Once I week I’m doing a column for the Park Slope Patch, a new hyper-local news site developed by AOL. The terrific Kristen V. Brown is at the helm and she’s doing a great job over there. Get out the welcome wagon and drop by Patch. Here’s an excerpt from this week’s piece, a rumination on the recent Howard Place tragedy.
Yesterday not far from Park Slope, a woman died at the hands of her 31-year-old son, who stabbed her in the abdomen and the eye. The mother, Margaret Devaney, was declared dead on arrival at Methodist Hospital.
How could this happen in an area known for its happy children and dedicated parents? Well, a tragedy of this kind can strike anywhere. Even in the stroller capital of the world where parents supposedly try harder.
But what if a child is a “bad egg” with serious mental and emotional issues? What if a child is a violent threat to friends, family and strangers? Reportedly the murderous son, Ryan Devaney, had a history of mental instability, numerous arrests and restraining orders against him.
That’s a scary thought and every mother’s nightmare. In a neighborhood where parents believe that if they do everything right the kids will be all right, the idea that your child could one day kill is downright unthinkable…
Read the rest at PS Patch.
Come on! In 2010, you could actually say this: “How could this happen in an area known for its happy children and dedicated parents?” And THIS: “But what if a child is a ‘bad egg’ with serious mental and emotional issues?” My God! You are really taking the abdication of parental responsibility to new heights. BAD EGGS?!!? Sociopaths aren’t born (or hatched!), they are made, and very often by over-involved “dedicated” parents whose ego needs are so huge that the child never develops empathy or a stable sense of self. Is your dedication to protecting parents so great that you’ll toss damaged kids of like… bad eggs?!