The suburban Pittsburgh dad, who’s making headlines for leaving his young kids alone at a playground while he ran errands, falls into that category–in my less than humble opinion.
Listen, I don’t look kindly on people who leave their dogs alone in parked cars, so when innocent children are ditched by their parents, be it in a vehicle or at a playground, I typically have a hard time holding my tongue… or in this case, my fingers.
If you missed the news flash, Govindaraj Narayanasamy has been officially charged with child endangerment after police claim he left his 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son unattended at a playground for nearly two hours on the day before Eater while he did his own thing.
And by own thing I mean shop at Wal-Mart, and then take a shower at a local gym.
Because shopping at Wal-Mart is a dirty job and the 38-year-old father clearly wanted to remain clean, you know, for his kids. You know; the ones he left alone at a park for two hours.
Yeah. Those kids.
According to the criminal complaint, Narayanasamy dropped off his children at the park and directed them to say that he was parking the car at LA Fitness if they were questioned by anyone.
Turns out the kids got to use the line fed to them by their absentee father when police showed up following a phone call from a woman who noticed Narayanasamy’s children wandering around the playground for more than an hour.
Officers say they remained at the park with the children until Narayanasamy returned. According to local TV news crews, the dad told police he went to Wal-Mart to get snacks for the kids, and then he popped into LA Fitness to clean up. Law enforcement told local reporters they aren’t sure why Narayanasamy went to LA Fitness just to shower, though they did allegedly get him to admit that leaving his kids alone at a park was “not a good idea.”
Moments later Narayanasamy was taken to jail, released and charged with two counts of child endangerment.
Unbelievably (to me anyway) there some free-range parents who support Narayanasamy’s decision to ditch his kids, so he could shower at a public gym.
Free Range Parent Lenore Skenazy posted this doozy on her website:
“Kids playing without an adult around! That this fact was “disturbing” to an onlooker is what is so disturbing about our culture. For millennia, kids kept themselves occupied while their parents were otherwise engaged. A 9-year-old watching a 6-year-old was NORMAL, not a REASON TO CALL THE COPS. But call the cops she did. And when they got there, they charged the dad with two counts of child endangerment. Meantime, of course, child protective services is investigating, too. Because any time you trust your children or your community, YOU cannot be trusted. That’s what we’ve come to. You are punished for believing in your kids’ self-reliance and the neighborhood you chose to raise them in.”
I tend to side with the parents who were interviewed at the park where the kids were left unattended.
One woman told news crews: “I think it’s irresponsible and I don’t think a 6-year-old and 9-year-old are capable of taking care of themselves.” While another had this to say: “To me, at that age, 50 yards is too far to be from your kids.”
What do you think? Did Narayanasamy show bad judgment by leaving his kids alone while he shopped and showered?
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