Should she have been arrested?

You made me think of all the threats I've told my kids, including the car one. "I brought you in this world and I can take you out." "How would you like to be knocked into next week?" And my personal favorite when one of them goes on about all they've done that I should be grateful for: "I gave birth to you. Top that." As far as the woman goes, I'm not sure what to think of it. I can understand kicking them out of the car, but not leaving the area. She could have easily showed them she meant business without driving away.

Geesh... Times have changed! My Mom did that to us once about a block from the house, (wasn't traumatic) but the funniest one was when a few friends and I were looking at colleges! Mom had taken us four girls on a road trip. We were being a bit outrageous and she had warned us to simmer down a bit... (Flirting with truckers etc..) We all went to the bathroom and she had told us to get in the car by a certain time. Well, we fiddled around and she left us in the middle of Kansas!! or so we thought.... She was at the gas station around the corner. She could see us, we couldn't see her. Freaked us out!! We were good the rest of the way. In this story above you say the Mom came BACK! How many moms DON'T come back?? Those are the ones you arrest and seek counselling for! And how close were they to home? Sometimes moms need a time out. Mom came back. That indicateds to me that she wasn't abandoning her kid. She just needed a break from whatever made her pull over in the first place. Better that than beating them. I'd have gotten mom's story before arresting anyone. I'd recommend a solution, not arresting anyone. That probably made it worse! How did the 10 year old get home after MOM got arrested? Isn't she still abandoned?? Now by the authorities. For crying out loud the girl was 10. At 10 girls have their own phones, Ipods, PSPs, TVs, Tevos, they can get birth control at school, but they can't walk home? If I were the Police I'd have a talk with those girls!! A distracted Driver is no good to anyone. The girls should have stopped. I know it's hard for girls to stop once they get going, but at some point.... children have so much power now to destroy adults. I'm sure a few of them don't mean to, but they do. They see things through children's eyes and it's always "unfair" and "wrong". It's getting harder to parent any child. Curious... what law did they state she broke? Endangerment of a child? So, the kid has less than a 3 mile radius from home? Not allowed to go walk over to wherever this ice cream was purchased? It seems it was her neighborhood. Wow, things are sure different where I live. Kids walk over 10 miles to go to a recreation center, or home after school if they missed the bus... YES the 8, 9 and 10 year olds. What is the 100% fool proof solution? I hope those girls feel bad for what they created. I'm sure the mom won't do it again... if she ever gets to be a mom again.

My answer is an absolute YES, she should have been arrested for her act. Being a parent, she must understand and be ready to absorb any pressures. What she should do is to tell the girls to stop arguing or she would pull the car over for a period of time until they stop, if that does not work, ignore them until you get home and try to resolve the situation at home. She could be charged of abandoning her children, irresponsibility, rudeness to the minors and dangerous driving with someone chasing the car who is her own child. What if the left alone child got kidnapped by a passerby or what if the child who chased the car got tripped and got into an accident? Severe punishment is the right thing to do for bad parent(s). Cheers!

You can have a "latch key" kid when they are 8 so I'm not sure what she did was illegal. At 10 years old you are talking 4th to 6th grader. The child probably walks to the playground in her neighborhood by herself. It shouldn't have been illegal. As a personal choice, no way in the world would I leave my child alone. I wouldn't let my child stay in my house alone at that age, much less walk to the playground. I wouldn't even let my child walk to school. There are probably other circumstances to consider. Does the child walk to school. Most school age children living with-in a couple of miles of school walk to school. I don't think that's a good idea but it is legal. Please explain the difference. Just because we don't do something a certain way doesn't mean other people shouldn't have the right to do so.

She was gone long enough for a stranger to buy the kid an icecream and the police to get there so yes she should have been arested. This stranger could have been a bad guy and taken her and done anything, she was lucky he was a good person. Personally I would have not let the older girl back in and would have followed them as they walked a few blocks. By no means would I have let them out of my sight. I have actually pulled the car over with my nieces and nephew becuase they were being so bad. They got to do jumping jacks until they were to tired to pick on each other. But not once did I let them out of my sight and we were at a rest stop so it was safe to pull over.

Well arrested is harsh, I think a fine would have been better. That poor girl could have ended up in the hangs of a criminal. Then what? I think she put her daughter in danger for sure and that is a big NO NO to me. I would have probably yelled at them and if they had continued I would have threatened them with no tv or computer for the night. They would eventually learn but you have to carry out your threats. If not they believe you are a push over and will continue with the bad behavior.

Wow. You know, i'm all for creative parenting but that is just wrong. She is lucky that stranger wasn't a pervert. I could see maybe kicking them out of the car and sitting there in the car while they sat outside thinking about what they did, but not driving away and leaving them there. Especially leaving the youngest by themselves. And it's not like she just drove around the block and came back if the stranger had time to call the police, buy the kid an icecream and the police where there to arrest her on the spot before she got back. I get the following through on your threats and stuff but I just think this was not a good one to make because following through with it could have cost her the life of her 10 year old.

