<p>I agree that prison is not the answer. But I don’t think that embracing the idea that this could happen to any parent so all cars should have alarms installed in the backseat is the answer either. </p>
<p>Why not a public health campaign that focuses on things like putting the diaper bag upfront but also on the behaviors that have lead to this? Not all of these stories but a disturbingly high percentage of them involve distractions with the person’s work. People are so stressed out that they apparently need to be reminded that it’s okay to not focus on work and/or accept calls from work during the morning drive. Or at least not until your child is safely dropped off.</p>
<p>I’m just not as interested in convincing the public that this could happen to anyone (which, as I’ve said, I don’t believe) as I am in preventing it. Frankly, I think the parents who this has happened to are not good canidates to do that work. They have an emotional investment in the idea that nothing could have been done differently. Okay, they need to believe that to get through the day and I do not want to take that from them. But comforting these parents is not the same as taking constructive steps to stop it from happening again.</p>