Eric HicksTime and again the headlines are filled with stories of young children left home alone. Typically they're found fine, and we all fret about what could have happened. In Joplin, Missouri, however, it's what did happen that's heartbreaking.
According to The Joplin Globe, Eric Hicks, 28, was watching his girlfriend's 18-month-old son, Emjay Corn, Saturday morning. He had an appointment at a methadone clinic, but instead of taking the boy with him or finding alternative care for him, he just left him there, alone in his crib. Sometime later the boy was found dead.
The boy's cause of death is still under investigation, and Hicks has been charged with felony child endangerment. Other details are murky as to why police arrived at the house when there was no record of a call being made to them that day and where the mother was. But regardless of the specifics, on the surface, it's such a blatant and sad example of why young children should never be left home alone -- not for an hour, not even for a couple of minutes.
It's hard to find child care, I know. And for some who have to work to pay the rent or keep medical appointments, leaving the children alone may feel like the only option, perhaps especially so for someone coping with drug addiction. But it never can be. Even children who are sleeping or otherwise engaged can get into a dangerous situation in no time at all. People who don't understand that shouldn't be left in charge of them.
I feel for this entire family. I can only imagine their pain and suffering right now as they piece together what happened, contemplate what they could have done to prevent it, and beat themselves up for the rest of their lives over what they didn't do. But that's the thing when it comes to our children's safety -- we don't get do-overs, and that's why we have to put it first, above anything else.
Do you know people who leave young children home alone? Have you ever?
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Comments 293
Part of me feels for the mother as at least she left her child with someone - and since being in a relationship with him probably felt that the baby would be safe. That being said, it should have been a "responsible" someone and not a drug addict. Recovering or not, he's still an addict so being reliable is not exactly a virtue of his.
A distant cousin of mine suffered similarly when she left her young daughter with her boyfriend while she went to an appointment. The child has been in the hospital ever since with a sever case of shaken baby syndrome and the boyfriend has been in jail. The poor child will never fully recover and will likely never mentally develop more than a 6 yr old. The boyfriend certainly had been in the company of the child plenty of times before and never an incident. However, this was the first time left alone and he couldn't handle the baby crying for mommy.
I am by no means defending what this man did - that baby should not have been left alone, period. We will probably never know what happened. But why should the mother be held accountable? For dating someone that was addicted? Methadone is meant to help you kick an addiction. As for leaving her child alone with him.... had he ever given her reason to not trust him to look after her child?
I'm just saying... maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge.
@ shea the most important part of your comment is in the parentheses. (When used properly) some people can get on and off methadone without much of a problem but there is a big difference between heroin and pain killers. I have always heard (I know way too many drug addicts) that methadone is or can be more addictive than heroin thats why people stay on it for so long. I know people who were told when the the Dr. put them on it that they would not be coming off of it. It's bad stuff. It's better to get clean without it, faster and easier. It makes no sense to trade one drug for another.
We are never going to truly know what happened here - I am sure that the poor mother is kicking herself and questioning her every decision at this point.