Italy intros sensor-laden foundling wheels to care for abandoned babies – Engadget — I have mixed feeling about this because in the SF Bay Area every few months there is some dipshit teen mom who throws her baby into the bushes and heads for the hills like a moron. She invariably ends up in jail. This is a better idea, but is Italian society falling apart? I’m reminded of this somewhat depressing post linked here about the sudden lack of interest in reproducing in Europe. A post worth re-reading.
Family Affairs Minister Rosy Bindi apparently feels that hooking up hospitals with “modern-day foundling wheels” is the best solution. Based on an idea that dates back hundreds of years, the sensor-laden hatches that are now being installed in Italian hospitals are accessible only from the outside, and feature a specially designed window in which an unwanted child can be deposited into a warm, cushioned bed. In a recent incident, the sensors alerted the staff at Casilino Hospital, which arrived in a mere 40 seconds to care for the infant and find him a proper home.
found by Rick Salsman
Reminds me of B.J. Skinner the beviour modification genius – with graphs and charts , rewards , reducing rewards to make the rat work harder. (Not unlike your present clueless manager / boss/ supervisor) at work..
This was all great until B.J. Skinner wrote an article with photos of his kid being raised in a cage.
Hmmm. I have it on the best authority that the Catholic Church has one or two members in Italy…
I’m just waiting for someone to deposit a puppy
Arizona has had the baby drop off law for years. There are several places where you can drop the baby off and no one will try to find you….unless it’s dead. Firestations are the primary drop off.
This at least is an attempt by the community to deal with a sad reality.
My state has a safe harbor law. The child can be dropped at any hospital within 72 hours after birth. Only 1 question is asked, “Is there anything you would like to tell us about the birth of the child?”
Even given that minimal inconvenience, newborns have been left to die in toilets, trashcans, and charity donation bins in the past year. I guess we should just call it postnatal abortion. If a “woman” can’t show even minimal regard for her child, she needs to be prosecuted.
#1 It’s BF Skinner… or BJ Hunnicut, a different kind of MD.
It seems sensible to me that in an overpopulated world but where more and more aging childless couples want to be parents, it should be easier to transfer the responsibility of parenthood. Dare I suggest that each Birth Certificate have lines at the bottom to show transfer of parenthood, with a blank to show how much money exchanged hands? Gasp!
People who are willing to pay may not be the absolute best parents, but 99% of the time they’re going to be better than a penniless single drug addict.
With regard to abandonment, it’s easy to blame the mothers, but I’d also blame in equal measure: drugs (and the pushers) and the ill-conceived “War on Drugs”.
From the point of view of the baby, this likely a better option than being dumped in a nice neighborhood like an unwanted puppy or kitten. And #1.it’s B.F. Skinner. To help remember that, just put the contacts of a 9V battery on your tongue every time you think B.J.. Within hours you will remember it’s B.F. and not B.J. Skinner, but you will twitch when you see a Hummer drive past. The baby box was an urban legend, the actual thing was a sort of high tech (for it’s time) crib.
The poor mother has to get out of her car and walk over to the drop-off window?! They couldn’t have built a drive-up drop-off window?! They couldn’t provide a free pick-up service?!
God, these guys are pricks. Getting rid of a baby should be instantaneous, like losing weight, changing your hair color, or downloading your favorite song.
I read somewhere a few months ago that italy has the lowest per-capita birth rate of anywhere in europe – perhaps the state should explore the benefits of a unwanted baby pickup center.