Brittney Spears: Unfit Parent?

Published on February 8, 2006 By Gideon MacLeish In Current Events

Pop singer Brittney Spears is defending herself over photos that show her driving with her baby on her lap instead of strapped to the car seat. She defends herself by saying that she was trying to avoid paparazzi and didn't have time to strap in her child. This incident, however, is a glaring example of the two sets of justice we have in America.

If Brittney were an average citizen, that photo would have been more than enough evidence to remove Brittney's child from her home, due to concerns over the health and safety of the child. Her home would have been searched from top to bottom, and she would be facing a long future in court defending allegations of being an unfit parent. While social services are investigating, they've publicly stated that they do not expect any action to be taken. I assure you, they would not make such a statement if that were you or I.

Looking at the photo, I find Spears' claims of being hurried to avoid paparazzi hard to believe. There is not much blur in the background, which would seem to indicate she was not going at a high rate of speed, and neither her facial expressions nor the baby's convey any sense of urgency. Even if her claim were true, wouldn't the fact that she would be racing to avoid paparazzi be even MORE reason to strap the baby in? After all, one need look no further than Princess Diana to see the consequences of a high speed crash, and a baby on the seat in its mother's lap would be a certain projectile in the event of a crash.

Spears is not the first celebrity to act irresponsibly with her children. And she won't be the last. I am sure we well remember Michael Jackson's dangling his baby over a balcony's edge. But it is beyond the pale when 580,000 children linger in US foster care on far less serious allegations, while celebrities act with impunity.

California's Child Protective Services has more than enough reason to act here. Because they don't, it behooves us to ask the question WHY they don't. Could it be that placing their policies and procedures under a microscope of public scrutiny would expose them for what they really are and bring their house of cards crashing down? To steal a highly appropriate phrase here, Inquiring minds want to know!

Comments (Page 5)

Rightwinger

on Feb 10, 2006

Kids are too protected these days. Ban any kind of toy that might be harmful. It's gone much too far the other way.

---Icon

I agree. If the laws were so nitpicky when I was a kid, my parents would have been in prison. My dad used to let me "drive" when I was little. Icon is exactly right when he says that there are too many laws concerning safety. They try to reduce risk....it's a nice sentiment, but all you end up with is an encyclopedic file of laws.

Gid is right, too, about the double standard. Different for you and me because we're not famous.

Look, too, at how easy it is for celebrities to slide through the rules and red tape when adopting.
Rosie O'Donnell has what, fifty kids now, and she's never been married (ahem...obviously).
Same with Angelina Jolie. They throw kids at these people. But if you or I were to try, they'd be crawling up our wazoos with a microscope and tweezers. There have to be two parents. A certain income. Healthy environment---but by whose standards? If a healthy environment were legally necessary before pregnancy, the species would probably die out.
There's all these kids out there to be adopted, and all these parents who'd like to, but they make it so hard.

Sorry...ranting. back to you, Gid.

CHRISSY

on Feb 12, 2006

THIS PHOTO IS UNBELIEVABLE?!! I THINK SHE PUT HER CHILD IN MORE DANGER THEN A PHOTOGRAPHER COULD EVER DO! SHE IS A DISGRACE AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAVE ANYMORE CHILDREN UNTIL SHE GROWS UP!!! MY SON IS ONLY A MONTH OR TWO YOUNGER & I COULD NEVER IMAGINE PUTTING HIS LIFE IN SUCH DANGER AS SHE DID HER SON..... THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE NO MATTER IF SHE IS A CELEBRITY OR NOT AND I HOPE SHE IS EMBARRASSED AND FEELS SUCH SHAME FROM HER FANS REACTIONS THAT SHE WILL THINK TWICE THE NEXT TIME SHE HAS TO DECIDE BETWEEN A PHOTO AND HER SONS LIFE!!!!!

fed up

on Feb 12, 2006

YOU guys have no shame.TOO, many california moms have kids around drugs and put the kids in harmful situations,dont let the fathers become involved with kids,collect taxpayer welfare checks that only go for more drugs and the state doesnt take their kids away.Lets find a real topic,there are worse injustices in this state that need to be addressed.How do i know that the pics arent her sitting in the driveway or if its really her?If taking kids away is your solution to everything,you are truely misguided and disfunctional.When i was a child,car seats werent mandatory,i never wore a seat belt,you seem to be judgemental and pompus person.Get a real job try to help people instead of relishing in their unfortune.when you earn the title "JUDGE MACLEISH" THEN I WILL take note of your bullying accusations.

fed up

on Feb 12, 2006

hey you

on Feb 12, 2006

you must be a controll freak.i bet youre pissed because you cant take her kid away personally.take the child where? to be a ward of the state to die in the hands of a overburdened welfare system,while a drugged out mom is really putting their kid in REAL harm.so quick to point and shoot the gun arent we...stop looking at infractions and try preventing real crimes.sounds alot like russia ,huh?

really?

on Feb 12, 2006

how do support your accusation?have you ever talked to her?YOU are not a judge,just a hater to much of that going around.no one even mentioned that it is the poparzi are the ones who cause this type of situations ,they do these stunts to make celebs react ,then get it one camera to mock.you have ,obviously,not been rushed or attacked by the paprozi or been put in a scary situation ,when in a vulnerable time .i wished her man was there so he could punch the crap out of those camera carying parasites,so she didnt feel alone and flee.you will have a hard life in front of you if you breed so much hate and jealousy

really?

on Feb 12, 2006

what do your insecurities have to do with this?you may have a "lapoa"and no one wants to sleep with you,but that doesnt mean you are dumb,but your statements show it

Rightwinger

on Feb 12, 2006

---Chrissy

Not so very long ago, it wasn't considered as dangerous as we've been brainwashed into thinking it is now. Hell, as I said above, if all these laws were applied when I was little, my parents would have been imprisoned. Sure, it's dangerous, but things are getting out of hand. Avoiding or minimizing risk is one thing. Trying to legislate it completely into oblivion is another, and impossible.
I honestly think that many of these laws were enacted for economic reasons.
After all, you sell a lot of car seats when the law says you need to have them.

trueandfree

on Feb 12, 2006

Honestly, I think the best thing that could happen here is for Britney to be embarrassed enough by the bad press that she doesn't ever do it again.

