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Post by librarylady on Apr 3, 2016 1:15:53 GMT
WHITWELL, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman is facing child neglect charges after deputies found her driving ahead of her young daughters while making them walk to school.
Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said the mother told deputies her daughters were being punished for missing the bus, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports (bit.ly/1UHXZH6).
Lisa Marie Palmer, 32, is scheduled for an initial court appearance April 18 on charges of child neglect and driving without a license.
No phone number was listed on a deputy's report to reach Palmer for comment, and court officials said she doesn't have an attorney yet.
In his report, Marion County sheriff's Deputy Chris Ladd said he and another deputy spotted the two girls with a dog "walking the fog line" and a gold Cadillac parked on the shoulder, engine running.
Both girls are under age 10, Ladd said Saturday, but he didn't have their exact ages.
Ladd said in his report that Palmer and the children were about 50 yards apart with Palmer in the car ahead of them.
It "appeared as if she was driving ahead of the children and allowing them to walk and catch up to her vehicle and to proceed with that action until the children reached the school," Ladd's report said.
Ladd estimated the girls had walked about a mile and a half and had about two more miles to go.
"Temperatures were cold, and traffic was beginning to become heavy with citizens heading to work," Ladd said. "Mrs. Palmer was in no position to reach her children safely in the event of an emergency."
At that point, Ladd cited Palmer for child neglect and began trying to arrange for the girls to get the rest of the way to school. Palmer didn't have a valid driver's license and couldn't be allowed to drive the girls on to school.
The charges stem from an investigation launched March 1 after Ladd and the other deputy responded to the situation. Burnett said the case also is being investigated by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services
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johnnysmom
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Post by johnnysmom on Apr 3, 2016 1:23:44 GMT
What ever happened to letting parents.......parent!
I'd have to know what kind of road it was (how much traffic, speed limits, sidewalks/safe walking area), ages of the kids and how far the walk was but at first glance I have no issue with it.
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AnotherPea
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Post by AnotherPea on Apr 3, 2016 1:25:10 GMT
If I checked correctly, the low on that day was 44.
Would a mother taking her kids on a 3 mile hike at that temperature be arrested?
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Post by refugeepea on Apr 3, 2016 1:25:44 GMT
The conditions don't sound safe. I'm not opposed to that punishment. I told my son he could walk to work tonight.
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katybee
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Post by katybee on Apr 3, 2016 1:27:21 GMT
Sidewalks.... Fine. But it sounds like there were not any sidewalks. And it sounds as if it was a heavily traveled road. Neglect? I don't know. Bad decision? Yes! And why doesn't she have a valid drivers license?
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Post by hop2 on Apr 3, 2016 1:27:46 GMT
Umm I guess I was abused then. And trust me my mother didn't bother to drive with me. She never got out of bed. She just said get going walk to school. Btw we lived over 5 miles from school.
I didn't have to walk the five miles because a neighbor took pity on me and drove me but I still learned my lesson. It's not the way I chose to teach my kids ( thoygh I've told them that story multiple times ) but I didn't consider it abuse at the time.
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Dani-Mani
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Post by Dani-Mani on Apr 3, 2016 1:35:33 GMT
If they were walking the fog line then they were walking in the road not on the sidewalk. I'm surprised anyone thinks that's OK.
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Post by scrapsotime on Apr 3, 2016 1:40:08 GMT
Most children in my town were abused then. Back then there was no bus service in town and I'm not sure they have bus pick up in town now. both my parents left for work before the doors opened to the school. You got to school any way you could.
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AnotherPea
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Post by AnotherPea on Apr 3, 2016 1:41:45 GMT
We don't have fog lines or sidewalks here. Kids walk along the shoulder. Someone could swerve and hit them but I don't see how that is any different than riding on a bike.
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Post by refugeepea on Apr 3, 2016 1:43:11 GMT
Wanted to add I've never heard the term "walking the fog line".
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Post by myshelly on Apr 3, 2016 1:47:18 GMT
I also have never heard "walking the fog line" and don't know what that means.
But I do in general think people shouldn't walk on roads where there aren't sidewalks.
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Post by librarylady on Apr 3, 2016 1:50:15 GMT
Had never heard the term "fog line" before either. Here is definition:
Specifically, the solid white lines on the outside right edge of the lane. Its called a fog line because its primary use is to assist in finding ones lane in poor visibility situations.
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suzastampin
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Post by suzastampin on Apr 3, 2016 2:00:47 GMT
When I was a kid we lived "in town" so we couldn't ride a bus. My walk was just over a mile. It's the same here where we live now. The only fault I can see in this situation is that I would have driven behind the children walking so I could have my eye on the walkers.
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Post by librarylady on Apr 3, 2016 2:22:32 GMT
I think walking 3.5 miles for kids under age 10 is a bit too much. She should have been behind the kids if this is what she decided to do--not to mention getting a driver's license.
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Post by ~summer~ on Apr 3, 2016 2:34:33 GMT
If it was safe sounds fine to me. If she was blocking traffic or they aren't walking on protected sidewalk sounds dumb
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Post by mom on Apr 3, 2016 2:36:48 GMT
Yeah, I am not ok with them walking in the road. Sidewalk? Yes. I don't know that its neglect but I do think it is a bad choice on the moms part.
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Post by jemali on Apr 3, 2016 2:41:38 GMT
So "fog line" = shoulder?
If it was a busy enough road to have a shoulder, it probably was not a safe plan.
