Am I so old that 20-somethings look twelve to me, or does that 20-something actually look twelve?

God only knows what the mother has been through in her own life to make this relationship seem at all acceptable/viable. They both need about ten years of therapy. But she is still the adult. With two other kids!

No it’s fucking not. Placing a child up for adoption is not “abandoning a child.”If this girl was 11 when she gave birth instead of 16 would you still be rattling off about her choices? What about if she was severely disabled? Do dead people “abandon” their children when they die?

That was what stuck out to me. It kind of broke my heart when he said no one ever fed him or tried to make him feel happy or special...so he fell in love. That’s what your parents are supposed to do. I want to shake him and scream that she’s not special or good for being kind to you.

I am more OK with that happening with siblings than with parents and children. Even if the parent and child haven’t seen each other most of the child’s life, it’s probable there will be an imbalance of experience and power between them. A relationship between siblings can be more equitable. If they didn’t know about…

Absolutely. He was prime to be taken advantage of. He needed a parent, not a lover.

Plus the vulnerability that comes from a neglectful childhood.

I would give up any romantic relationship before I'd give up my kids. This is so fucked. In every way.

Mares is not allowed to see Peterson or any of her other children. She doesn’t seem to care.

Yeah, the people saying this is okay seem to be forgetting that this is a parent taking advantage of their child.

that wasn’t the relevant part of their argument, and you 100% know this. the point was that WITHOUT CONVICTION THEY ARE SEPARATED. no one is saying you said they did it. the point is that they do not need to be IN JAIL AT THIS POINT. the only reason they are is bail.

tbh everyone understands what it is you’re saying, they disagree. your point is it COULD LEAD TO PRISON TIME, putting the onus of experiencing unacceptable jail-related situations on them. that’s true. it COULD. the argument EVERYONE IS MAKING is that it literally does not have to. it’s not a requirement of the law.…

For real. This person has repeated themselves at least ten times and then insinuated other people were dim while shouting ‘no,no, I agree with you.’, no actually you don’t. You may agree that our fucking horribly broken prison system needs fixed, but you’re still stuck on punishment, because this is our world now.…

Good Christ, you just keep fucking that dog, don’t you.

Yeah, sure you are.

We don’t have to accept the world as it is. That is lazy. We are always examining and changing things about our world. That is part of human nature. Now fuck off.

I mean, you could just do what this judge did. Which is to recognize their humanity and this man’s desire to meet his child. And then, you know, have a trial, sentence dude, and require him to serve his sentence as punishment for his crime but while trying not to demoralize him so severely that he sees no point in…

Yes, we do. And so we have to see clearly the limitations and consequences of it. Not just individuals, but all of us as a whole. When we do so and react to those, we can change. Otherwise we’re just peeing into the wind.

Yeah no.

Oh just stop with the doubling down here. You’re only doing it because no one agrees with you and that’s made you pissy.