The Freedom Bulletin

On Tuesday Lakeisha Gadson, a mom from Roxbury, MA, was convicted of misleading police officers but acquitted of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment of a child, improper firearm storage, and illegal possession of a firearm.

According to the Suffolk County D.A.’s Office, Gadson’s teenage son, Jayquan McConnico, kept a firearm, loaded and unlocked, in a drawer in his bedroom. On June 24, 2007, her other son, 8-year-old Liquarry Jefferson, was playing with his 7-year-old cousin. The boys entered Jayquan’s room, opened his dresser drawer, took his gun, and started playing a game of some sort with it, during which the cousin somehow pointed the gun at Liquarry and fired. Tragically, Liquarry died of his injuries.

Acquitting Lakeisha, the boys’ mom, of these charges was the right verdict (she was only convicted of lying to the police about how her son died). To argue that Gadson is responsible for Liquarry’s death because she failed to ensure that Jayquan kept his gun out of the reach of children is excessive. Each person is responsible for their own actions – Gadson is not responsible for the fact that her teenage son had a gun without a license, which he kept loaded and unlocked.

But furthermore, Jayquan McConnico, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2008, should not be held responsible for Liquarry’s death, either. Storing a loaded gun in an unlocked drawer might not be the wisest thing to do, it is illegal, and if he hadn’t done it, Liquarry would be alive today…but that does not mean that he caused his death. McConnico is not responsible for the fact that two young boys decided to go into his room, open his drawer, and take his gun.

The cause of Liquarry’s death was his 7-year-old cousin’s decision to fool around with a gun and fire it at him. It may sound mean to pick on a 7-year-old, but seven is old enough to know what a gun is, what it looks like, and that you shouldn’t fire it at someone unless you have made sure it isn’t loaded. Everyone involved in this case has suffered tremendously, and I don’t think it is appropriate to punish anyone further for this horrible accident. But if anyone is responsible for Liquarry’s death, it is either the boy who chose to play with a loaded gun, or his mother (Liquarry’s aunt), who failed to teach her son that guns are dangerous and should be handled with caution.

Although Liquarry’s death was a tragedy, as anyone’s death is, neither Gadson nor McConnico caused it, and it only compounds the tragedy to hold innocent people responsible for things they did not do. The jury in Gadson’s case made the right decision.

The Department of Children and Families has launched an investigation after 4 children were found home alone at 2:30 a.m. in Dorchester. The children, ages 2, 3, 4, and 6, were transported to Boston Medical Center, even though there was nothing medically wrong with them and there was plenty of food in the apartment.

Okay, so this may not have been the best parenting decision ever, but this seems like an overreaction to me. People shouldn’t have to watch their kids every single second, and a 6-year-old is old enough to be home alone for a short period of time. Nothing bad happened to the kids. In fact, being taken to a hospital in an ambulance was by far the most traumatic thing that happened to them!

It strikes me as a little weird that people who are just minding their own business, by leaving their kids alone for a few minutes or wanting to keep the money that they earned, are considered criminals (or at least possible criminals) while, just to give an example, someone who viciously bullies a girl and causes her to commit suicide can’t be convicted of anything.

A UNH professor was arrested on Saturday for leaving his 16-month-old son in the car for 15 minutes on a 70-degree day while he was a few feet away outside a coffee shop. He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Police said the baby was suffering from the heat.

This is just ridiculous. This guy did absolutely nothing wrong, let alone illegal.

First, the car was locked, so there’s no way anyone could have kidnapped the baby. Second, the baby was sleeping and would probably have rather stayed in the car than gone to the restaurant with his dad. Third, 70 degrees isn’t even hot. I find it hard to believe that it could be uncomfortably hot inside a car when it’s only 70 degrees outside.

This arrest is just a sign of overprotective, obsessive parenting gone too far. Our society expects parents to watch their children every single second, go to the doctor for every tiny cut, scrape, or cough, monitor everything they do on the Internet, go through their cell phones, diaries, and Halloween candy, and so on – it never ends. In addition to imposing undue burdens on adults, this is really bad for kids. You can’t develop a unique identity and sense of self if you are never allowed to make your own decisions or spend time alone. You also can’t enjoy your childhood if everything you do is supervised, organized, and monitored.

In any case, leaving a baby in a car on a 70-degree day is not dangerous. Even if he wasn’t within sight of the car and didn’t check on the baby (which is disputed), this dad didn’t harm his child. Parents should not be obligated to constantly watch their children. Leaving kids alone from time to time is absolutely fine – it’s monitoring every aspect of their lives that’s harmful.

See also:

Score one for neurotic nanny state – Margery Eagan (Boston Herald)

The real child abuse is by the Durham cops – Michael Graham (Boston Herald)