https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2017/09/29/a-mother-went-on-an-11-day-european-vacation-and-left-her-young-children-alone-at-home/?utm_term=.2e31292667f6
Erin Macke pictured above
Erin Lee Macke, an Iowa resident, decided to leave to Europe on September 20th, and return October 1st. Authorities requested Macke to come back much sooner than the 11 days she had originally planned.
Police were shocked to hear that a mother left the country for vacation, and willing fully left her four children behind without any type of guardian to watch her children. Police hear about parents leaving down, or going out for the night, but never leaving the country. Police went to conduct a Welfare check from Macke's home in Iowa when they found her four children home alone. Her children told authorities their mother had gone to vacation, leading authorities to contact child protective services.
Police arrested Macke Sept 28th for child endangerment. Macke's children range from the age 6-12. Macke's has been found guilty of four counts of child endangerment. Make has also been charged with allowing a minor to posses a firearm.
Macke has been left with a $9,000 dollar bond.
Personally I believe Macke should lose custody of her children for leaving her children under 13 without any type of child care service as well as giving them possession of a weapon. I don't think parents should be this careless with their children.
Possible discussion questions:
Should Macke's bond be higher?
Should Macke lose custody of her children?
Should there be higher charges for parents who aren't taking care of their kids?
5 comments:
It was irresponsible of Macke to leave her children behind, and she should lose custody of them permanently. There should be higher charges for parents who do not take care of their children, because neglect can lead to emotional problems in children if their parents are not always there for them.
I think that it was wrong for Macke to leave the country especially since her children haven't even turned 13 yet; they are not old enough to be taking care of themselves for over a week. Also, since she is in another country, it is likely that it was difficult to contact her. I believe that she should lose custody over her children as she has other issues in the past with child endangerment and because of this recent situation as well. While I understand that is it difficult to take children out of their homes, I think it is important and beneficial to them if they are removed. Macke is the definition of a neglectful and an uninvolved parent; this can negatively impact a child's life. It can cause them to have trust and other emotional issues in the future. In addition, I agree with Michelle that there should be higher charges for parents who abandon and do not care for their children. They are responsible for them and like I said before, neglectful parents can cause problems for people in the future.
I think that Macke should loose custody of her children. 12 year olds are not capable of taking care of themselves for a whole day, let alone a whole week. As allie said, when one leaves the country there is limited access to communication, and it is highly unlikely that Macke would be responsible enough to check in on her children. Raising independent children is important to many parents, but 12 year olds are simply not old enough to be left alone with the responsibility of taking care of themselves others. It also leaves children with emotional abandonment issues that carry on into adult hood.
Macke should definitely lose custody of her children. Like the others said, it is highly irresponsible for Macke or any parent to leave their children at home alone, especially if they travel to another country. In addition to her neglectful parenting, Macke also gave her 12 and under children a weapon. This is beyond irresponsible, and Macke's bonds should definitely be higher as these children are not even 21 yet which is the age required to purchase a gun in Iowa. Macke left her children to fend for themselves and gave them a weapon which is not only dangerous, but it is also illegal.
I agree with the previous comments that Mack should lose custody of her children. For her to leave the country to go on vacation for her own leisure, while leaving her children to fend for themselves is extremely neglectful and shows that she doesn't care for their well-being. Furthermore, the fact that she left a gun and ammunition accessible to a six year old is very dangerous and this situation could've easily been a lot worse.
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