Dead Beat Kenya

There is a Facebook page which is meant to expose parents who have abandoned their kids. In many cases it's the man who runs away from the responsibility and leaving the woman to take care of the child or children. In rare cases it's the opposite. According to the page it says "This is a descriptive term that refers to parents of either gender who have freely chosen not to be supportive parents or who do not pay their child support obligations. Deadbeat dad and deadbeat mom are commonly used by child support agencies to refer to men and women who have fathered and mothered a child but are unwilling to pay child support ordered by a family court or statutory agency." The page was started on Sept 6^th and has over 160,000 members on it. It's funny to read about other people being public shamed by the page but it does more harm than good.

 
The first victims of this page are the children. The mothers and few fathers don't know what they are doing to the children. Can you imagine the public ridicule that the kids are exposed to? It's already sad that the father or mother had left them but it's made worse by people knowing why the father left. Imagine if the kid told his friends that its parent is dead just to find out the parent is alive. As it's no longer a secret and the child has to go around with his head bowed low because of the shameful act of both parents. Kids are not built to take this kind of criticism life is hard already for them but this page makes it even harder.

 
Another thing people don't realize maybe the woman or the guy was an ass. If it so happened that I am to be a dad, I would take care of my kids. I won't shy away from my responsibilities, I would man up and go like let's do this. But then again, imagine that I hooked up with the wrong kind of woman? Through my drunken stupor I pick some random lady who for a lack of a better word is tricky and take her home. Don't judge me it's the vodka. Then in a couple of months she comes back telling me she is pregnant. I would be like WTF!!! I am not saying I would leave her with the baby but I will strongly consider it.

 
The last problem that could come out of the page is defamation. So what the guy is a bastard and left you hanging. You knew he was one when you were dating. It doesn't give you the right to publicly ruin his life. With pages like these which are read by everyone, his employers, business partners and his family, this could have a serious effect on his livelihood. Although many Kenyans don't know this, they can go to court and sew the person who talked about them and the page for repeating the slanderous information.

 
There are other legal and correct paths to take to make sure that your child is taken care of by the parent who left. There are laws to protect you. If those don't work, remember you are a strong woman/ man who has a blessing in the form of a child and you will do well.

 
What is your opinion on parents abandoning their children?