I saw a segment about Nebraska's Safe Surrender Law and teenagers on 20/20 last night. They interviewed some women who had surrended their teenaged children via the old law. It was pretty interesting.
Many of the women interviewed really seemed to be at the end of the rope in terms of dealing with their child's behavioral issues and just were really frustrated at the lack of resources available to parents of troubled teens. They just felt as though there were no other options, and that they had to do this in order to get them the help that they needed.
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"Remember that apathy has no place in our Sorority." - Kelly Jo Karnes, Pi
people really, really should not have children if they aren't ready, but no one thinks about that, they just think "oh wow, I will have a cute baby, everything will always be fine"
it IS sad - but assuming that you can know in advance that your child will have severe behavioral problems as they grow up is a pretty big assumption to make. so is assuming that these were all planned pregnancies or that circumstances (finances and relationship status) haven't changed since the birth. EVERYBODY hopes for the best when they get pregnant. it doesn't always work out that way...
some of these children have been diagnosed as bipolar which certainly has biological and neurological components. meds and behavioral interventions can help treat the symptoms, but they are financially and labor intensive. i'm just shocked there weren't more children with disorders such as autism and mental retardation being dropped off.
i think the problems in nebraska simply highlight problems throughout the nation. nebraska may have fixed their immediate problem, but i can't help but think of other parents who may be in similar situations with nowhere to turn now. adjusting the age ranges only hides the problem now...
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