Balloon Boy and the Demonization of Parents
I watched with baited breath the “Balloon Boy” incident yesterday. A little boy was thought to be inside a home-made balloon that was untethered and floated away. After the balloon landed empty, a massive search ensued, and a few hours later, the boy was found hiding in the attic.
It took 27 minutes of my not watching TV for the climate to go from “the boy is feared dead!” to “oh those horrible parents!” On one station, a panel OF SIX GUESTS were there, giving commentary on the incident. Immediately they jumped to how “kooky” the family is because the mom yells “storm coming” or something to wake them up. Give me a break!
Frankly, from the get-go I thought this was a hoax or publicity stunt (the kid’s name is Falcon? really?), but as I saw the dad break down and apologize to his son for yelling at him, I had a change of heart. Update: right now, I’m uncertain, but the little boy’s response to his father’s question about why he hid in the attic was because “you told me to” does not bode well.
That fact, however, does not change the topic of my post.
When I was a kid, something ground-breaking happened in the state of child-protection: In New York, a little girl was beaten to death by her father. Since then, things have been really crazy with parents. Anyone can call the authorities on you for any reason. (Someone once accused me of having a dirty home. The Child Youth person rolled her eyes the minute she walked in. “What dirt??”) Given the aftermath, I’m fairly certain this family would be visited by the local child protection agency, but even if the boy had not said, even if this was a completely legitimate case, they would probably show up anyway.
I am fed up with this lock-down on parents. Questions should be asked, and people have wondered why the Henne house wasn’t searched first. (Shouldn’t the authorities have thought of that? NO disrespect to law enforcement, BTW, they’ve always been wonderful to us when we’ve had issues.) Well, maybe it was and the kid was a good hider. When Amelia was about 2, we blinked and she was gone. My husband ran screaming up and down the block, while I opened every cabinet and drawer. A contractor working in our garage found her, in the car, in the dark, quiet as a mouse, hiding. We didn’t even know she could open the door, so why would we look there? I now know better to look EVERYWHERE first or while you are calling the authorities.
Experience also taught me to NEVER to take my eyes off my kids, but that’s because they have special needs and are not at their age level yet. I remember how little supervision I had as a kid – Mom and Dad would have been hauled off if it had been now. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but there is so much conflicting data and pulling trends that it’s hard to know what to do. If we hold too tightly, we’ll either never teach them independence or they will rebel and do things that make our stomachs ill. (Did the 2nd one myself.)
UPDATE: Unfortunately, it looks like my initial instincts may have been right.
And parents as a whole will be demonized even more if this was a stunt, or suffer more cruel suspicion and mistreatment, like this mom who had TSA agents took her son at her airport.
You heard it here first, folks, and she reported it before Falcon told the world!
I heard an NPR show once where a guest called the way you and I were brought up “Benign Neglect.” It was typical of the day, and there was a lot to be said for it. But yeah, you’d be reported to CPS for the standard of care we got.
Oh my! My mother would have had a FIT if anyone had said “benign neglect”! She was fighter, she wouldn’t have stood for that crap. And she was pretty strict too, but compared to today’s standards, it was a bit much.
I know the publicity coordinator who worked with this family during the taping of the Wife Swap episode on ABC. She confirmed what I was feeling watching the live video- “These people are media ‘whores’ that will do anything for publicity. They’re completely insane.” She said something like this fits right in with how they crave attention. She has no doubt whatsoever that this was a publicity hoax. “They’re horrible horrible people.” She said.
This from someone in a situation and direct experience working with them.
just curious – have you watched the fateful interview where Falcon appears to go ‘off script’? If so, what was your opinion afterwards about this? (full disclosure – everything in me was screaming ‘HOAX’ after this – the parents reaction – dad’s especially – was that of a trapped liar in damage control mode to me…)
Oh Good Grief, that is wrong in ALL kinds of ways. I don’t get it, and to my point, this will FURTHER reflect badly on parents. Grr.
Saw it about an hour after writing the post. Someone twitted the dad is a terrible liar, and I have to agree, although he was sure good at faking tears.
Still, even if it was a publicity stunt, though, something about this does not quite add up. Someone else I know thought it might be a kids’ prank, but the whole situation stinks to me.