andrea's spare time

Andrea, no one is more in favor of harsh penalties for people who hurt children than I am. However, a wise man once taught me that children are not adults and can not be expected to make decisions like adults. This is one of the hardest questions in our society. When is someone an adult? 16 year olds are trusted to operate a 4000lb vehicle at 70mph down the freeway. 18 year olds are trusted to carry a machine gun and kill enemies. People who are adults under the law can't buy a beer until they are 21 years old.

The reason these standards are in place is that society has decided that 18 and 19 and 20 year old people are not mature enough to handle drinking alcohol. 14 year olds are not mature enough to operate a vehicle. So (after too long a discussion) I don't think that a 14 year old 8th grader can be held to the same standard as a grown adult who kills a baby.

Don't get me wrong, I want this girl to be punished and hopefully have her life salvaged. I don't think we can lock up a 14 year old and throw away the key.

She was old enough to have sex now, wasn't she? I'm not in favor of the death penalty for anyone, but clearly she knew she had a baby because she didn't put toilet tissue in her goldfish and try to flush it down a toilet. She obviously knew what a baby looked like once it was born (even if you want to give her benefit of the doubt that she didn't know she was pregnant). No one around her thought she looked strange with her stomach getting bigger? Not one teacher, one neighbor, one friend, one parent, one sibling, one doctor, the school nurse? Give me a break. When you have laws that allow you to drop off a baby at a hospital or such after you give birth and face no penalties whatsoever, someone who chooses to flush a baby down a toilet deserves some type of punishment (and a whole lot of counseling). Personally, I believe she should never be allowed to have another baby...ever...again. But that punishment would never stand up in court.

I think it's an outrage at what CHILDREN do these days. So many of them believe their parents are too controling or too involved in their lives. This child wants to engage in adult behaviors without being able to think as an adult and now she is in a big mess. I think it's unfortunate that the death penalty isn't case by case because how many cases have we seen popping up where the "teenager" never even knew she was pregnant then went to the extreme to get rid of the innocent baby? If she didn't know she was pregnant, and she had this child in a bathroom, and her intentions were good no matter what the situation, she wouldn't have gone out of her way and made multiple attempts before succeeding in killing that little baby. Maybe this is tough love but so be it.. You want to walk in an adults shoes, engage in adult behaviors and activities, then you better be ready to pay an ADULT PRICE when you SCREW UP~!

Another point that burns me up and it is tied to this, why is it that once a girl turns 12, that anything that goes on in the Doctors office I can not be told about it as a parent but a boy's parents are told everything until they are 18?
If a girl is pregnant, has a STD, or wants to get on the pill the parents have NO right to know according to the Doctors?
So if it can be deemed private enough at THAT age that I as a father can not be told anything about my daughter because my daughter is a WOMAN now, then why cant she be WOMAN enough to face the outcomes of a baby.
I'm sorry but I was raised that if you are gonna act like an adult then you get treated like one. I worked since before I was 16 making money during the summers. Once I turned 16 and got my first tax paying job then my fahter made me start paying for my own clothes, food, and some rent.
Sorry for the rant but this one hit a nerve.

I feel that if she was resposible enough to have sex to begin with, she is responsble enough to know what she was very wrong and should be tried as an adult. That is the problem with alot of teen girls these days. they do things knowing that it is wrong, and in the end are not punished for ti. I f I had a teen girl and she did something like this I would expect her to be punished so other young will know that it is wrong to take the life of another human being.

Maybe she was crying out for help where were the parents. Did they not know she was pregnant do they not help thier child. As a parent I make sure I know what my 14 year is doing and whether or not he is in trouble or needs help it is calleed communication and some of these parents need to learn that I am a working mother but I make sure my children come first.

Another important question: WHERE THE HECK IS THE FATHER OF THE BABY IN ALL THIS??? He should hold SOME responibilty for this!!!

Bloggers, I love you, but I respectfully disagree with your agrument that (I'm paraphrasing) 'she was old enough to have sex, so that makes her old enough to face the consequences' There have been 10 and 11 year old girls who have been pregnant. Would you try a 5th grader as an adult? Making a decision to have sex does not make you an adult. In fact it proves my point again that there are laws which prohibit 14 year old people from having sex for a reason. Society establishes an age of consent because we believe that peolple below a certain age are not mentally and emotionally capable of making that decision.

In Texas, the age of consent is 17. That means that our state says that people younger than 17 are not mature enough to make sexual decisions, therefore the argument that she was old enough to have sex and that makes her old enough to face the consequences is in complete disagreement with state law.

I totally agree with Writing with Power. The act of having sex at so young an age is one thing I imagine we can all understand. The real question here is the MURDER of another human being. Whether she knew she was pregant or not, whether she reached out for help or not, it doesn't matter. She knowingly KILLED HER BABY.

This situation is extremely serious. Agree with PBMom, Snoopy and many others on various aspects. I'm not buying into the ruse just because she was 14 she did not know she was pregnant. Many people in this country were conceived by young Mother's in this country. Additionally, we do not know what type of pain she may have described to the nurse. So let's don't start throwing the school nurse under the bus.

I'm hearing objectively what some of you are saying. Respectively disagree, I've prayed about this and it is truly sad what happened. Some of you are excusing her behavior and dismissing it, chalking it up to youth. That sounds like what a lawyer who represents her would have you buy into.

I'm not going to excuse her behavior just because she is 14. What happened was serious - a life was lost. There was paper stuffed in the mouth of the child (intent). That means that the child cried and that she was trying to stop it (intent). Putting the child in the toilet (intent). Also, look at the birth weight of the child born. That was a healthy baby. This is extremely sad and horrible.

