The girl in the window

[Elijah_Morendale]

A story about child neglect. (http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece)

I found this article on another forum, and thought that I'd share it with you fine people.

As much as I hate children, I could never let anything like this happen to anything I would be unlucky enough to father. It's sad what some people are capable of doing through inaction.

[Breaker]

I found that a few days ago on fark and ended up reading the whole thing. I don't even know what to think except... that's horrible.

[Elijah_Morendale]

At least she found parents that are trying to make a difference in her life. It's nice to be reminded that there are still good people out there.

[AdventWings]

Holy hell. Even cases in my country aren't that bad...

[Mithra Reborn]

man, people like that just make me sick to my stomach. I'm so glad someone finally called and saved that girl.

[Jasmine]

I almost cried when I read about how her brother is responding to her adoption and her unique needs. That is one awesome big brother and is undoubtedly part of her saving grace.

what struck me as kinda interesting though, is when they went back to interview the birht mother, her house was nice and clean.. but in 2005 roaches and bugs were so thick in the house that you couldn't not walk on them. Her excuse of having been ill is a load of bull if you ask me. No one is that sick that long to have an infestation like that. I've lived in mobile home parks where we had to call an exterminator for a roach problem, and even then, we rarely saw the critters, unless they were dead. (yuck) Guess she had a change of heart about how her house oughtta look. >.<

In the end though, I'm happy to see how much progress she's made. She might not ever do a lot of things, but at least now she's safe, warm, clean and fed. She had a family and that's quite possibly the best thing that may ever happen to her.

[Khalxaen]

I couldn't finish it to the end (especially since I have food right in front of me), but I've seen tons of similar (but maybe not that extreme) cases before. It's really depressing. You guys should be happy you have system in your country that can actually deal with it. :)

[Moonlit Raven]

Jesus. People like that mother should be shot, repeatedly.

[Letho]

I'm the kind of a person that would never raise his hand on a woman, but I'd punch that girl's mom in the face. Repeatedly.

[Inkfinger]

I'm the kind of a person that would never raise his hand on a woman, but I'd punch that girl's mom in the face. Repeatedly.

I wouldn't really raise a hand to anybody, but same here. That's just heartbreaking, and I hope she continues to get better - not just for her sake, but for her new big brother's sake as well.

[Skie and Avery]

"He even moved out of his bedroom so she could sleep upstairs. His parents painted his old walls pink and filled the closet with cotton-candy dresses.

They moved a daybed into the laundry room for William, squeezed it between the washing machine and Dani's rocking horse. Each night, the 10-year-old boy cuddles up with a walkie-talkie because "it's scary down here, all alone."

After a few minutes, while his parents are trying to get Dani to bed, William always sneaks into the living room and folds himself into the love seat."

Let's save one kid from neglect by ignoring our own. Yeah, he's fine with it when he's ten, but wait until puberty hits and his brain chemistry changes. It's the little things that make a difference between a serial killer and a bitter man. Let's hope he's just bitter. I'm not saying what this couple did wasn't awesome, because it was, but you know... there's a kid there already. Yay, they always wanted a daughter, and this girl needs them, but how does that make this kid feel? "Sorry, you have to sleep somewhere that terrifies you because you're not a girl or forcibly retarded. Now, tits or gtfo."

[Letho]

That's a pretty harsh statement. There are kids at that age that can handle such situations without turning into either serial killers or bitter bastards. My aunt, for example, has four kids, youngest of which was born with the Down syndrome and the oldest going through high school right now. Ever since her youngest was born, naturally all of the attention was turned to him because of his special needs. She has to take him to therapy, spend more time with him to help him learn some things, watch over him pretty much all of the time. And she still has three more kids to take care of. And still, I don't think I've ever seen siblings care more for their brother than I did in their family. It comes down to the upbringing and the values you teach your children. Completely neglecting someone for the sake of somebody else without an explanation might screw kids up. But I don't think this family is going to do that.

Besides, sleeping someplace that terrifies him will help him overcome the fear. ;)

[Arsène]

Besides, sleeping someplace that terrifies him will help him overcome the fear. ;)

Don't you ever have kids, you hear me? Never.

[Letho]

Bull. I would teach them the Litany against fear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litany_against_fear) and they'd also probably grow a beard stronger than yours by the age of ten. Especially if they're male.

[Ataraxis]

What!? I thought orgasm was the little death. That litany is whack.

In all seriousness, I'm glad to know that the girl's physical and mental health is improving, though sad that because of those extra years when nothing was done to take her away from the abuse lead to irreparable damage that could have been so easily averted.

Though, as awful and unforgivable as the biological mother is, wishing that she dies skewered on the devil's trident might be a bit much. Bad nurturing begets bad nurturing, and though that in no way defends what she did, it just reminds us that focusing the blame on her is like trying to heal a symptom, and by just looking at it murderously at that. That amounts to basically nothing except temporarily venting a moment of outrage.

That being said, 'repeated punches' did sound awfully tempting.