Judgment Not Be Cast
“I’m not judging people, I’m judging their actions. It’s the same type of distinction that I try to apply to myself, to judge, but not be judgmental.”
In the last few weeks the news has been inundated with information and opinions about Miles Harrison, 49, from Virginia. His adopted son, Chase, died after Harrison left him in the car for an undisclosed amount of time. Harrison had driven to work that morning and presumably forgotten Chase in the car.
Harrison has been charged with manslaughter and is currently still under medical care.
Now, for those of you who have never been in the situation I urge you not to cast judgment. Why? Because as the saying goes, until you have walked in his shoes you don’t know how his shoes feel.
As parents (and bare with me here) we have ALL had moments when we:
- wanted to (OR DID) spank our children
- we have all let them cry it out because WE were too dang tired
- we have all forgotten the extra diapers and made them sit in a wet one or made a make-shift one
- given them Benadryl to help them sleep
- forgotten to buckle the car seat
And, we may have just left the house with everything but the baby in the car carrier or walked into the grocery store without our child because we had the grocery list on our mind.
The thing is…it happens. The unfortunate thing is that when it happens to end in a death like this it is heartbreaking. But, sometimes it is just an accident and the parents, biological or adoptive, grieve. They don’t need judgment or criticism for actions they may or may not have been able to prevent.
Of course non of us can imagine leaving our children in our car, right? Never in a million years?
AJ was as silent as he could be for the first year of traveling in a car. He rarely babbled or spoke anyway but in the car he was silent (unless I backed the car up and then he screamed). I think he was just taking everything in. So, I would turn the radio on so he could listen to music and the two of us rode in silence…he didn’t really like me talking either.
I can only imagine that Harrison’s case was similar.
Tags: , Adoption, death, harrison, manslaughter, Russia, toddler, virginiaRelated Stories
POSTED IN: AJ, News, Russia, TV and Media
2 opinions for Judgment Not Be Cast
Moody Mommy
Jul 22, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’m not familiar w/ this case, specifically, but I DO judge the actions of anyone who leaves a child alone in a car to die. It is a terrible tragedy. It is no excuse that a child is silent and does not make oneself known. We, as parents, have an obligation to be mindful of our children’s needs. Leaving a child alone in a car to die is neglect in the most pure sense of the word. I hope those in the legal position to judge NEVER award this person a child again.
JoleneK
Jul 24, 2008 at 12:22 am
There just is no excuse for what the dad did or didn’t do. The child for whom the dad was responsible died because he didn’t take proper care of his son. I’m sure the dad feels terrible. But, his son’s still dead because of his father’s neglect. Because of what this man did, my adoption process has been put on hold. We have to change regions because of what he did. Other children will not be getting adopted because of what this man did. Just plain ol’ facts. Anything that happens to a child adopted by Americans that hits the newspapers is going to be picked up by the media in the child’s birth country and, if negative, can affect the lives of children waiting to be adopted. Carelessness is an expensive character trait.
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