I can't even begin to wrap my head around this...

[leebee]

I just heard this on the news. In Massachusetts, a mom left her 7 month old baby with 2 teens, one of whom is her niece, to run to the store. Mom said she was gone about 30 minutes. During that time, the teens put the baby in the refrigerator!!! Of course they posted it on snapchat or whatever. What were they thinking? Here's the part that gets me even more... the mom is horrified but OK with it. Just saw her interviewed on the news. Mom says she is sure that the teens meant no harm to the baby, they weren't malicious, you can tell from the way they are laughing and joking, teens are just silly and thoughtless. WHAT??? I just can't...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/us/teens-video-baby-refrigerator-charges-trnd/index.html

ETA: I also just heard about the case in the Bronx, where a 12 year old poured boiling water on an 11 year old while she was sleeping at a pajama party. Eleven year old is being treated for severe burns to her torso, 12 year old has been arrested. What are these kids thinking these days?

 

[RangerPooh]

Some people are just idiots. I'm glad that the baby is ok, but these girls need to be taught a lesson that jokes like this (even if for views or whatever you get on SnapChat) are not permissible or taken lightly.

 

[Magpie]

I just heard this on the news. In Massachusetts, a mom left her 7 month old baby with 2 teens, one of whom is her niece, to run to the store. Mom said she was gone about 30 minutes. During that time, the teens put the baby in the refrigerator!!! Of course they posted it on snapchat or whatever. What were they thinking? Here's the part that gets me even more... the mom is horrified but OK with it. Just saw her interviewed on the news. Mom says she is sure that the teens meant no harm to the baby, they weren't malicious, you can tell from the way they are laughing and joking, teens are just silly and thoughtless. WHAT??? I just can't...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/us/teens-video-baby-refrigerator-charges-trnd/index.html

Honestly, if it weren't for snapchat, this wouldn't be news at all. I'm sure it's not the first or the last time kids have done something like this with a baby. The good news is that the baby is fine (and, realistically, wasn't ever in real danger, since you can't really argue they planned to leave her in there to either suffocate or destroy the contents of the fridge) and now mum knows not to leave the baby with these particular teens in the future.

MY teenage babysitter tied me to the dining room table leg with a skipping rope and only untied me because I was screaming bloody murder and she was afraid she'd get caught by her mom. If she'd had a cellphone, she SO would have snapped a pic of me to share with her friends.

It's just plain, ordinary barely-newsworthy stupidity. I think disciplining the girls should be left to their parents.

 

[leebee]

Some people are just idiots. I'm glad that the baby is ok, but these girls need to be taught a lesson that jokes like this (even if for views or whatever you get on SnapChat) are not permissible or taken lightly.

I'm thinking someone should impress that on this mother, too!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Some people take things too far for a "like" or for "shares". It's like all common sense goes out the window and lets face it... Most teens don't have very much to begin with. That's not an insult to them, it just is the way it is. They don't always think things through. I know I didn't.

The boiling water thing is completely disgusting, malicious, and anyone, even my 10 year olds know that.

 

[Grmnshplvr]

I'm glad the baby is ok and just glad they didn't put her in the oven. I've seen a video of a toddler sitting in the fridge with their dog eating some kind of cake, mom caught them, I laughed The kid really wasn't in any danger. ....I wouldn't let them babysit again but I dont really think this is THAT big of a deal compared to some other horrific things we hear happening to children.


The boiling water incident is a totally different level and I think that child probably needs serious therapy.

 

[Magpie]

Ah, just saw your edit!

What are these kids thinking these days?

Very much the same things kids have always thought, for ever. Because kids can be idiots and that's always been true.

And I agree with the others. The boiling water incident is a vicious, pre-meditated assault and not at all in the same category as sticking the baby in the fridge for giggles. If the girls in the fridge story were older and wiser and less impulsive (sadly a known condition of being a teenager), they would have used photoshop.

Like Mr. Stephen Crowley of Dublin who used photoshop to put his daughter in terrifying situations, as a way of raising awareness about her rare immune disorder (https://petapixel.com/2017/04/12/dad-photoshops-baby-dangerous-situations-freak-relatives/).

 

[wilkeliza]

Ah, just saw your edit!



Very much the same things kids have always thought, for ever. Because kids can be idiots and that's always been true.

And I agree with the others. The boiling water incident is a vicious, pre-meditated assault and not at all in the same category as sticking the baby in the fridge for giggles. If the girls in the fridge story were older and wiser and less impulsive (sadly a known condition of being a teenager), they would have used photoshop.

Like Mr. Stephen Crowley of Dublin who used photoshop to put his daughter in terrifying situations, as a way of raising awareness about her rare immune disorder (https://petapixel.com/2017/04/12/dad-photoshops-baby-dangerous-situations-freak-relatives/).

I love love love some of the photoshop photos I've seen but I also realize a child including teenager may see those and not realize he heavily edited every single one of those photos and that his baby girl was never in any danger. They may just say omg look how many like he got by putting the baby on the stairs! I'm baby sitting tomorrow lets try that and see if we go viral!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The mom of the girl whose face was burned is saying she believes it was inspired by the "hot water challenge" that is circulating around social media. Several children have been harmed by it and one died the other day.

http://time.com/4893131/hot-water-challenge/

Good grief.

