Last summer, I watched the entire series of "One Tree Hill." In one of the later seasons, a father forgets one of his sons in his vehicle on a hot summer day. He only realizes that he has done so when he returns to his vehicle to find his windows smashed out. Fortunately in the show, the child survives. But many children aren't as lucky.
This episode aired on January 25, 2012. I struggle in trying to determine why an episode like this was included in the series. Originally, I thought it served the purpose of bringing to light something that commonly occurs, which it somewhat does. But it really just supports how normalized this kind of tragedy is. And in a way, it makes it seem like it's okay. Forgetting children in hot cars is all too normal, but it's not okay. It's been over four years, and still nothing has changed.
I'm not a parent, but I can't understand how a parent could forget their child in their vehicle. It's not like forgetting your purse in the car, or maybe even your keys. People are forgetting children in their cars. Living, breathing, children. And these parents are not realizing that they forgot their children in their car. So, the temperatures are rising, and the children are dying.
I was prompted to write about this topic after I read about the most recent case of heatstroke death of children in vehicles. On August 4, 2016, twin 15-month-old girls in Georgia died as a result of being left in a hot vehicle. It was 91 degrees out that day. This is only one of many cases of children dying as a result of heatstroke from being left in hot vehicles.
So far this year, there have been 26 cases of heatstroke death of children in vehicles. 26 deaths of children that could've been entirely prevented. 26 lives that were taken before they even had a chance to live their life. The youngest victim was only 4 months old, while the oldest was 4 years old. Since 1998, there have been 687 children who have died as a result of being left in a hot car.
Part of me wonders if this occurs as a result of all of the distractions in the modern day. This is no excuse for people forgetting their children in hot cars, but I'm sure it plays a role in the tragedy. Everybody is always on their phones, and I wonder if people are too preoccupied with texting someone or talking to someone on the phone, that they just get out of their car and forget about everything else that isn't their phones. Again, this is absolutely no excuse for parents forgetting their children in hot vehicles. I'm just trying to understand how this could happen at all, and in such frequency, and I assume that it has to do with all of the distractions present in this world.
I don't know why this happens, and I'm not sure I ever will. I don't understand how you could forget your child in a hot vehicle. I don't understand how you could ever live with yourself after knowing that you caused your child's death. I don't understand how any spouses or partners could ever forgive you for taking their child away from them. I don't understand any of it.
I want you to take a moment to think about what these children probably went through in the last few moments of their lives. They were burning up, trapped in a carseat, maybe screaming, maybe crying, or maybe so dehydrated that they couldn't make any noise. They had no idea what was happening, and so desperately wanted their mommies and daddies to come pick them up and snuggle them. But their mommies and daddies didn't come, until it was too late.
Not every parent is perfect, but this isn't about perfection. This is about responsibility. If you can't remember your child, which is probably the most important thing in the world to you, how can you remember anything else? How can you live with yourself? I'm not telling you how to live your life, but if you can remember to take your wallet and car keys out of your vehicle, you sure as hell should be able to remember to take your kid out of the car. I know how everybody says that these kind of things are just accidents, but that's no excuse. If you are one of those people who is irresponsible enough to forget and leave your child in a hot car to die, you disgust me.
