Alexis Hutchinson, an army cook and a single mother, refused deployment to Afghanistan in order to care for her son. Originally, she had planned to leave her son in the care of her mother, Angelique Hughes, but her mother could not do it after being overwhelmed with taking care of other relatives and her own personal issues. As a result, Hutchinson could not get on her flight to Afghanistan, and stayed home to take care of her son. After authorities found out, Hutchinson was imprisoned for a while, and her child was put in foster care. Shortly after, Hutchinson was released and united with her son again. Officials are now investigating the case, but no charges have been filed yet. While the army requires all single parents to have a plan for dependent children upon deployment, Hutchinson originally planned to have her mother take care of her son before things fell through. Her mother tried telling her daughter's commanders they needed more time to find someone else to take care of the child, but her deployment schedule never changed.
This is quite a dilemma for Hutchinson, torn between her family and her job. What do you think is more important in this situation, serving one's country? or caring for one's family? Should charges be filed? Is it justifiable? I feel like family is more important because her child is an infant, and I believe that as a mother, she must do her best to make sure her son is taken care of, regardless of the consequences. However, we must remember that she still has a duty as a soldier to follow orders and protect the country.
(link to the story embedded in the title)
Monday, November 16, 2009
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8 comments:
When first reading this post, I could completely understand why charges would be pressed or jail time would be served. But I looked up the article and realized that her son is only 10 months old! I feel like that gives Hutchinson so much more justification for refusing deployment. In this situation, I would definitely risk my job for my family. At 10 months old, this baby/kid is extremely dependent on her mother, and I completely understand her actions. However there needs to be some punishment to keep a more people from acting the same. Charges would be a reasonable punishment, but jail time would be irrational.
I completely agree with Mei Mei. Charges are necessary for things to be fair, but jail time does seems too much. I too would choose taking care of my child over my job because it kind of seemed like there was nothing else see could do about the situation. Unless it is later revealed that she was trying to avoid or escape deployment, then I don't think that her punishment should be too harsh.
I truly do feel sympathetic to Alexis Hutchinson for her dilemma, yet I also understand the military standpoint of this situation. What if everyone began to refuse their deployment? That would cause many unnecessary incarcerations, detracting much needed money from the government. And this woman needs to understand the repercussions of this act. If she goes to Afghanistan there are risks to take there, but if she refuses to go, she may be arrested and imprisoned, which leaves her child in the same predicament as if she was deployed. I think that in this situation, I would choose to support my family and face the punishment.Hopefully this all works out for the Hutchinson family, and she is able to stay with her son. His being so young and dependent upon her should play a factor into this situation.
This must have been a really hard situation for the mother. On one hand, she knows she is ogligated to fight for our country but at the same time, she has an obligation to her son. I think that if she did not have an initial plan for her child if she were to be deported, that would not be ok and she should have a consequence. But because she did have a plan, but the grandmother physically could not take care of the baby, it was not the mom's fault she had to stay home. i think she did the right thing.
I definitely agree and think that the child is more important in this situation. 10 month old children need there mothers and are very dependent on them. Avioding deployment is a punishable act, but having a baby to take care of is of greater importance. Some punishment would be permissible because she did commit to her job, but jail time and being seperated from your newly born child seems unreasonable.
I think that family is obviously more important in this case, after all, one of the reasons for fighting for your country is to ensure a safe life for those that you care about.
Okay, this is probably going to mkae me out to sound like the bad guy, but I think that Hutchinson is in the wrong here. If she planned on becoming a mother, she should not have joined the Armed Forces, especially in this era when more and more troops are being sent overseas.
I agree with Mei Mei and Sandy. Punishment and charges seem necessary to be fair. But jail time is going a bit far. I would also give up my job and take care of my child. It seems to be the best solution in a situation like that. Especially since the baby is only ten months old. At that age, a baby is extremely dependent on their mother and she was doing what she was suppose to do--she's a responsible mother.
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