in Atlanta, Ga whose parents, her biological father and step mother, who were large intimidating adults, would beat her and they killed her by tying her up in the gararge and beating her the whole day. Afterwards, people said they would see bruises at school but didnt say anything. I truly believe that if this child had of known that she could have told her teacher and did not have the fear of being returned at that moment, that she would have felt secure to tell someone. We have to remember these abusers, not parents because parents don't abuse, and these criminals use fear. They tell the child where are you going to go, who is going to keep you, you will break up the family, etc where the victim/child has no way out that they can percieve. We all perish for the lack of knowledge. We provide shelters for abused women, why should these children, victims of crime, have to wait before an hesistant adult hears their screams enough and call or until the sexually abused child becomes pregnant or a STD. I still tear up about the little girl in Atlanta and cant watch the news til this day from hearing about the horrors of abused children. I am in the process of becoming a foster parent and pursuing to adopt. This is my part. I know there will be some abuse of this system by some rebellious teens, but we can't let this stop us from trying to save at least one child.

what do you all expect? We gave our legislators full reign to develop laws whereby being a parent now means just a means of financial support. We can't spank our kids for fear of arrest and these ungrateful kids know this and take FULL advantage of this.

our government has taken away a parents right to be a parent. So, uncle sam is basically declaring itself big daddy. in a nutshell.