Ethical Issues in the News

ETHICAL ISSUE IN THE NEWS

Mom wanted for allegedly abandoning children in Rankin County turns herself in

By Donesha Aldridge, June 23 2016

Three children had been abandoned by both the mother and the father, the father had already turned himself in and the mother followed shortly. She is to be charged with child desertion and child abandonment. The children were 3, 7 and 10 years of age and had been abandoned in avehicle before passersby saw them wandering about and called the authorities who placed them in the care of their paternal grandparents

Parentsare obligated to take care of their children until they are grown enough to take care of themselves. To abandon children of such an age is heartless and inhuman and there is no good explanation a mother can give for such an action. She could have at least left them at a family member’s house instead abandoning them on the roadside. A parent should put the needs of the children first before their own and one has to wonder what motivations the mother had to do this, it is possible the reasons she will give will not be good enough. Kantian ethics emphasizes the importance of duty. Abandoning one’s duty is very unethical, a parent has the responsibility of taking care and providing for their children and therefore failure to do so is immoral. The behavior goes against the categorical imperative as it is by no means rationale. Abandonment of young children is a heinous act.