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Babies Having Babies
Mar. 21st, 2009 10:26 pmA young mother, 17 years old, is convicted of manslaughter in the death of her new baby. This happened locally -- I think the baby was around a month old when she died. This was the mother's second child, her first was over a year (not sure exactly how old). The mother lived with the murdered baby's father and his family, but she had been left alone with the baby that day. The baby was crying, as newborns are wont to do, and the mother reacted in anger and frustration.
This happened 2 years ago, but the trial just ended with the mother sentenced for involuntary manslaughter and assault. The first charge carries not as much jail time as the second. Altogether, I think she's going to be 25 years before parole.
This story upsets me. A lot. Because I'm all for children's rights. I'm children's biggest advocate. But the mother was a child, too. I don't care that legally 18 years old is an adult, and 17 is almost there. Think back on it--how adult were you at 17? I'm not saying the mother wasn't wrong and the baby's death at the hand of the one person who was supposed to love her more than anything wasn't a horrible tragedy.
But someone failed that young mother. I don't know enough about her circumstances to say who. I don't know why she had a second child by the time she was 17. I don't know if the two children had the same father. I don't know why she wasn't living with her parents. I don't know if she was a "good" girl or a troubled soul before she had those children. I don't know if the father's family was helping her. I don't know what type of person the father was. I do know that something was missing. Stability. Help. Guidance. Birth control, for god's sake!
I'm just not convinced that sending a young woman to prison (and the taxpayers paying out the nose for it) for 25 years is the correct response. For a woman to harm her child, there is something wrong that only counseling can address. I hope she gets it in prison. I imagine that she's already serving a life sentence in her own mind, a life sentence full of self-loathing and hate, sorrow and pain.
There's definitely no easy solution to this. So many things are encompassed in this tragedy. It makes me feel very sad and helpless.
This happened 2 years ago, but the trial just ended with the mother sentenced for involuntary manslaughter and assault. The first charge carries not as much jail time as the second. Altogether, I think she's going to be 25 years before parole.
This story upsets me. A lot. Because I'm all for children's rights. I'm children's biggest advocate. But the mother was a child, too. I don't care that legally 18 years old is an adult, and 17 is almost there. Think back on it--how adult were you at 17? I'm not saying the mother wasn't wrong and the baby's death at the hand of the one person who was supposed to love her more than anything wasn't a horrible tragedy.
But someone failed that young mother. I don't know enough about her circumstances to say who. I don't know why she had a second child by the time she was 17. I don't know if the two children had the same father. I don't know why she wasn't living with her parents. I don't know if she was a "good" girl or a troubled soul before she had those children. I don't know if the father's family was helping her. I don't know what type of person the father was. I do know that something was missing. Stability. Help. Guidance. Birth control, for god's sake!
I'm just not convinced that sending a young woman to prison (and the taxpayers paying out the nose for it) for 25 years is the correct response. For a woman to harm her child, there is something wrong that only counseling can address. I hope she gets it in prison. I imagine that she's already serving a life sentence in her own mind, a life sentence full of self-loathing and hate, sorrow and pain.
There's definitely no easy solution to this. So many things are encompassed in this tragedy. It makes me feel very sad and helpless.
