[Mister Bent]

Originally Posted by Heart

Whenever I hear/read about making parents more responsible/accountable, I consider how we live in one of the most family UNfriendly countries in the world, (so-called "family values," notwithstanding). With no universal child-care, afterschool or health care, no meaningful paid maternity/paternity leave, ever-shrinking access to free family planning and mental health care, not to mention lack of affordable housing and livable wages in many sectors, it's a wonder most parents do as well as they do.

This has nothing to do with this awful case, per se, but if we had these things in place, as many other devloped countries do, it would be a heck of a lot easier to weed out the truly pathological parent from the over-stressed, under-resourced parent.

But these issues are complex, and require long-term solutions. It's easier to rant about a head-line grabbing case, whipped into a frenzy by the Nancy Graces of the tabloid media, and push through rightous and emotional legislation that may hurt innocent parents and their children.*

Heart

*not personal to anyone here, just my viewpoint.

As a single parent who has experienced the family UNfriendliness up close and personal, I could not agree with you more. Especially the importance of "weed(ing) out the truly pathological parent from the over-stressed, under-resourced parent." There is a vast difference between those two creatures, and we should be wary of enacting any law that would trap the latter into the net with the former. But then, I find it hard to believe that even the most stressed out parent wouldn't report their child missing within a few hours, let alone 24 (or whatever the requirement) and that alone would serve as a weeding out process (though I'm not saying that's sufficient).

Like you, I am wary of knee jerk legislation, and would need to very carefully read all the fine print before I lend my signature.