In a true example of unintended consequences, Nebraska’s recently passed "safe haven" law that allows parents of unwanted infants to drop off their babies without any questions asked was written in such a way that parents (or other caregivers) of older children can also legally drop off their kids with no questions asked.  Of course the law was intended to address the problem of babies being left in dumpsters and such places by young parents who don’t want them, but so far the first three cases of people taking advantage of the law are caregivers of a 15-year old, a 13-year old and an 11-year old.

As the parent of a teenager I can tell you that there are occasions when you’re ready to throw in the towel, or at least throw your kid, but I can’t imagine literally just dropping them off somewhere and saying "adios" forever.  Of course I think we have great kids and we’ve never had real nasty issues to deal with, knock on wood, so I’m not going to sit in judgment of these people without knowing the whole story. However, it seems to me that if you make it easy for parents to give up then more than a few are going to do it.

Who knows, maybe it will end up being better for the kids.  After all, you need a license to drive but any fool with a hormone can be a parent.  That doesn’t mean I think this is a good thing, though, because in my mind people need to be held responsible for their actions and a parent being able to just abandon their child because things get tough just doesn’t seem right.  If nothing else the state should make sure the parents are held accountable for the child’s future care until the child is 18 through something like child support payments.  In addition maybe they could require counseling for the parents with the goal to move the children back into the parent’s home if appropriate.  Anything would be better than enabling abandonment with no questions or consequences.