Parents are charged after their son, 7, is struck dead in a car accident
www.nbcnews.com
Gastonia, N.C., police charged the parents with involuntary manslaughter charges after allowing the victim and his brother to walk home alone from a nearby grocery store.
  • lily33@lemm.ee
    1123·
    1 day ago

    after allowing him and his brother, 10, to walk home unaccompanied by an adult from a nearby grocery store.

    Wtf, are kids 10 and 7 not old enough to walk by themselves to the grocery store now?

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techEnglish
      511·
      1 day ago

      Meanwhile all the boomers talk about how they have such find memories of walking around unsupervised until the streetlights came on or whatever lame Facebook nostalgia meme they’re parroting

      • LemmyIsReddit2Point0@lemmy.world
        4·
        15 hours ago

        Sorry I’m not following. Are you saying the boomers experienced it and pulled up the ladder like dickheads? Or that anyone who had freedom as a child is a boomer with irresponsible parents? I’m confused.

    • Signtist@bookwormstory.socialEnglish
      471·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, I remember when I was 7 I’d explore everywhere around my house for at least a few miles. There was a convenience store 2 miles out where I’d buy candy any time I’d scrounged up a few dollars of change.

      What happened was terrible, but it was an accident nevertheless. Nobody should have to serve time, especially not the grieving parents.

      • aeischeid@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        8 hours ago

        Please see book “There are no accidents”. it was a tragedy, and the sort where blame and punishment at an individual level doesn’t bring about justice in any meaningful sense, but it was hardly an accident - to predictable to merit that label

      • douglasg14b@lemmy.world
        2·
        15 hours ago

        Same, having the freedom to ride my bike wherever I could and meet and play with other kids was crucial to my social and personal development.

      • chingadera@lemmy.world
        18·
        1 day ago

        It’s fucking insane that anyone thought to charge them, let alone actually follow through with it. Multiple people have to have agreed for this to be reality. Another shit stain on humanity

      • fodor@lemmy.zip
        24·
        1 day ago

        I think you’re trying to make a pretty s***** implication. Remember that this is a situation where the parents got charged with a crime for being reckless. Are you insinuating that the parents knew that their 7 year old child was likely to jump out into the street, and that perhaps the child had a history of doing so, and that the parents nevertheless allowed the child to walk home from the store? It sounds like that’s what you’re claiming.

        • PedestrianError :vbus: :nblvt:@towns.gay
          81·
          1 day ago

          @fodor @pixxelkick Contrast this with the treatment of rich white parents who buy their teenage children cars and allow them to continue using them unsupervised despite evidence that they routinely speed, drive distracted, and otherwise violate traffic laws when their teenager kills someone with their weapon.

        • pixxelkick@lemmy.world
          224·
          1 day ago

          A history isn’t needed, the child is seven years old, that’s all that’s needed.

          Seven year olds are not nearly old enough to wander around 4 lane busy roads unsupervised, full stop.

          That’s blatant negligence, there’s no getting past that.

          • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
            7·
            14 hours ago

            Seven year olds are not nearly old enough to wander around 4 lane busy roads unsupervised, full stop.

            He was with his older brother, who is 10.

            And if a 10 year old is perfectly capable of walking to school (literally according to everyone), a 7 year old with their 10 year old brother should also be perfectly fine walking TWO BLOCKS without the worry of being killed by a driver.

            And 4 lane roads should be banned in urban centers. It’s fucking ridiculous to have a goddamn highway in an area where children and families should be able to walk home safely!

            • pixxelkick@lemmy.world
              1·
              8 hours ago

              And if a 10 year old is perfectly capable of walking to school (literally according to everyone), a 7 year old with their 10 year old brother should also be perfectly fine walking TWO BLOCKS without the worry of being killed by a driver.

              …No…

              A 10 year old is not old enough to be responsible for a 7 year old, full stop. Most experts consider around 12 to 13 the minimum maturity for a child to be capable of being responsible for another child. 10 is definitely too young to be looking after another kid, wtf are you talking about.

              I really hope you don’t have kids…

            • Crankenstein@lemmy.world
              4·
              13 hours ago

              Exactly. Why are there 4 lane roads in pedestrian areas, especially so close to a school? Where is the pedestrian infrastructure so that this child could have walked safely?

              I despise how people want to shift the blame to a child just walking to school and the parents who weren’t even involved instead of the driver of a multi-ton death machine for not paying attention to pedestrians.