Thursday, July 24, 2008

Isn't This Child Abuse?

Apparently a judge thinks so. The parents of a little girl in New Zealand legally changed her name to Talula Does the Hula. You can read about it here.

Now my question today is, as is it at least once a day for various reasons, WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH PEOPLE??? WHY would you do this to a 9-year-old girl? Is life not hard enough for kids? Do they not worry enough about fitting in? Is it not hard enough for a child to navigate the mazes of social acceptance--which for kids is often like playing a game that nobody's explained but they get penalized for breaking the rules--without doing this to her on top of that?

Apparently this poor girl is being used by her parents as a pawn in some divorce/custody battle, and this name change was the latest volley in that battle. Because that's the way to show the world that you're the better parent...

If you ask me, any parent who shows so little regard for her/his child's feelings and healthy social development isn't worth the title. Apparently the judge thinks the same thing, because he removed this poor kid from her parent's custody, made her a ward of the state, and gave her a normal name. I wasn't sure from the article if he resored her old name or let her pick a new one or what. Either way, good for him.

It's good to see some common sense coming down from the bench. Good call, Judge Murfitt.

Kat

3 comments:

Michelle said...

I'm with you, girlfriend. I'm surprised that the thing went through in the first place, though. You know how much hassle I had trying to add my surname to my children's names! I'm glad that the judge waved the BS flag and gave the poor child a break. Sheesh.

Maevenly said...

Dude!

I totally saw that article as well!

What the HELL were those parents thinking when they named their child?!?!?!? AND, I was SO relieved to read that Judge in the case had the best interest in the child - and not headlines - at hand.

I'm all for a funky, cool, groovy, slightly-off-the-beaten-track name for a child. And, I have this HOPE that celebrities that have named their children after fruit and objects are just using those odd-ball names as 'red herrings' so that the child can have as much normalacy as possible - for as long as possible. But in reading that article - can you believe that parents would name their child 'Violence'? I know of a pair of parents that named their child Connecticut. I was honest with them when they asked my opinion on the the name they chose. I told them that she's going to HATE her name and resent you until she's in her mid-twenties and then, only then, will she have come to some sort of terms with it. ANd you know what his answer was (the father's)? "Meh - I love Connecticut, I love my little girl, hence the name. I'm going to call her CT for short."

Talk about not getting it.... And that goes for me as well, for not understanding WHAT these parents are thinking when they name their child Dogsh*t, F*ckFruit, etc...

Maevenly

Anonymous said...

I suppose it's only marginally better than "Princess Consuelo Bananahammock". But still...

In the immortal words of Napoleon Dynamite (gotta love THAT name, too!):

Gawwwsh!! IDIOTS!!

Dax