Thursday, December 6, 2007

"DEADBEAT MOM"

The Guardian's headline "Deadbeat mom faces abandonment charge" certainly grabs your attention, but it's the wrong term.
The story written by Anita Gumbs-Sandiford says "A decision will be made today on whether a charge will be laid against a 24-year-old female relative who abandoned two-year-old baby boy Kaleb Toby...".

Anita perhaps you just have an overzealous editor, or maybe you had some input, but your use of the phrase "deadbeat" is wrong.
According to Wikipedia, "Deadbeat Dad or Deadbeat Mom are pejorative terms (primarily U.S.) that are commonly used by the child support agency to refer to men and women who have fathered or mothered a child but fail to pay child support...".
It says nothing about abandonment. Here's an example of a website detailing the search for "deadbeat" dads and moms: http://www.ilchildsupport.com/deadbeats/
Kaleb's mother is therefore not deadbeat. She's more misguided and frustrated.