April 11, 2006
SFist Blotter
In yet another babysitting-related crime in the Bay Area, a woman in Richmond is in jail after she left a 2-year-old she was watching (along with an 8-month old) with her 11-year-old daughter while she went out to run some errands. The 11-year-old dropped the 2-year-old, who suffered a skull fracture and died. Other babysitter-related crimes of late include: the woman who let a baby she was watching get hit by a train, the nanny who shook the crying baby, and those home alone kids in Danville.
A quinceanera in Oakland was ruined when three guys crashed the party and shot a 17-year-old guest. The birthday girl didn't know either the victim or the shooters -- reports vary on whether the victim had come to the party with friends and relatives, or if he just crashed the party in an attempt to evade the people out to get him. Oakland's 2006 murder count is now 39.
And see what happens when you get targeted by Bill O'Reilly? There was an apparently-unprovoked shooting at Coit Tower over the weekend, and one victim has died. Police report that the deceased victim rolled down his window to talk to people who were banging their fists on his car, and was shot. His friend was also shot, and is in critical condition. Police are looking for a sky-blue late 80s/early 90s Honda Accord.
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I feel sorry for all these people getting bad press. My mother couldnt be a more responsible, caring person, but she was a single mother who had to work hard to make ends meet and it was inevitable we would be left at home alone from a young age. Lucky for us nothing ever went wrong and I have no hard feelings against my mum for her doing what she had to do. These situations where children are unsupervised from time to time happen, and I suspect they happen to a lot of people. Why then are we so quick to judge the unfortunate ones where things go wrong?
Having cared for many children, I would affirm that being a caretaker means doing all you can to ensure the safety of those in your care - leaving two small children in the care of an 11-year-old is a risk, unless that's a very mature 11-year-old.
Still, Sam has a point that it's not fair to let the system completely off the hook when it is designed to force parents to choose between going to work and keeping their children safe.
And no, life isn't fair. But people can try to be.