September 27, 2002
7:07 AM   Subscribe

Five year old dragged alongside car by foster mom. This happened in Bellevue, WA about 10 miles from Seattle. Does the foster parent system work? How can these type of incidents be avoided?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy (20 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason:



 
They can't.
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:08 AM on September 27, 2002


Even in spite of these horrific incidents, are kids better off with foster rather than no parents? What do you think, Dark Messiah?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 7:11 AM on September 27, 2002


"They're the nicest neighbors you could have," said one man, who asked not to be identified. "They have a big heart."

My God! They all share one giant heart. What kind of monstrosity is this?

The obvious answer is to remove cars from all foster parents.
posted by internook at 7:12 AM on September 27, 2002


How can these type of incidents be avoided?

How can this type of threads be avoided?

And, by the way, I agree with you, dragging kids like that is bad
posted by matteo at 7:17 AM on September 27, 2002


Typical east-siders.
posted by xmutex at 7:19 AM on September 27, 2002


I don't quite understand this, the story says:

"Dubravetz is accused of driving at slow speed as the girl held onto the door handle on the passenger side of the car.


Witnesses told police the girl was dragged about 10 feet before losing her grip and falling on the pavement. Witnesses, several of whom work in a nearby office, told police the woman continued to drive for about 50 feet after the girl fell. "

Why didn't the girl just let go?
posted by Mwongozi at 7:20 AM on September 27, 2002


MonsterFilter
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:20 AM on September 27, 2002


Sorry, matteo. This is not my usual type of post. I just thought it might be of interest to the parents on MeFi.
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 7:20 AM on September 27, 2002


Caught On Tape: Woman Beats Child
Does biological parenting work? How can this sort of thing be avoided?
posted by Fabulon7 at 7:21 AM on September 27, 2002


Fabulon made my point for me. Thank you.
posted by ColdChef at 7:26 AM on September 27, 2002


Fabulon7,

My point was that you cannot pick your parents, but someone picks foster parents. Hence, something can be done about it. Reaction?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy at 7:28 AM on September 27, 2002


Even in spite of these horrific incidents, are kids better off with foster rather than no parents?

I don't know enough foster parents to give an educated opinion. People are people. This shit happens, whether we want it to or not.
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:32 AM on September 27, 2002


Is it really necessary to regurgitate every article about child abuse and dress it up with 'Why does this happen?' at the end?

MorbidFilter
posted by Frasermoo at 7:33 AM on September 27, 2002


Everyone, Please, Stop Thinking of the Children!!
posted by Dark Messiah at 7:40 AM on September 27, 2002


I have a good friend who is a foster parent. She has between four and six troubled children living in her house at all times, in addition to her two 'real' children.
She treats them like her own children, there are no problems, the kids are all fine, or even better off for staying with her.
She had to pass a rigorous screening test to become a foster parent.
It is much harder to become a foster parent than a biological parent.
Apparently the foster parent in the article you posted is doing a bad job at being a foster parent. This is not preventable. It will happen. It is a terrible thing. She will lose her license to be a foster parent. This isolated incident has no bearing on the merits of the foster-parent system. If the article showed that this incident was part of a trend, we would have something to talk about, but it doesn't.
posted by Fabulon7 at 7:40 AM on September 27, 2002


I bet the girl wandered off or did something to make the foster parent threaten to drive off and leave her behind. Being a foster child, she would be most afraid of being left behind, though, so she clung to the doorhandle and was dragged after losing her footing. I doubt very much that this foster parent intended anything physical to happen and was trying to enforce a psychological lesson. What frightens me most about this story is the way in which it has been blown out of proportion. It makes a person fearful of being a parent in this society.
posted by gregor-e at 7:42 AM on September 27, 2002


Let me toss out a theory. Kid won't get in car. Foster parent says, okay, then I am going to leave. She slowly drives away. Kid grabs car handle before foster parent starts to drive. Kid holds on for dear life, then loses footing.

What I am thinking is this was a misguided and stupid attempt at "real life consequenses" parenting.

I have noticed that the media can easily take an incident and blow it all out of proportion or give it a twist that is inaccurate. I am not saying that this was a proper thing for this woman to do, but if my speculation is correct, it was stupid and not evil.
posted by konolia at 7:43 AM on September 27, 2002


See, there is so little to talk about here we are reduced to speculating about what may have led up to the incident about which the article was written.

You know, I think I know why they made that vibrating broom. Imagine there are these three guys in a boardroom, and then the cleaning lady walks in....
posted by Fabulon7 at 7:49 AM on September 27, 2002


/hug Dark Messiah
posted by tolkhan at 7:57 AM on September 27, 2002


at least it wasn't randy moss. jeez, what's up with people treating people like something to run over.
posted by djspicerack at 8:57 AM on September 27, 2002


« Older At last, the United Nations earns it's keep.   |   Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments