Jessica Zammett (FGCU): Disturbing News

Everytime I watch the news or read the newspaper, something really ticks me off. A headline in the Tampa Tribune read, “Shaken baby dies in Bradenton; boyfriend of mom charged”. Stories like this are very sad, and disturbing. According to this article, the 8-month old was shaken to death because she would not stop crying. He shook her seven times, and then she began to vomit, and stopped breathing. 

This is not the first story that I have seen in the news regarding babies being shaken to death. In this particular story, the boyfriend of the mom was charged. But I’ve seen stories before where either a mother or father does the same crime. If someone is not ready to be a parent and be responsible for their child’s well-being, then they should not have a child at all. Yes, I know that some children are not necessarily “planned”, but other options like adoption would ultimately be better for a child in the long run, rather than to be neglected or abused.

In our society, it has never been and will never be acceptable to shake a baby. At such a young age their brain is not even fully developed, and this is why shaking a baby a few times could kill them. I think that people that don’t know how to properly care for a young child shouldn’t be anywhere near them. There are things you can do to stop a baby from crying, and these things do NOT involve placing physical harm upon the child. You can pick up the baby, rock it, change its diaper, give it a toy or pacifier, and so on. The baby will stop crying eventually, once you calm it down. People that shake babies must be extremely impatient if they can’t devote just a few minutes to soothing their child. Shaking a baby is just stupid, and I hope that this guy who killed the baby stays in jail for a very long time to think about how dumb he is. And while he’s in jail, it is clear that this guy has some serious issues and is in dire need of psychological help as well.

 http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/apr/24/241615/shaken-baby-dies-bradenton-boyfriend-mom-charged/news-breaking/

Leave a Reply