Dec 1st 2011, 21:04:00
Why do anti-establishment types always escalate logic to absurities? What is government intervention but community will at work? If a child is exposed to an undue level of physical or psychological harm, they should be removed from their parents' care.
It's not like this case happened over night.
"County workers were alerted to the child's weight in early 2010 after his mother took him to a hospital for breathing problems. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea, which can be weight-related, and was given the breathing machine. Social workers began to monitor him under what the county calls protective supervision.
Last year, the boy lost weight but in recent months began to gain it back rapidly. That's when the county moved to take the child, records show.
The mother said that when she found out that other kids and a sibling might be giving her son extra food, she tried to put a stop to it and explain to him that he could eat only certain foods.
She tried to follow the recommendations of the doctors, such as getting him a bike and encouraging him to get exercise.
The mother wonders what role genetics plays in the boy's condition -- both she and his father and some other family members are overweight, she said. However, she also has a 16-year-old son who is tall and thin."
This 8-year-old, 218 pound kid needed a harsh wake-up call to reality. Hopefully, he'll be restored to his mother's care when his weight starts to drop again, otherwise this is more than just another case of children ignoring their parents.