KIDS CAN’T BE LEFT ALONE
JUST what was a young mum thinking when she left her two-month-old baby in her car while she had a massage?
As the Bulletin reports today, the woman was slapped with a nine-month probation order yesterday. The fact jail was an option shows just how seriously the state’s lawmakers view what is deemed a crime, even if her defence described what happened as a lapse in judgment.
The media cannot identify the woman. She is fortunate in that regard, since publication would draw considerable online outrage from an army of anonymous people who love to hate.
But she is also lucky the court chose to limit her penalty to probation, and lucky her child did not suffer harm.
Experts say that even in winter, the temperature in a closed car can increase to 40 degrees. But as temperatures soar in summer, the risks to children locked in cars increase dramatically. The result can be brain damage or even death.
The danger cannot be stressed enough, yet RACQ figures show large numbers of rescues of children from locked cars on the Gold Coast and across the state each year.
In the case in court yesterday, authorities were so concerned for the crying infant they tore the roof from the car.
It is possible the mother’s probation could include a parenting course. That raises a question that applies across the board. People study for exams for a huge range of academic and other pursuits, yet there is no requirement to pass an exam for the hardest job of all – parenthood. Why?
Apart from the heat of a closed car, there is another danger that doesn’t bear thinking about. Three children perished in a car fire in Beenleigh in 1989 when the parents left them to walk a short distance to use an ATM. As fire took hold of the vehicle, horrified bystanders were driven back by smoke and flames.
A brave ambulance officer sprinted to the car and plucked a little girl from the front, but was unable to reach two little children in the rear. The parents had to be held back. The rescued child later died.
That incident traumatised the Beenleigh community. The lessons from it should never be forgotten, yet adults continue to play chance, thinking their kids will be safe if they are only gone a short time.