I don't object to the theory if "if you miss the bus you have to walk" but doesn't sound appropriate here especially for elementary kids.
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Post by chaosisapony on Apr 3, 2016 2:43:35 GMT
I'm not sure this fits into neglect but it sounds like a bad choice. I agree with her in principle but 3 miles for kids under 10 with no sidewalk? That's an accident waiting to happen and there wouldn't be anything she could do about it.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 3, 2016 2:43:45 GMT
From the report, it doesn't sound like the kids were walking in the safest area, AND the mom didn't have a valid driver's license so she had no business being on the road. Those would be the things I would take most issue with. I'm all for consequences but I wouldn't want to put my kid in a risky or unsafe situation to do it. If it was such a great idea, why wasn't she out there walking with them?
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Post by mlynn on Apr 3, 2016 2:53:42 GMT
The conditions don't sound safe. I'm not opposed to that punishment. I told my son he could walk to work tonight. But is your son under 10? Plus they had a dog with them. That increases the hazard tremendously. If he runs into the road, their impulse would be to run after him. Plus walking the fog line is not far enough from traffic to be safe.
I would consider this child endangerment.
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Post by refugeepea on Apr 3, 2016 3:01:35 GMT
The conditions don't sound safe. I'm not opposed to that punishment. I told my son he could walk to work tonight. But is your son under 10? I'm not sure why my son's age matters. He's obviously older since he has a job. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/MNrJDkDuSwqIMVw33MdD.jpg) I said I didn't think it was safe for the girls to walk to school because of unsafe conditions.
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scrapaddie
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Post by scrapaddie on Apr 3, 2016 3:30:36 GMT
Not only were they walking on the road, but they must of been walking in the same direction as the traffic. It is definitely safer to walk facing the traffic. Some poor decision-making all the way around
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Post by stingfan on Apr 3, 2016 3:46:59 GMT
While not bad in theory, in this case it wasn't executed very wisely.
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Apr 3, 2016 5:14:57 GMT
So "fog line" = shoulder? If it was a busy enough road to have a shoulder, it probably was not a safe plan. I don't object to the theory if "if you miss the bus you have to walk" but doesn't sound appropriate here especially for elementary kids. The fog line is usually the boundary between the lane of traffic and whatever constitutes the shoulder of a particular road. Sometimes there's enough room for a bike, sometimes there's room enough that you could park a car, sometimes there's just a couple of inches of pavement and then a gravel shoulder. Definitely not something you should walk on, since people who aren't totally paying attention cross the fog line all.the.time. It's why there are rumble strips on the other side of it on the interstate and highways-- to alert drivers to get back in the lane of traffic before they hit the gravel/grass/concrete barrier/bridge/steep embankment into the river.
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Post by melanell on Apr 3, 2016 6:22:14 GMT
I also have never heard "walking the fog line" and don't know what that means. But I do in general think people shouldn't walk on roads where there aren't sidewalks. In many of the suburbs in my region, no one would walk anywhere, then. There are only sidewalks in the city and in the oldest parts of the suburban towns. The vast majority of newer developments (and by "newer", I mean from about the 1960s forward, LOL!) have no sidewalks. And that includes roads with schools on them. I have no idea if this road was safe, because I am not familiar with it. I don't know how visibility is or how heavy traffic really gets. 3+ miles sounds like it could be a hike for kids under 10. Some kids are used to walking that amount and more, and then that wouldn't worry me, either. But the absence of sidewalks and "cold temperatures" (if they were actually as high as 44) alone do not make me think neglect at all. I don't think the mom following along in the car was the best choice. I think walking with them would have been preferable simply because it would be easier to communicate with the kids. But I just can't see calling it neglect. Honestly, I think the article is so lacking in pertinent details, that I really can't even consider making a judgement call on it. Girls who are 8 & 9 are a different story than girls who are 5 & 6, kwim? I might let a 3rd or 4th grader walk further and in different circumstances than a kindergartner.
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Post by katiejane on Apr 3, 2016 7:56:25 GMT
Walking to school is ok. I had a 4 mile walk to school with my kiddo when he was young. Which we walked in the rain, snow and everything else. But then there is no school bus system here. But as a punishment she should of walked it with them. I don't get driving ahead of them. And if the route was unsafe was there a safer one that she could of taken if she had not been in a car? So to me in a coming from a culture of walking to school it sounds like a very strange thing to do.
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Post by llinin on Apr 3, 2016 10:28:34 GMT
The other articles I saw also mentioned Dad and Grandpa came to the rescue, got mouthy, Grandpa acted like he was going to pull a knife, and a search found drug paraphernalia, Grandpa was arrested. I think it was a poor idea.
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anniebygaslight
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Post by anniebygaslight on Apr 3, 2016 10:44:29 GMT
Gosh. I used to walk to school, in charge of several younger siblings a couple of miles each way, and lived to tell the tale. Crossing a busy main road was involved too. There was no knife wielding grandfather in the picture though.
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Post by mikklynn on Apr 3, 2016 12:03:00 GMT
While not bad in theory, in this case it wasn't executed very wisely. You said it perfectly.
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Post by stampinbetsy on Apr 3, 2016 13:56:37 GMT
While not bad in theory, in this case it wasn't executed very wisely. You said it perfectly. Yep. I think this mom made a poor choice in this case, but I'm not sure I'd call it neglect. If there was a pattern of this type of behavior, maybe, but if this was her idea of how to teach them a lesson, she should have thought it through a little more.
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