It's June, which means that unfortunately, we're in for an uptick in harrowing stories involving children left alone in cars. So before we get one more moment into the most sweltering time of year, can we please ask with parents to think very carefully before making that quick run and deciding to let your kid go on hanging out in the back seat? Can we please beg you to do whatever you need to remember your child is back there? But can we also plead with local news outlets not to turn this into yet another summer of hysteria over nonexistent "trends"?
Already going viral this week is the video that Kentucky man Mark Herrmann shot — and then posted on Facebook — of a young boy left alone in back seat of a car at the parking lot of a freight store. As WCPO, which originally ran the story, notes, "The truck's key is in the ignition, the vehicle's engine is running, the windows are down and the child is buckled into a safety seat." In the original video, which has since become unavailable on Facebook, Herrmann asks the boy if he's okay, and later confronts the child's father, saying, "You know if I was a bad guy, I probably could have just drove off with this." The father then replies that he would have then given him "Two in the back of the head, no disrespect." The video has attracted news stories and massive social media attention around the country, and police say they are investigating the incident. But local police Captain Tom Grau also cautions, "Call police and give us the information. Let us handle talking with the subject."
The stranger danger that Herrmann implies is of course not the only potential threat to children alone in cars. Tuesday, police reported that an 18 month-old Florida baby had died after being left alone all day in a car while her mother, a fourth grade teacher, was at work. The mother reportedly told investigators that "she arrived at school between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. and forgot her child was in the backseat." Last month, also in Florida, a 16-month-old girl died after her father, an Assistant Public Defender, reportedly forgot to drop the child off at daycare. And last year, in a harrowing story that is still unfolding, George father Justin Ross Harris claimed to have forgotten his 22-month-old son Cooper in the back of the car when he went to work — but evidence suggested that what Harris said was a "tragic accident" was suspicious. He is currently on trial for murder.
The consequences of a split second decision, or a moment of forgetfulness, can be life changing. Children can suffer, sometimes fatally, and even if nothing goes wrong, parents can find themselves in serious legal trouble. As a thorough and smart 2009 feature Washington Post by Gene Weingarten explains, "a combination of stress, emotion, lack of sleep and change in routine" can lead to a "perfect storm" of conditions for a parent to do what most of us would consider unthinkable — forget our own child. And all of these stories are disturbing in different ways. But last year, a USA Today report noted that the number of children who die of overheating in cars appears to be on the decline. And sure enough, according to a report by Jan Null, of the Department of Meteorology & Climate Science at San Jose State University, the number of children who died of car related heatstroke last year was a relatively low 30. But it still happens and it still can be avoided. So don't worry about "trends" of parental neglect. But remember to not leave the car without your child too.
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