For every person on here that has never done anything totally stupid, consider yourselves the true messiah. The only thing hotter than the surface of the sun is the heat of the moment.

Gideon MacLeish

on Feb 12, 2006

They wouldn't take the child away, not even temporarily.

Well, I find that interesting, considering a 16 month old stuffing food into his mouth at a public dinner was enough to launch an investigation in the state of Texas.

I am not specifically familiar with California's CPS laws, but have read of violations in EVERY state where the initial investigation was spurred on by FAR less evidence than this. As I mentioned on another thread, the issue here isn't "we are being investigated by CPS, why isn't she?", but rather "she ISN'T being investigated by CPS, why are WE?"

Actually, I will go on record by saying I believe Brittney Spears to be 100% correct here and it is, essentially, none of our business. While I will say that I believe it was a stupid act, I don't have any business writing that opinion into legislation. Now to procure the same freedoms for the REST of us that aren't fortunate enough to be celebrities.

Gideon MacLeish

on Feb 12, 2006

Sorry to say she says there's likely little CPS could do aside from creating a record of this event. They wouldn't take the child away, not even temporarily.

No, what CPS would usually do, instead, would be to record the event and bully the individual by demanding a "home visit", during which they'd search the home for anything that COULD be used against the parent. THEN they'd take the kid.

(Unless, of course, you're a celebrity).

Gideon MacLeish

on Feb 12, 2006

Get a real job try to help people instead of relishing in their unfortune.when you earn the title "JUDGE MACLEISH" THEN I WILL take note of your bullying accusations.

Get anb identity then I will take note of the bile that spews out of your mouth. If you read my blog, in context, you know I spend a fair amount of time helping people that aren't fortunate enough to have the benefit of celebrity to protect them.

Texas Wahine

on Feb 12, 2006

For every person on here that has never done anything totally stupid, consider yourselves the true messiah. The only thing hotter than the surface of the sun is the heat of the moment.

That's in response to MY comment?

I reserve the right to express my opinions and make moral judgments about anyone and everyone. Particularly people who make their living in the public eye.

What she did WAS wrong. It was unsafe. Babies DO NOT belong mere inches from the steering column (which holds the airbag). I don't think it's particularly pious to say this. We all do stupid things. I do stupid things everyday. What I DON'T do is place my children's heads near the airbags of my car. EVER.

If that makes me the true messiah...well, thanks.

Gideon MacLeish

on Feb 12, 2006

What she did WAS wrong. It was unsafe. Babies DO NOT belong mere inches from the steering column (which holds the airbag). I don't think it's particularly pious to say this. We all do stupid things. I do stupid things everyday. What I DON'T do is place my children's heads near the airbags of my car. EVER.

Absolutely, 100% on the nose, Texas.

I would only follow it with the statement that, while what she did was incredibly, monumentally, fundamentally stupid, she has a Constitutional right to stupidity, and it doesn't make her a bad parent overall. If parents were held accountable for every incredibly, monumentally, fundamentally stupid thing they ever did, NONE of us would have our children past the first month, most likely!

Texas Wahine

on Feb 12, 2006

I would only follow it with the statement that, while what she did was incredibly, monumentally, fundamentally stupid, she has a Constitutional right to stupidity, and it doesn't make her a bad parent overall.

Honestly, I don't think it matters whether I, or anyone else, thinks she's a bad parent. She's responsible for that baby, and we're not. So all the talk about whether she's a bad mom or not is just chatter for us to amuse ourselves with.

However, I don't believe she has a "Constitutional" right to endanger the life of her child. She broke the law. She was fortunate enough that her crime was not witnessed by any authorities (otherwise she'd be paying a fine or some such). OK. Fine. That doesn't mean that we should pretend like what she did was somehow a protected freedom.

It wasn't just stupidity like, "Oops I locked my keys in the car" or "Oops I jostled the baby too much after a feeding and he spit up"...she endangered the life of her child.

Many folks on this thread like to pretend like it's a normal thing. However, not only is it illegal, but it's a completely different ballgame from when you or I were growing up.

Cars are not made of the same tough stuff they used to be. Crashes smash these new cars all to hell. Further, airbags are unpredictable and can deploy even in a minor fender bender type of situation. AIRBAGS KILL CHILDREN. They decapitate them. A child struck by an airbag at close range will die.

I'm not willing to pretend like this was something to shrug off. I would hope that if I ever did something like that the people around me would take me aside and scare the shit out of me so that I never did anything like that with my children again.

Gideon, I agree with a lot of the points you've made in reference to this incident. I just want to make it clear that I will not undermine the serious danger of placing infants near the steering wheel of a moving vehicle.

It's not OK. It's not OK for me to do it. It's not OK for Britney to do it. It's not OK for anyone to do it.

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