As for the other two, they showed immensely bad judgement on both counts - placing an infant in the fridge and posting it on social media. I think the charges are warranted given that the baby was crying and at lest one of the girls was laughing as this was happening, which is cruel in my book. Their job was to care for and protect the baby.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/us/teens-video-baby-refrigerator-charges-trnd/index.html

 

[Magpie]

I love love love some of the photoshop photos I've seen but I also realize a child including teenager may see those and not realize he heavily edited every single one of those photos and that his baby girl was never in any danger. They may just say omg look how many like he got by putting the baby on the stairs! I'm baby sitting tomorrow lets try that and see if we go viral!

Yep, I can definitely see that happening.

Doesn't mean the photos shouldn't exist, though. Any more than those old slapstick goofball films and TV comedies shouldn't have existed when we were kids. It just means we need to all be talking to our kids and teens about how you can't trust what you see in photos or on TV.

Anyone remember this PSA?

 

[wilkeliza]

Yep, I can definitely see that happening.

Doesn't mean the photos shouldn't exist, though. Any more than those old slapstick goofball films and TV comedies shouldn't have existed when we were kids. It just means we need to all be talking to our kids and teens about how you can't trust what you see in photos or on TV.

Anyone remember this PSA?

Oh yeah never said they should be allowed I think it is just why it is important for the adult i.e. parents to know what kids are looking at online and talk to them. Let kids know oh yeah this is a cute silly photo but look his bio says everything is photoshopped or whatever. I know I've had to tell my teenage nephew more than once that he can not believe everything he sees online as photoshop is so easy and people can say they are doing or are whatever they want unchecked online.

 

[wenrob]

Honestly, if it weren't for snapchat, this wouldn't be news at all. I'm sure it's not the first or the last time kids have done something like this with a baby. The good news is that the baby is fine (and, realistically, wasn't ever in real danger, since you can't really argue they planned to leave her in there to either suffocate or destroy the contents of the fridge) and now mum knows not to leave the baby with these particular teens in the future.

MY teenage babysitter tied me to the dining room table leg with a skipping rope and only untied me because I was screaming bloody murder and she was afraid she'd get caught by her mom. If she'd had a cellphone, she SO would have snapped a pic of me to share with her friends.

It's just plain, ordinary barely-newsworthy stupidity. I think disciplining the girls should be left to their parents.

My DH tells the story of he and his brother putting the youngest brother in the dryer and turning it on. Tying him upside down in a tree and leaving him there. Tossing an open pocket knife up into the air and it stabbing the youngest in the thigh. He begged him not to tell their dad and to this day he never has. No Snapchat or FB back then, just kids being stupid. The biggest difference between them and these girls is that my DH would never have collected evidence against himself and then essentially bust himself by providing it for everyone to see. Not that putting a baby in the refrigerator isn't a totally asinine thing to do, they'd certainly catch hell from me for doing it but being arrested seems over the top.

 

[Mizzoufan]

What's the horrible part to me is the mom is okay with it. Teenager are stupid. However, a grown adult should be mortified.

 

[wenrob]

I love love love some of the photoshop photos I've seen but I also realize a child including teenager may see those and not realize he heavily edited every single one of those photos and that his baby girl was never in any danger. They may just say omg look how many like he got by putting the baby on the stairs! I'm baby sitting tomorrow lets try that and see if we go viral!

That's a good point as well. It's one of the reasons as a photographer I'm adamantly opposed to train track shots, even abandoned/dead tracks because people think it's cool and risk their lives to try to get them. I actually have a friend who had a family member lose a daughter trying to get them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Child protection laws in MA are strict.

For this discussion:

Child Endangerment:

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Section13L

The second charge is assault with a dangerous weapon. One or both may end up being dropped or amended, we shall see.

** Note that charges seem to stem not from the social media posting, but from the act itself of putting the infant in the refrigerator.

 

[Magpie]

What's the horrible part to me is the mom is okay with it. Teenager are stupid. However, a grown adult should be mortified.

I think the mother is in a bit of a difficult position right now. I didn't see the interview where she seems so blase, but in the article she says she was "horrified" and won't be leaving her baby with them again. Keep in mind, one of the girls is her niece. Presumably this girl is someone she loves and has watched grow up from a baby herself, and now she's been arrested and charged with, "child endangerment and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon".

I'm sure the mother finds that quite horrifying as well, as any of us would if our own child or close family member was facing serious charges like that. Depending on what the judge decides to do, these young ladies may find themselves imprisoned, unable to finish school, unable to ever get a good job. Their lives may be completely derailed.

From this mother's perspective, her baby is safe right now, but her niece is in a frightening amount of jeopardy.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Not sure if this belongs on this thread but the problem is that summer vacation is too long so there is no nice way to say some get stupid with there time off

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'd be willing to bet that after all is said and done, the girls will end up with some community service or education courses or something to that effect. I highly doubt they'll be sent away or kicked out of school, but yes, they will likely face public scorn for a long time; maybe forever. (Especially by their schoolmates.) That's the nature of some of these stupid or cruel social media postings today and why it's so important for kids to understand their postings are forever. Not sure what authorities are supposed to do, just let it slide? (They are mandated reporters.) What type of precedent does that set? This was a serious incident involving a human infant. How would people feel if it was their baby?

 

[mousehockey37]

Not sure if this belongs on this thread but the problem is that summer vacation is too long so there is no nice way to say some get stupid with there time off

I used to be a teacher. Being out of school has nothing to do with it. You should see how they behave DURING school.

 

[Annadesu]

Showing off for the internet, most likely. I'm sure the girls are not pure evil or anything like that, but hopefully after this incident the phones are taken away for a good long while, among other punishments.