Ocala, Florida (The Weekly Vice) -- Melissa G Dean, a 43 year old Mom who's fed up with four teenage boys who won't stop fighting and clean up is FED UP. She quite literally went on strike and moved out, at least on a part time basis.
Ocala police and the Florida Department of Children and Families services didn't think very highly of her 'take this job and shove it' idea. Dean was arrested by Ocala police on Tuesday and charged with child neglect.
Dean is the mother of four boys, aged 17, 16, 14 and 13. She told a DCF official that she decided to "go on strike" because no one would help with her children, saying the police and courts would do nothing to help her.
Dean said the children needed to start cleaning up and stop fighting and that she had no control over them. Dean also said she was fed up with being run over in her own home and having no privacy, according to the court affidavit.
She hoped her actions "would open their eyes and maybe they would start cleaning up after themselves and stop fighting," She reportedly told them she wouldn't come home until they behaved themselves. She also hoped that by giving up her bedroom, the boys would have more space to themselves.
Dean who is a Walgreens manager stayed at a friend's house for the past month. She would cook meals and take them to her kids. She checked in on them and called them often according to court records.
Police were called to the home Monday because two of the boys were fighting over a computer cord and one had run to a neighbor's home who contacted authorities. The day before police went there because one of the boys broke a sliding glass door with his fist, according to police.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
From this report and others I've researched, it doesn't appear to me that the woman intended to abandon the kids, who seem to be out of control whether she was with them or not.
Arresting the woman seems to be the opposite intervention this family needs. While we normally hold little hope in Family Services for helping in most situations, this is one situation where the service might be of some good.
Florida authorities however always seem to have the wrong response for every challenge - and this seems to be a case that continues that tradition
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
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