Let's see, she knew to wear baggy clothing, but she couldn't be honest enough to say she had sex (coverup). I think parents need to know. Simply because, if they had known she had sex (honest and open). I'm sure the parents would have taken her to a Physician. I do think she will have to forever live with her actions. God also will deal with her on her behavior. She should be tried as an adult. She did the act as an adult and took the life of the child (without e

Okay lets look at it this way. They say that parenthood is a LIFE sentence. Lets look at it this way, IF she would have kept the baby her life would have been changed forever anyway right? When a baby is brought into this world your life ALWAYS changes.

You know, speaking about the nurse. I'm not sure how it is now but anytime a female came to the nurse for stomach pains she was asked if she was pregnant and then asked about systems of her pain. Why is that not done now if its not? You're so right Sally, just a few simple questions could have determined if she was in labor.
My cousin may not have known she was pregnant but there was NO denying she was in labor when her water broke.

When a child starts becoming a teenager. Parents really need to have "the talk" with them about sex. This means cover ALL the basics. Here's the thing, if a teen engages in unprotected sex, they need to be made aware that their chances are extremely high to becoming pregnant. If they have unprotected sex and fail to let anyone. Harmful consequences can occur. Additionally, teens need to feel like they can speak to their parents. Parents need to step up to the plate and let their children know that things do happen. Often they are not planned. However, if you engage in unprotected sex, it should be mandatory that if you become pregnant (knowingly or not), that if the child dies, you will be held responsible. Often teens think there is a scapegoat. Many just don't want to face responsibility.

Okay, someone mentioned earlier about the school nurse. I'm not sure many of you have seriously worked around teens. They do not come out with their ailments all too readily. Sometimes it takes an act of Congress to get them to speak up. Some of them are so shy they are extremely vague. Then you have the other group that suddenly becomes dumbfounded when an adult asks them a question. They think the adult should have a crystal ball and major as a Psychic in order to discern what is wrong with them. I question the entire incident, but from a different angle. Additionally, some people do not have extreme labor pains. Not all, but some. There have been deliveries that the Mother was not even aware of the fact she was going into labor.

Really think it would be

Sassy: All the school nurse would have needed to do is stick a stethoscope on the child's abdomen to pick up the fetal heart rate--the young lady did go in complaining of stomach pains. She should have listened to her abdomen to see if she had rumblings in her bowels (i.e., gas, increased or decreased bowel sounds, etc.) and she would have heard the other heart beat. This is why I don't let the school nurse off so easily.

This is the job description of a school nurse, which are RN level positions.

School Nurse

Job Duties
School nurses work in various academic settings, providing primary care to children. Their duties range across a wide spectrum and may include emergency care, illness prevention, health counseling, community and public relations, vision and hearing screening, and health education. They may be responsible for the care of students with advanced medical conditions, providing them with tracheostomy care or tube feeding. They work in either school-based clinics or school campuses. School nurses strive to increase the well-being, success, and achievement of the students they care for. They help encourage positive mental and physical development, health safety, and learning.

Job Skills
School nurses need to have well-developed communication skills, and the ability to observe accurately and make decisions accordingly. They must be able to work with patients who are sometimes reluctant to cooperate. They must be willing to work with a team, as well as supervise others. Due to the intense nature of the work, school nurses should be emotionally stab

Understand completely what you are saying PBMom. Additionally think that the Mother of the teenage daughter should have taken her to a Physician. Even if she "suspected or even thought" she was pregnant. I've read that the birth weight of the child was 5 lbs , 6 oz. Many young people display different symptoms and some can still have their menstrual cycle. Fully aware of what is required of an RN, but thank you for sharing your thoughts. I still question this particular point that was brought out by the Baytown Sun:

quote.....The girls’ mother, who was present when police interviewed her daughter, also told the judge Friday that she believed her daughter did say she “thought she was pregnant.” end quote

Parents need to be educated too. Take your teen to the Physician when you suspect, think or know your teen may have had unprotected sex. That crucial elemental factor could have reduced this complicated episode.

It's truly a sad and devastating story-not only for the death of a newborn baby boy-who didn't even get to take but a few breaths before he was silenced forever---more than anything-my heart aches for the baby boy-who will never walk this earth, who will never take his first steps-say his first words-go to school--very heartbreaking!! BUT-I do know the baby is walking the "streets of gold" right now--well-not walking-but you know what I mean. He is with the Heavenly Father--who loves him probably more than his earthly mother AND father did. (\O/)He is an angel now!!

Oh, please. Spare me the boohoo, the cries of 'she's too young' and all that crappyola.
This kid was old enough to have unprotected sex.
She was old enough to hide a pregnancy.
She was old enough to go to the bathroom, have the baby, hear it cry and STUFF TOILET PAPER DOWN HIS THROAT and THEN TRY TO FLUSH HIM DOWN THE TOILET.
Then, she's old enough to try to manipulate the situation and say, "poor me, I didn't know I was pregnant."
Too bad she told what, at least THREE different stories to THREE different detectives about this.
So, tonybaytown, while you are naive enough to believe this little girl was the 'victim'...there was only ONE victim here. The dead, drowned baby that she named "Johnny."
She's alive..he's not.
HER mother is trying to protect her.
His DID NOT.

What's with you people in Baytown, when faced with something horrible a kid has done, you continue to try to excuse their behavior?!!

No one has commented on the fact that her mother was so estranged - emotionally detached - "not there" that her daughter carried a human life for 9 months and she never knew! A mother knows if her child vomits in the morning - no longer needs tampons - is tired in the afternoon after school - "looks" different. There are a million tiny signs that something isn't right with your child. Mom is every bit as guilty as this girl. She will have to live out the rest of her life knowing she played a part in the death of her grandchild.

SHE DESERVES TO BE IN JAIL FOR TREATING THAT INFANT LIKE A PIECE OF GARBAGE ... NO MERCY ON THAT GIRL .