If you’ve ever raised a teenager, you probably know the shame of occasionally thinking, “if I could just give him/her away.” It goes with the territory, and it goes away after a few minutes.
But in Nebraska, it’s the real thing. Parents are abandoning their teenagers under the same safe-haven law that most states have set up to protect unwanted newborns.
“All children deserve our protection,” said Sen. Tom White, who helped revise the safe-haven law in Nebraska.
On Saturday, a 13-year old was dropped off at a hospital. She’s the third teen to be so abandoned in a week.
In other states, to be fair, the fact there is no program in place doesn’t mean parents aren’t still abandoning their teens.