Recently, the news that a single mother was arrested and imprisoned, or faced a 1-year prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 yuan, ignited the anger of the majority of netizens:
Wouldn't it be ridiculous enough to have a mother go to jail and send five children to foster homes?!
It's easy to say, but the ending is a bit "tragic".
Melissa Henderson is a single mom of 5 children. A person who works hard to raise 5 babies, such a difficulty, when parents know.
5 underage children, eating, wearing and education all cost money, Melissa is just a "hit worker", the epidemic came, the work was interrupted, and the family's economy soon had a crisis.
In May 2020, Melissa decided to risk contracting the epidemic and return to work. Broken silver is light in the hand, but under the pressure of raising a family and raising a child, sometimes it can really make people desperate.
But at this time, she encountered a real problem - during the epidemic closure, the nursery was closed, the school was changed to online teaching, and there was no second adult in the family, what should the children do?
In desperation, Melissa could only give this "great responsibility" to her eldest daughter Linley, 14 years old. But it was this decision that left Melissa in handcuffs and imprisoned...
It turned out that during an online lesson, Linley's 4-year-old brother was bored at home, and when he saw his neighbor's companion playing outside through the window, he sneaked out of the house.
A total of 10-15 minutes, Linley turned around to find that his little brother was missing, panicked, immediately went out to find someone, and quickly found his brother at the neighbor's house.
However, in just a quarter of an hour, the neighbor called the police...
About two weeks later, Melissa was arrested in front of the child for neglect. According to relevant reports, she was even handcuffed with both hands at that time.
Melissa was charged with "reckless conduct" and, if convicted, faces a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Can you imagine how ridiculous this is? A mother who has to go out to earn a living and can only let her 14-year-old daughter take care of her children, and is put in jail?
Moreover, in the state where Melissa lives, the law clearly stipulates that children over the age of 13 can take care of young children as babysitter.
"I can't tell how sad it is. I feel like a good mother and everything I do is for my children. In the end, he was handcuffed in front of them. ”
Melissa's ex-husband eventually released her on bail. This criminal lawsuit has been fought for 2 years and has not yet come to fruition.
According to the police, although the child left the house for more than 10 minutes, during these 10 minutes, anything terrible could happen, including being kidnapped, crushed or "bitten by a poisonous snake".
In addition, there was a similar case earlier, when a mother asked an 11-year-old child to take care of her younger siblings at home, which resulted in a tragic death.
As for the fact that the eldest daughter is 14 years old and qualified to care for her younger siblings at home, the prosecution also argues that Linley has "some degree of learning disability" that makes her an unreliable nanny.
In this regard, Melissa said that her daughter had been diagnosed with "ADHD", but her grades were not bad, with a GPA of 4.45, having served as vice president of the 4-H club, breaking the school record of the varsity team, completing the Red Cross childcare program, and obtaining CPR certification...
Prosecutors are currently responding that even a guilty verdict would most likely not lead melissa to jail, but he thinks it might be a good idea to ban her daughter from taking care of the children. "We just want to make sure the kids in our little community stay safe."
At present, the case has not yet been resolved, and the next trial day is July 1. Someone on the Internet launched a crowdfunding campaign for Melissa to raise funds for this single mother, and has raised 25,000 yuan so far.
But in the comments, netizens have already exploded.
Some have slammed the government
Some people can't understand the neighbors: obviously send the child over so close, why don't you have to call the police?!
Why would some people want their neighbors to be arrested and destroy a family like this?
However, some people feel that Melissa is not worthy of being a parent, should be put in jail, and should not let her children be alone at home, even if they are teenagers.
In Canada, there is no uniform standard for how old a child is to be at home alone or to take care of siblings.
Only 3 provinces in Canada have established 12 and 16-year-olds as the minimum ages to be able to be at home alone and to take care of younger siblings.
It is often advised that this decision is made on a case-by-case basis, and it is best for children under the age of 12 not to be alone at home.
Parenthood is not easy, and no one wants to hurt their children. But everyone should pay more attention to local laws and regulations, and don't accidentally touch the red line, resulting in forced separation from your child!