"What's happening to the world?"

There have been so many bad things in the news lately that it’s got my mind racing again.

What’s the deal with all the school shootings?

There are many questions that I ask myself when I see these stories:

Where are the kids getting the guns?

Are the parents responsible for their kids actions?

Why didn’t someone see the signs and do something before it happened?

Is there anything that really could have been done to prevent it?

Do you feel there is anything that, as a parent, you need to do to keep your child safe in his/her school?

I’m sure that most moms ask themselves some of these same questions.

There have also been a rash of children being run over while crossing streets, etc. Why?

Kids have always crossed streets. Is the media just reporting it more or are the number of accidents going up?

After hearing about some of the recent stories of children being run over, I wonder how old a child should be before he/she is allowed to ride his/her bike in a neighborhood (assuming it has sidewalks). My son is 7. I let him ride to his friends’ houses every once in a while. Is that too young?

Boys are just so independent. I know when I was 7 I rode all over the neighborhood. Have things changed too much?

Update: I've answered my own question about whether a 7 year old was too young to ride his bike to his friend's house. My son was found last night about 7 blocks from our house crying and screaming my name. He was lost. Thankfully, a nice lady noticed him and brought him to me. If you're reading this Mrs. Wallace, thank you!!!!!! Thanks also for telling him to never ride with strangers, LOL! Needless to say, my son will not be riding his bike to his friend's house for a while. I knew there were dangers, but it never crossed my mind that he could get lost going around the corner. What is the appropriate age for that?

Read comments and leave yours HERE.

"The Madeline McCann Case"

Recent new evidence in the Madeline McCann case has me pondering this question yet again……

What in the world were they thinking?

For those of you that don’t know about the case, Madeline McCann is a 4-year old little girl that disappeared from a hotel room while vacationing with her parents in Portugal.

Madeline and her twin siblings (2-years old) were asleep in their hotel room. That night her parents decided to go out to eat with some friends. They made the fatal mistake of leaving their children unattended in the hotel room. Again, what were they thinking?

Upon questioning, the mother claimed that it was normal for parents to leave their children unattended in Portugal. She stated that she could see the hotel room from the restaurant. How in the world is that possible? She may have been able to see the window. Unless she was expecting her children to climb out the window, why does it matter that she could see it?

From what I’ve read, they have never found the little girl. However, they have found evidence that may suggest that the child’s corpse was inside of a car that they rented 25 days after her disappearance. 25 days? What in the world? Why would they hang on to the body for 25 days, or am I misunderstanding this?

Regardless of whether or not the parents are the ones that killed her, they should be punished for leaving those precious children alone.

This upsets me tremendously. I just cannot understand what they were thinking, unless they’re guilty.

Maybe I’m being too judgmental. Tell me if I’m wrong.

Read comments and leave yours HERE.

You can also discuss this by going to RedRiverMoms.com and viewing the "In The News" section in the forums or by clicking HERE.