Parents who don’t deserve to be parents...

Thought Thursday: Stupid parents driving their children around without car seats.

Getting punched in the face is not a nice thing to happen to you. When I was eight years old, I was punched in the face, by a thirteen year old overweight boy. You know the type of kid I’m talking about, the stereotypical bully. Although I cannot remember if the incident was an actual case of bullying, because I do remember slapping him in the face before I got punched. I may have left that part out in the incident report. The odds were against the thirteen year old though, I was a small spectacle clad child with a sweet Colgate smile, who did no wrong and he was well, an ugly kid. The fact of the matter though is that even if I did slap him, the slap of an eight year old versus the punch of an overgrown thirteen year old made the case fall in my favour.

The real drama was not the incident though, what happened after that is what made this scuffle a big deal. This fracas happened at a sports day and parents don’t like to see small children getting hurt by big children. When something like that happens, a “mob mentality” ensues and parents get riled up very easily and inevitably, a huge scene is caused. It’s only natural for parents to feel this way, small children are so timid and vulnerable, especially when they’re wearing Harry Potter style glasses. If you asked any parent what they would do if they found out that their child was being abused somehow, their reactions would be very similar. No sane person would allow their child to be hurt in any way and rightfully so.

So you can imagine why it boggles my mind and infuriates me at the same time when I see a small child standing on the centre console of a car whilst it’s parents drive along happily. That same parent would kill anyone who tried to harm that child because they love their child. So why on earth would you allow your child to potentially be killed in a car accident because of your negligence? Not even negligence, I should say down right stupidity. What a double standard it is to say “I love my child” and then to allow them to walk around in a moving car. The interesting thing is that I see this sight often and it’s different races, cultures and classes of people too. Parents who allow this may as well be allowing their kids to be punched in the face by strangers. Getting punched is still not as harsh as getting flung out of the windscreen of your car when you crash. That is why I am glad that we can now report cases like these when we see them and the parents will be fined heavily for this. As of two months ago, it is a law to have your child in a baby seat if your child is under three years of age. So if you’re not doing so, you’re breaking the law.

The problem with laws is that people will still break them. People still take calls when driving and text behind the wheel all the time. Often times those who do that very stupidly don’t realise how serious it is and they slip up, but what about your beautiful innocent child’s life? There shouldn’t have to be an awareness campaign for such things, parental instincts should kick in automatically with issues like these. It’s common sense. If you’re not okay to have your child hurt by anyone, you shouldn’t be okay with them not sitting in a baby seat. Period. Motorists, if you see this type of thing happening on the road, feel free to take a picture and post it on the wall of our Facebook page, so we can name and shame these parents and get them reported. As much as we would like to punch parents who do this, we cannot take the law into our own hands, so this may be a good place to start. Happy Thought Thursday Motorists.

Image taken from www.bubhub.com.au