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Kids Living Unsupervised in Converted Bus


tropaka

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As an external observer of the USA, I am having a hard time finding this story shocking. It is getting, for me, to the point with the US that it is with Africa. The media reports coming out, that I see, are of a place I don't feel safe going and I wonder how people can survive there. I know this is far from the truth both with the US and with Africa (which I do know is a continent, not a country) but the stories one hears are worrying.

Keep in mind that the media does not report on what is normal and everyday, they report when they find an extreme situation. I'm sure that if you think about the news where you live it's similar too- they report the bad stuff much more than the good or normal.

When something like this specific incident happens, it tends to be in remote areas, there are some remote areas like this in my current county, but not all counties have places to hide. AND as we've discussed before, Texas has no building codes, so it would be an awful lot easier to say that you converted a bus to a house than it would be in most other states. And it is a converted bus- they took a bus, gutted it and made it into a shelter. The issue happens whether or not it is actually safe and habitable.

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The neighbors knowing and doing nothing makes you wonder what's going on in the neighborhood. Maybe they'd rather help feed the kids than to have CPS coming in and asking questions.

I lived in the Pacific Northwest for about 12 years. I loved the independent, mind-your-own-business mindset. We lived in a rural, small town with five acre tracts. I can't remember anyone even calling the police for anything other than a traffic accident. My neighborhood had plenty of old trailers, converted buses, cabins with no plumbing with mostly families who had small children. It's not that I didn't care about some of the neglect (no heat, not enough to eat), most of us tried to help out our neighbors instead of having the state get in someone's business. The bus in the picture looked worse than what I was accustomed to seeing. I wonder if the dog in the pic belonged with the bus. Lots of people kept large dogs to keep authorities and busybodies away.

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Keep in mind that the media does not report on what is normal and everyday, they report when they find an extreme situation. I'm sure that if you think about the news where you live it's similar too- they report the bad stuff much more than the good or normal.

When something like this specific incident happens, it tends to be in remote areas, there are some remote areas like this in my current county, but not all counties have places to hide. AND as we've discussed before, Texas has no building codes, so it would be an awful lot easier to say that you converted a bus to a house than it would be in most other states. And it is a converted bus- they took a bus, gutted it and made it into a shelter. The issue happens whether or not it is actually safe and habitable.

See the bold.

BTW The same is true of a number of FJ discussions.

Of course, and absolutely, there is need for improvement. Not saying otherwise. And I am NOT minimizing the bad.

But I get tired of the US being scapegoated about everything. It's just not accurate. One heck of a lot of us just get up everyday and do what is needed to be done. Really.

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I lived in the Pacific Northwest for about 12 years. I loved the independent, mind-your-own-business mindset. We lived in a rural, small town with five acre tracts. I can't remember anyone even calling the police for anything other than a traffic accident. My neighborhood had plenty of old trailers, converted buses, cabins with no plumbing with mostly families who had small children. It's not that I didn't care about some of the neglect (no heat, not enough to eat), most of us tried to help out our neighbors instead of having the state get in someone's business. The bus in the picture looked worse than what I was accustomed to seeing. I wonder if the dog in the pic belonged with the bus. Lots of people kept large dogs to keep authorities and busybodies away.

When children aren't being kept warm enough and don't get enough to eat, unless a group of neighbors is going to set up a rotation and bring those kids three meals a day and find a way to keep them warm, it is definitely time to get the state in their business. That mind your own business mindset needs to end when it comes to children who can't do for themselves.

That situation in Splendora has been going on for 3 years, which means it started when the little boy was 2 and his sister was 8 - people minding their own business let these kids be neglected, emotionally, educationally and physically. According to a news report this morning, one of the kids called the police in June saying they were being beaten and they blew it off when the aunt said it was a mistake.

Edited because I got the age of the daughter wrong.

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This story broke my heart. It makes me think that homeschooling needs more supervision. I think that visits from a caseworker a few times a year would have helped keep this situation from happening.

maybe there is just a need for a caseworker to come by when people leave their kids to other members of the family and should not be assuming that because they are family they can take proper care of kids.

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I can't imagine "minding my own business" while 2 children went without proper care and supervision. If you can't feed your children or provide them with proper shelter (and refuse to get help to secure those necessities) then you are making it the states business.

golden_love: If your neighbors were abusing their kids would you have called the police or tried to help?

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From what the parents in this area get away with I wouldn't be surprised if someone did call and it wasn't deemed bad enough for someone to come out. Also you have to be careful if you call and the adult gets a visit but not enough to remove the kids. Then the poor kid gets the backlash of the family's anger - did you go begging for help etc.

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I can't imagine "minding my own business" while 2 children went without proper care and supervision. If you can't feed your children or provide them with proper shelter (and refuse to get help to secure those necessities) then you are making it the states business.

golden_love: If your neighbors were abusing their kids would you have called the police or tried to help?

Yes, I would. I wasn't talking about abusing children. I was saying in the remote area where I lived, most people assisted their neighbors when they were in need rather than involving authority figures. I am explaining the mindset of some more remote areas in the US from my own experience.

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See the bold.

BTW The same is true of a number of FJ discussions.

Of course, and absolutely, there is need for improvement. Not saying otherwise. And I am NOT minimizing the bad.

But I get tired of the US being scapegoated about everything. It's just not accurate. One heck of a lot of us just get up everyday and do what is needed to be done. Really.

Apple, I am not US citizen but I would never scapegoat you. I like the US and many who sail in her. The trouble is, as the most powerful industrialised nation, people are looking at you.

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