Parenting is a challenge unlike any other we will ever face. The task of raising a child (or multiple children) from infancy to productive adulthood — with all its ever-changing complexities and day-to-day nuances — can be daunting. Despite these challenges, we press on. Because we love our kids like crazy — and they are worth it. But disturbing trends in modern society add truckloads of undue pressure to this already stressful task. And this pressure comes most often…from other parents.
Let me start with a fairly ironclad opinion: Most parents love their kids and want the best for them. Now I’ll follow that up with an indisputable fact: Every parent screws up at one time or another (most of us on a regular basis). If you are or ever were a parent, I know you’d agree. So why are modern parents seemingly so giddy to point out the shortfalls in other parents and pile undue shame on them?
It’s for the kids.
I recently came across a Facebook post from a friend of mine asking for tips on how to report a parent who was riding in the car with a one year-old on her lap. Many people chimed in about calling non-emergency numbers and taking down the license plate number and the car’s make and model. Now, I admittedly have a knee-jerk aversion to reporting this sort of minor infraction to the police, but I understand that car seats are the law and that this is technically a violation.
I was going to keep my opinions to myself and continue scrolling through the other stories in my feed, until I saw one comment that got me particularly riled up. Someone suggested that Child Protective Services should be contacted.
Yep, Child Protective Services. The government agency whose job it is to potentially remove children from their homes when they are in danger from their parents. Is it really necessary to open up a CPS record on a family for holding their child on their lap in the car? To me, that’s like using a cruise missile to destroy an anthill. That’s not something that parents should have to face. So I spoke up:
And the response:
A few key phrases that jump out to me:
“Also, it doesn’t matter the intent.”
Intent doesn’t matter? Whether or not you’re an honorable, loving parent doesn’t matter? If someone sees something they don’t like, they get to sic CPS on you? Just like that? Why does everyone seem to be okay with this?
“It’s to protect children.”
Ouch. The fatal blow. End of story. Game over. The trump card of all trump cards has been placed on the table. The lines of moral high ground have been drawn in the sand, and people like me are on the other side of that line. This person would call CPS because “protect the children”. Intent doesn’t matter. Context doesn’t matter. Benefit of the doubt doesn’t matter. If it could be something, then it must be something. In fact, it is mandatory for this person to report it.
Why are we making parenthood even more challenging by threatening to get the government involved in innocuous situations based on a feeling? If there is evidence of child abuse, report it to CPS — by all means. But just because you get “the feels” about something this small doesn’t mean you get to assume that the parents might not be fit to raise their own children.
This “everyone is a suspect” approach to parenting is not good. It’s not good because every one of us could be reported at one time or another, especially when people get to make an accusation against you without proof or context. We all have stories of something we have done that, without the proper context, could look like a red flag to someone else. Even the mandatory reporter has stories, I guarantee it. Do we all deserve CPS records?
