Do I understand you to be saying that there are no relevant ways to treat children, other than as property? Hmm.

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Theodore Lamar Heiks
BA, History/Political Science, Western State College of Colorado, 1984
MBA, Entrepreneurship/Marketing, City University of Seattle, 1993

it's a though decission, but yes, she should have brought them to a child welfare agency. Doing things on your own, how well intended it may be, is often not the best solution.

Well, I agree that his ex-wife would have deserved some jail time. As things stand, she is no longer welcome at her ex in-laws and is regarded as the Spawn of Satan by them.

My relative, meanwhile, has met another woman, fallen in love, married, and is very happy with his new life and wife.

So when she fled her house to avoid being killed by their mother, she should have simply left the children there alone to fend for themselves?

THERE SHOULD BE, hence the reason for my thread!

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Rightfully speaking, she should have started trying to obtain legal custody after a few months of noncontact with the mother. However, since she didn't, when the mother came back, she should have gotten her kids back. If the abuse was so apparent, it would have been extremely easy for the Good Samaritan to have gotten custody after a year or two of abandonment.

No practical ones. Children cannot have total freedom. They need an authority figure to put limits on them.

Can you suggest a practical way to treat kids other than as property? I can't imagine one.

"Caretakers" as was said sounds like a much better and appropriate term. How the authorities are just ignoring what was said by Tavey and still come after her like a criminal is just beyond me. And whoopdedoo, they're going to try and put those children back into the hands of a "mother" who would abandon them for three years.

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Confava, just something I browse from time to time.

Did she press charges on the woman? Regardless, she should have turned the kids over to the proper authorities at that time.


Please outline one. I can't imagine another way. Kids cannot have unlimited freedom. Hence, they need some kind of structure/authority figure.

Having reread the OP's article, I think we are missing part of the story.

Here's another article about it:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5928532.html

The children weren't "abandoned" for 3 yrs.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=5531729&page=1

To quote this article, it seems that the mother kept in some touch with the kids the whole time, I wouldn't classify it as abandonment.

That implies that she did usually visit her kids.

Sure will! Children should have their own inalienable rights independent of their parents! They should not be "owned" as slaves were years ago. We saw it as wrong then and we should step up and admit that this is wrong now.
Parents rights should not trump the individual rights of children. If a child's inalienable rights are violated by a parent, that child, or any other adult, should be able to bring action against the offending parent to legally sever the parental relationship.

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