09.30.09
Are Some Laws Too Strict?
I just had an interesting discussion with my cousin in the Philippines thanks to instant chats. He filled me in on the flood news there, then our conversation moved on to the problems with their “squatters.” And yes, when I visited there, I saw plenty of them. But oddly, we never really discussed them until tonight, and now I am interested to learn more. It should be no surprise that like us, the Philippines has their social and political problems, too. And that reminded me of an article I read this morning. The title was State to Mom: Stop Baby-Sitting Neighbors’ Kids“.
The reason why I recalled this article during our conversation was because it reminded me about laws. How do we determine which laws are good laws? And what are we to do with bad laws? In the article I referenced above a mom was allowing the kids of three of her friends to stay at her house for about an hour each morning before they caught their school bus. Well, apparently she was “turned in” by some neighbor citing some law they have in Michigan that “no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers.” I have no idea how that law got onto their books, but luckily there are some sane people out there who realize that it needs to be changed. “On Tuesday, agency Director Ismael Ahmed said good neighbors should be allowed to help each other ensure their children are safe. Gov. Jennifer Granholm instructed Ahmed to work with the state Legislature to change the law, he said.” Whew, thank God for compassion and reason. . . The question now is, will compassion and reason prevail? I hope they will have a follow up on the outcome of this one. . .
Marlakins
