What would you do?
A child is abducted.
She comes from a neglected home. Her mom is a drug addict and a drunk.
You find the child with a new family, they abducted her as they had lost their daughter and felt they could supply the little girl with a happy, stable, secure home.
You have a choice
• You turn the couple in for abducting the child, the child will then be placed back with her mother.
• You walk away, leaving the child with the new family. What do you choose?
July 27th, 2010 at 11:28 am
I will walk away
July 27th, 2010 at 11:33 am
In the interests of the future of the the child…?
Walk away.
July 27th, 2010 at 11:49 am
These things have a tendency to come out sooner or later.
It will be much more traumatic for the child to lose her “new” parents later in life. Therefore, I would report the couple to the police and insist on taking matters further with a social worker or something. I am sure that the child will be better off even in foster care (granted I don’t know how this type of set up works in South Africa) than with the biological parents.
The sooner the better.
In my book, two wrongs don’t make a right. Ever. And if you know that the child has been abducted and say nothing then are you not an accomplice in a crime?
July 27th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
First instinct – walk away. Second instinct – what about later?
July 27th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Tough call I would probably try to speak to the abductors and ask them to come clean, but in the end I would like to think that I would notify the authorities, though I’m not sure, I really am not. No matter how good the intention was they still abducted the child, it’s a crime.
They could’ve gone through legal routes to try to foster the child, reported the mother, spoken to the Mother maybe she would’ve consented and let the child stay with them. There is a hundred ways they could’ve handled the situation besides kidnapping her.
The kidnapping in itself must’ve been traumatic for the child surely? One has to wonder how the whole thing transpired, did the 2 families know each other, how did this couple come to know of this child, how do they know for sure the child is neglected and the mother is a drunk? No it doesn’t sit right with me …
July 27th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
If this scenario is taking place in South Africa I’d walk away. Some people here have no respect for life and the little girl will probably end up being sold, abused, raped or worse if she stays with her biological parents.
I’d walk away
July 27th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
I am with Nicci and Julia! I would call the cops.
The child doesn’t have to go back to the mother. There are channels and ways to still protect her without breaking the law!
It may seem like an easy solution to the problem but all our actions have consequences and I am not sure I would be grateful to people who ultimately stole me!
July 27th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Run baby Run.
I actually really dont know – I would like to think I would go to the police and be a good citizen as a crime has been committed. Theoretically it does not matter how ‘nice’ the new home is – if it is okay for them then it is okay to steal any child provided they go to a good home kwim. BUT I honestly don’t know what i would do – I think the circumstances would affect me- a cruel abusive home maybe I would turn a blind eye and deal with my guilt but a drug addict and drunk does not = no love so … I dont know.
July 27th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I’m with Barbara.In theory it does not matter how nice the new family is. They should have the issue to social services. In South Africa they are very accomodating to foster parents and adoptive parents; chances are they would have been able to get the child legally anyway; if they were able to demonstrate that the child was in a cruel and abusive home.
And why did they not want the scrutiny of chld services?
But having raised a child ( and having full custody) from 9 months to 12 years without legally fostering/adopting her, with a gentleman’s agreement with the mother,I can also understand that such informal arrangements do happen A LOT in the Black community.
But it’s always with full knowledge of the mother.If she refusesto hand over the child despite being unable to care for it, family usually intervenes; forces mother to hand over the child through social pressure ( like threat to report to social workers that parent is abusive).
In such cases, everyone turns a blind eye to the fact that the child is not being raised by his mother and the issue was not resolved through social services.
July 27th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Barb – it was Gone Baby Gone and I found it to be a haunting movie! It has stuck with me for ages now!
July 27th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I would walk away.
Trying to get a father to pay maintenance is an excruciatingly painful experience. It takes long. The court is for the child, but they have to follow certain procedures. And after these procedures have been followed, who knows what had happened to the child.
I say if the child is happy where she is, keep her there!!
July 27th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I’d call the authorities…
July 27th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
ooops sorry gone baby gone *blush8 movietriviafail =P
It is a brilliant movie, it haunted me for long after too – as you can see I am still undecided as to what I would do.
July 27th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
eish!!!! Hard one!!! I would have to call social services, I think. Do it legit. But my gut would be to turn a blind eye if the child was happy.
July 27th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
the authorities would inevitably do the right thing. they did in our situation, they were thorough and did take some time but he was immediately removed from the situation he was in until a permanent solution could be made.
unfortunately by abducting the child they’ve already added to his/her insecurities, to take the child away again will just be unsettling. chances are though, this isn’t something they can hide forever.
it was a bad decision by the abductors but ultimately it shouldn’t lie with an outsider to make the decision to tell the authorities, maybe try and convince them to do the right thing and find a social worker they can trust to assist them in legalising the arrangement??
July 27th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Tough one! It’s gonna haunt me…
July 28th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
In OUR country? Walk away. I don’t think they always get it right and if she’s with good people, let it be.
July 28th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Sadly I dont trust the social welfare system in our country to do right by the children.
My daughter went to school with a little girl who they returned to the *biological parents* and within 12 days she was dead. The experience has never left me. The horror.
I would walk away without hesitation.
August 17th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I would really battle.
To me, laws and rules are there for a reason, and no matter the reason for a crime its still a crime…