Sure, what parent hasn't? I wouldn't go through with it like this mom did, but I have pulled over before. That pretty much does the trick for my kids. I think her getting arrested is a little extreme. After all, she was just following through with her "threat". Okay, so she probably shouldn't have made it to begin with, but how are her kids (or anyone else's for that matter) ever going to learn to behave if they get away with misbehaving? I guess it would have been different if she would have left her child there, but then again where exactly is "there"? It was a few miles from home. It wasn't like her daughter was miles from nowhere. Plus, we have to remember that the mom did go back for her. It wasn't like she abandoned either of her kids. I wouldn't doubt that the person that called it in doesn't even have kids. And just think, after this incident this same person will probably be the first to complain if this mom's kids are being bratty.

WOW I think she should've been arrested since she left the 10 year old alone. Now if I was her and my kids were misbehaving I would've stopped the car and keep them both outside of the car until they decide to behave but I would never drive off without my children. And what if a sick stranger found the child and kidnapped her or worse murder her?

I think if her child was "alone" and a stranger was able to coax her somewhere & get her an ice cream while they waited for authorities then YES! She was lucky that stranger was a good person and not some sicko. If anything I hope they just give her probation and require her to go to parenting classes. I think she left just to say she "MENT BUSINESS" & was just fed up. I understand what she did as one can only take so much and kids are more stressful than we anticipated when we decide to start a family. I don't think I could just ditch them by the road. I'd maybe pull over and have a few words with them about their behavior & if I had to talk to them individually I would. But I would not leave them or make them chase after the car.... thats some "lesson"

This is hard to say. One she should not have drove off since the 10 year old was picked up by a stranger, had ice cream and waiting for the police to arrive. What kind of parent would do that to their child specially being that age. I know kids don't stop and now adays kids are so selfish, and so bad that they do need a good swift kick in the butt but then again that is child abuse and you can't do that. I don't agree with parents not being able to spank their bottom. It's not like it's going to be a hard one but kids now adays really need it. Kids have no respect anymore.

I think she should be charged. What if the stranger was not so kind and got the kid ice cream then molested and killed her??? I think if the mom would have threatened to kick then out and then did. But not leave until the girls say they would stop. Scare them into thinking she would leave them. But not actually doing it would have been better. I can undersatnd kids driving you to your limit but you cant endanger them. Another form of punishment would have been much better. I dont know what their mission was that day but maybe not allowing them to go on outings could of helped. Until they learn how to behave in the car. The driver needs to concentrate on the road not on two squabbling sibling in the back seat.

I think we should not entirely blame her for being harsh because we do not know what type of problems she is facing. Mothers do have a lot of responsibility and of course good mothers can handle pressure well and be sane all the time especially dealing with troublesome children although we know that a child cannot be expected to behave maturely like an adult. So I guess what I suggest is instead of arresting and hating her, somebody needs to help her control her emotion.

I actually know people who have kicked their kids out of the car, but they also had sight of their children the entire time. I think that in today's society it is way too dangerous to discipline a child in that way. There are so many sick people out there, and anything could've happened to that kid. I understand where she was coming from when she kicked them out of the car, but I think she deserved to be arrested for leaving. It only takes a few seconds for a child to be abducted. It's common knowledge that children are a handful, but when they act up you can't just leave them (even if it's only for a minute).

My hubby has threatened our kids with that many times before, it makes them behave. He has never actually followed through with the threat though and I am pretty sure that he never would. I would have to say that I feel she endangered her children by actually doing that because in the time that she did it a stranger bought her child an ice cream and could quite easily have taken her, it could have turned nasty.

My mom tossed me out of the car once and told me to walk home. I was only like three blocks from my house though. So I think this was a harmless thing the mother did if she was close to home. A 10 year old should be old enough to walk that far. I remember walking 5 blocks to school everyday without any supervision. I was like 8 years old. People didn't really worry about pedophiles and stuff back then. :-\

Wow, this was dangerous on so many levels. I mean the 12 year old could have gotten injured chasing down the car. She let the 12 year old in and left the 10 year old alone? There are just so many crazy people in the world. Thank God that it was a decent person who befriended the 10 year old, it kind of scary that the 10 year old went with a stranger in and of itself. As far as calling the police, no one knew if she was coming back, she kicked the kids out of the car and took off. A parent is responsible for protecting their children, even when they are being loud, obnoxious, annoying, and mean. This mother basically abandoned her kids and alot of bad things could have happened.

I think thats such a good story! OK the parent shouldnt have left the kid for so long, but at least the kids now know their mom is being serious. Its really dangerous for the driver having people messing around in the car and it can so easily cause crashes. my dad used to pull the car over when me and my bro were little and wouldnt drive on until we had chilled out. Its good that the mom kept her promise instead of just threatening. Threatening is almost the same as lying and even though she got arrested (quite rightly for leaving the kid unattended for so long) at least she earned the trust of her kids.

i can understand to a degree what she was feeling my kids drive me mad when they argue with each other especially if im driving and its constant. however no matter how intense it gets the thought of doing that has never crossed my mind i'd be too worried what would happen to them. i wonder how that mum would feel if someone else had picked up her child instead of a friendly person such as a kidnapper or pedophile!! i think it was stupid neglectful and she deserves everything she gets i would never do that to my children!!

That's sounds a little messed up. She let the one kid back in and left the other one standing there? Apparently since she left her child standing there I think she endangered the welfare of her child. She was lucky the guy called the cops and bought the child ice cream instead of something else. I have 3 kids, and they fight in the back seat always. When it gets to that point, yea I kick someone out of the car. I go to a parking lot, park the car, tell them I had enough, and I kick myself out of the car and count to 10. Then I get back in and all is better.