Is there anything like a news

story about a suffering child that makes you just want to turn off the

television or flip as fast as you can to the next page in the newspaper?

If current media coverage is

an adequate indicator, child neglect is an epidemic in this country. Sadly,

that neglect comes in a variety of forms.

Two cases in the metro Atlanta

area spring to mind, both having occurred within the past few days.

A man found an abandoned baby,

just days old, outside his place of employment and reported it to the

authorities. The infant was taken to the hospital for treatment as law

enforcement officials tried to find the parents.

A few days after the initial

discovery, the man who claimed to have found the child was accused of

being the father. A married great-grandfather in his 60s, he allegedly

fathered the baby during an extramarital relationship with a 34-year-old

woman. While not denying the relationship, which lasted many years, the

man insisted that it ended more than a year ago and the child could not

be his.

So this precious baby enters

the world already facing a two-strike count. At least this child is alive.

A 3-year-old in Atlanta was

not so lucky this past week, as her mother reported to a new job and left

her strapped in her car seat in a parking garage for most of the summer-like

day. The toddler's temperature reached 108 degrees before she was pronounced

dead.

The mother, now charged with

murder and cruelty to children, apparently could not find child care because

her daughter had Down's syndrome, and she was starting a new job that

day and didn't want to lose it. The child's father is in prison in New

Jersey.

It would be pointless to speculate

further about the personal situations of all four of these parents, except

to say that whatever the circumstances, the child is innocent, and the

child inevitably suffers the most when parents are irresponsible. In more

and more cases, however, parental irresponsibility results in death and

destruction.

An 18-year-old in Pennsylvania

reportedly wrecked his SUV one night in April of last year, driving 83

miles per hour with a blood alcohol level at twice the legal limit for

an adult. The crash killed him and two 18-year-old passengers. The incident

is relevant now because a 43-year-old woman was convicted last week of

involuntary manslaughter, since the three victims, all underage, were

allowed to drink alcohol in her home.

According to trial reports,

the woman let her daughters invite some friends over to discuss the impending

prom. That led to widespread drinking throughout the house, and the defendant

and her live-in boyfriend were apparently too busy doing their own drinking

and watching TV to watch what the kids in their own house were doing.

She claimed she didn't know, but some two dozen teens (all of whose parents

need a good, hard slap to wake them up) testified that everyone knew they

didn't have to hide the beer while she was around.

While we await the results

of an almost-certain appeal of her guilty verdict, there is a case from

Milwaukee that is only a few days old. The youth mob that beat a man to

death in that city is taking shape, as most of the 12 youngsters accused

of the crime have confessed.

The beating reportedly took

place after a 10-year-old was encouraged by friends to throw an egg at

the victim, who was just walking by minding his own business. The man

then punched a 14-year-old accomplice, according to reports, and someone

else hit the man before the group began chasing him.

According to the police report,

the 10-year-old claimed to have hit the victim four times with a two-foot

tree limb, twice in the back and twice on the legs. Other children struck

the man with the metal end of a shovel and stomped on his head.

All of this happened after

11 p.m. on a Sunday night. That says it all as far as parental involvement

in the lives of these thugs is concerned.

Children don't turn into teen

drunks and vicious killers overnight. It takes a lot of time and effort.

If the people who are supposed to care for them don't give them the time

of day, then someone else will. And if they are ignored in the earliest

stages of life, well, you don't have to worry about what happens to them

as teenagers, because they'll never get that far.

If these stories are depressing,

just turn off the news and go do something fun with your kids. Stay involved

in their lives; remember, neglect comes in many forms. When they're grown,

healthy and making you proud, you'll be glad you did.

[Monroe Roark's Web address

is www.mroark.com.]