Parents have almost total say over what their kids eat, drink, watch on television, read; when they go to bed or whether the kid goes to this or that doctor or no doctor at all. You don’t want to vaccinate Little Timbo? You don’t have to vaccinate him. You want Little Timbo to belong to some whacked out religion? Fine.
If you wish to feed Little Timbo three or more meals a day of junky, greasy fast food, that’s fine. If you let the little one consume gallons of soda a week, that’s fine too. If Little Timbo’s idea of a vegetable is that green stuff that grows outside, but that never lands on his plate, hey that’s the parent’s right. Right? If Timbo has only experienced fruit in a pie; if his daily snacks are Cheese Doodles; if his nightly dessert is a gigantic portion ice cream and brownies, that’s hunky dory.
No parent has ever been arrested for child abuse because he or she feeds too few veggies, too much grease, too many gallons of soda, barrels of candy, or mountains of fast foods to Little Timbo.
Parents can bring up Little Timbo in extreme religions and cults. Do you believe that the white man or the black man or the yellow man is the devil? Fine, Little Timbo, that’s today’s lesson. Do you believe that women should cover their faces? Okay, cover them girls. And on and on wild religious beliefs go – but Little Timbo is his parents’ child and on and on Little Timbo will go as his parents take him there.
I know of only one case where a parent was stopped from exercising his/her almost total control of a baby and that concerned a couple who named their son Adolf Hitler—but that case seems to be the exception that proves the rule. I have read about some cases where in medical emergencies courts have overruled parents; these cases are pretty rare as well.
So now I ask you, what if mommy and daddy want to have Little Timbo tattooed. Would this be child abuse?
Don’t answer right away. First think on these things:
Think about the non-vaccination of babies when every legitimate study has shown that vaccinations have saved millions of lives. Think about what highly-processed, chemical-laden foods many parents feed their kids. Think about piercing a baby’s ears or nose. Think about religious practices such as circumcision. This is considered perfectly okay and the right of the parent to have performed. Clitorectomies are a growing concern in Ireland and are performed quite often in Muslim countries. Think about teaching creationism, which flies directly in the face of science.
Knowing all that parents are within their rights to do to their children… would tattooing your baby be child abuse?
[Read Frank Scoblete’s books I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack, I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps and Confessions of a Wayward Catholic! All available from Amazon.com, on Kindle and electronic media, at Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores.]