Lord knows that parents could use a break from time to time. A little me-time away from the kids. But one Philadelphia mother took this idea to a whole new extreme. She wanted to visit her boyfriend in Maryland, and apparently was having trouble finding anyone to look after her special needs child. So she took her quadriplegic son into the woods of a local park and dumped him there, where he spent 5 days alone in the forest. (She must have found a pretty decent hiding spot.)

The mother now faces charges of attempted murder among others. While this mothers actions were quite callous and represent a severe lack of judgment, I can’t help but think this is yet another example of the backward priorities society … one that seems all to eager to condemn people but is very reluctant to help them. We’re now going to spend anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars prosecuting and locking up this woman. It would be a whole lot cheaper (and far less sinister) to give parents of special needs kids the help and support they need to begin with.