‘Parenting 101’

The viral video of the toddler left alone inside a parked vehicle in Pasig city got mixed reactions from netizens, mostly cuss words or statements of disappointment and condemnation. The DSWD followed with a threat of taking custody over the child and charging the parents with neglect. Whether the boy was left alone only for ten minutes or hours, the sight of a very young child frantically crying and tapping the window of a closed vehicle in a parking lot during the wee hours of the morning, says it all.

Fortunately, nothing very serious happened to the child except for the obvious emotional strain he went through. Other instances of children of tender years locked in cars had fatal results. In the meantime, the social media bashing and the thought of possible legal sanctions should provide a learning experience for the mother and for parents who might find themselves in similar circumstances. Parenting is not simply a matter of maternal instinct like in the case of animals. It is a fundamental obligation governed by law with grave consequences for breaches. Hence, a breeze through pertinent laws on children’s rights and parental duties should be timely for all of us.

The Child and Youth Welfare Code (P.D. 603) declares the child one of the most important assets of the nation and stipulates, among others, that: (1) Every child is endowed with the dignity and worth of a human being from the moment of his conception, and has the right to be born well; (2) Every child has the right to a wholesome family life that will provide him with love, care and understanding, guidance and counseling, and moral and material security; (3) Every child has the right to a well-rounded development of his personality to the end that he may become a happy, useful and active member of society. The gifted child shall be given opportunity and encouragement to develop his special talents. The emotionally disturbed or socially maladjusted child shall be treated with sympathy and understanding, and shall be entitled to treatment and competent care. The physically or mentally handicapped child shall be given the treatment, education and care required by his particular condition; (4) Every child has the right to a balanced diet, adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, proper medical attention, and all the basic physical requirements of a healthy and vigorous life; (5) Every child has the right to be brought up in an atmosphere of morality and rectitude for the enrichment and the strengthening of his character; (6) Every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to his fellowmen; (7) Every child has the right to full opportunities for safe and wholesome recreation and activities, individual as well as social, for the wholesome use of his leisure hours; (8) Every child has the right to protection against exploitation, improper influences, hazards, and other conditions or circumstances prejudicial to his physical, mental, emotional, social and moral development; and (9) Every child has the right to live in a community and a society that can offer him an environment free from pernicious influences and conducive to the promotion of his health and the cultivation of his desirable traits and attributes.

The International Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates States Parties to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for the child, and shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures promoting the best interests of the child and to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, and sexual abuse.

Then we have the Family Code, which imposes upon parents the following duties with respect to their unemancipated children: (1) To keep them in their company, to support, educate and instruct them by right precept and good example, and to provide for their upbringing in keeping with their means; (2) To give them love and affection, advice and counsel, companionship and understanding; (3) To provide them with moral and spiritual guidance, inculcate in them honesty, integrity, self-discipline, self-reliance, industry and thrift, stimulate their interest in civic affairs, and inspire in them compliance with the duties of citizenship; (4) To furnish them with good and wholesome educational materials, supervise their activities, recreation and association with others, protect them from bad company, and prevent them from acquiring habits detrimental to their health, studies and morals; (5) To represent them in all matters affecting their interests; (6) To demand from them respect and obedience; (7) To impose discipline on them as may be required under the circumstances; and (8) To perform such other duties as are imposed by law upon parents and guardians.

As a consequence of the responsibility to supervise and raise children properly, parents are civilly liable for injuries and damages caused to others by the acts or omissions of children under their parental authority. Parents could also be divested of parental authority and custody over their children for grounds like excessive harsh or cruel treatment of the child, giving corrupting orders, or culpable negligence. PD 603 also imposes criminal liability upon parents for abandonment of a child under such circumstances as to deprive him of the love, care and protection he needs, or for neglecting the child by not giving him the education which the family’s station in life and financial conditions permit. And the most common now is the Special Protection Against Child Abuse Act (RA 7610), penalizing maltreatment, whether habitual or not, of the child which includes any of the following: (1) Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, sexual abuse and emotional maltreatment; (2) Any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being; (3) Unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival, such as food and shelter; or (4) Failure to immediately give medical treatment to an injured child resulting in serious impairment of his growth and development or in his permanent incapacity or death.

With the generic wordings of the law, there is the possibility that any violation of the rights of a child, or the failure to comply with a parental obligation, may, at the very least, be considered neglect as understood under the Anti-Child Abuse law. In the instant controversy however, we should not pass judgment and it is best to wait for the results of an investigation. There is a view that the act may not constitute maltreatment under the circumstances because no injury was caused to the child.

But considering the imminent danger to life due to the possibility of gas poisoning or simple suffocation in such situation, I hope one congressman would find it imperative to push for the passage of a law, like what they have in other countries, specifically governing instances where helpless babies or toddlers are left unattended inside cars regardless of the absence of injury. Yet, more than the statutory guidelines and penalties, I still believe that the best prescriptions on “parenting 101” are in the Natural and Divine rules of selfless, sacrificing, understanding and unconditional love for one’s own child etched in the heart of every parent.