Supposedly there was an uncle to watch over them, sorta, maybe ....
Probably a much better situation than many of their peers live in—crack head mother, revolving door of violent boyfriends, still no food, and violence, drugs, molestation, etc.
They are apparently African, but the story doesn’t mention that. This might have something to do with their not choosing to mention to a neighbor that they were without adult supervision/assistance.
I wonder if the parents paid the utility bills in advance, but forgot about the cable.
I’ve read stories about the Civil War where children younger than 10 did all the hunting and work of an adult while dad went off and fought. The longest serving man in the Army joined up, as I recall, at 9 and fought in battles. He killed his first man at 9.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/the-boys-of-war/?_r=0
When I was quite young in the 60’s I was left home by myself for up to ten days. It was a wonderful experience and made me self-reliant and confident. It depends on the child. Children rise to what’s expected of them. I sometimes think we expect too little from children and protect them too much. (Donning flame protective gear and ducking under cover.)
They got up and went to school so they could get two meals every weekday.
This just proves that all children should be wards of the US feral government.
“The uncle claimed that he would drop off food somewhat regularly, but when the officers were there, there was only some ramen in the cabinets.”
So? They’re not hoarders.
They did eat and well.
The prosecution premise is a bunch of bunk.
When my Mom and Dad divorced, she went to work, sometimes with two jobs at a time.
I wasn’t a teenager and had to manage getting my brothers and sisters up for school sometimes and others getting them fed.
We knew what to do, had plenty of food, the school was right behind our house, had plenty of clothes, washed our own clothes which was our responsibility, bathed and scrubbed teeth.
I don’t remember how hard it was because, having not lived with my mommy since I was 15 and in college, I’ve pretty much had to do everything for 35 years on my own and wouldn’t have been able to without Mom and Dad teaching me to be independent, self determined and self regulating.
Really, the uncle couldn’t have taken them into his own home? And, btw, leaving your nine year old(s) alone while you travel for even a few days is child neglect. Not to mention leaving the hemisphere.
Are these people Africans? Is this more multi-culti cr*p?
My son-in-law was apparently left at home on a regular basis for a week or so at about age 9 to 11 while his parents “got away,” and sometimes he had to watch his younger brother too. I think his parents were negligent and selfish to do that, but he doesn’t agree and wants to do the same with his children. My daughter won’t allow it, thankfully.
Well according to some...
it takes a village.
9 years old isn’t that young. I remember being left alone for a long time at home. My parent just left me with enough food/money to last the time they were away. Its not that big a deal imho
Nine-year-olds can be pretty self-sufficient, particularly if they have at least normal intelligence. They’re not dogs.
I remember being 9 years old. People do not realize 9 year olds are NOT basket cases incapable of doing anything.
I think a lot of kids could actually care for themselves at age 9. I think the problems might arise if there was some sort of unusual problem that the kids didn’t know how to handle: a prowler, a medical emergency, etc. Also, I wonder how it affected them emotionally to know their parents had shrugged them off for so long — whether they felt empowered, or abandoned. I guess that would depend on the kid and the relationship with the parents.
If anyone is interested, the name of the book is"Shadows Along the Koyukuk" by Sidney Huntington. He was the older brother. As far as I know, it is long out of print. BTW; I met Sidney when I ran a flood recovery project on the Koyukuk River about 20 years ago.
Children who are not babied are capable of far more than we give them credit for. We do them a great disservice by coddling them.
time for yard sales!