Weird news - Toddler takes wheel after mom falls out of car

It sounds so weird, when you see news like that. Driving when under the influence of alcohol is very dangerous, and is strictly punished if somebody is caught when driving drunk. This has increased in the recent years, with a night in the lockup almost guaranteed if something is caught driving drunk. However, people do continue to drive drunk, even though they know the consequences. A person driving drunk is a menace to himself/herself, and to others in the area.
This however is even more problematic when there are children in the vehicle, which is being driven by somebody who is drunk. A mother with children in the car, who are not able to take care of themselves, is so tragic when the mother is drunk, since the consequences of any accident to these children is grave. In this particular case, the mother fell out of the vehicle and it was one of the toddles who managed to take the wheel to some extent and take the vehicle to the side and stop by hitting an embankment (link to article):

Taloa Foster, 33, was charged with child endangerment after being suspected of drunken driving, the Pontotoc County District Attorney's office said. Witnesses said the child grabbed the wheel and steered the truck across lanes of traffic after his mother fell off the vehicle on Wednesday. The boy's twin brother was also in the truck at the time, US media reports said. The vehicle eventually crashed into an embankment along the road near Ada, about 130 km southeast of Oklahoma City.

Weird news - Toddler burned because her parents owed money

Sometimes you read news which makes you feel that people can be incredibly cruel, heartless. When you consider the case of toddlers and infants, they are essentially helpless to protect themselves or take care of themselves. In such a case, if there is news of somebody torturing a toddler for punishment of what their parent would have done, it seems something that only a heartless person could do, and the punishment for such an action needs to be accordingly harsh. One does know that people feel strongly when they see such mistreatment, and when you consider the parents, they can put whatever effort it takes to ensure that their children are safe. It is all the more problematic when the child has been tortured because of debt that their parents owed; however, no matter what the reason, it is not permissible to torture a small child who does not know what is happening and whose screams would surely be traumatic to hear (link to article):

According to police, Seema and her husband Ranith tortured a two year-old girl, Bhuvaneswari, daughter of Lakshmi and Ashwin Kumar of Bengaluru after they reportedly failed to repay a debt of Rs 3,000. Seema and Lakshmi worked together in a brick kiln near Bengaluru five months ago. “Lakshmi borrowed Rs 3,000 from Seema while they were working in the kiln. After the contract work in the kiln got over, Seema asked Lakshmi to come to Tirupattur and work here to repay the debt. She came along with her husband and two children and was living in rented house in Ambedkar Nagar in the town,” said the police official.

Weird news - Young boy (10 years old) charged with murder of third degree murder

In normal murder cases, it is fairly easy to settle matters; in most cases, there is a murder suspect, and there are evidence and other details. In a majority of cases, the judges do not have to do too much, there are not too many ethical dilemma and so on. However, things get difficult when things are not so simple. What happens when the accused is a minor ? In some cases, things are somewhat clearer when the accused is almost an adult (say when the accused is around 16-17 years old) and is accused of a heinous crime - in such cases, the prosecution argues for treating the accused as an adult and the judge also accepts. But what do you do when you have a 10 year old girl ? Such a young girl is not developed enough to be held responsible for her actions, and yet you cannot leave her because of the nature of the crime, where the girl has actually killed a toddler (link to article):

A 10-year-old girl has been charged with murder after allegedly violently shaking a baby boy and throwing him into a crib.
The fifth-grader, from Pennsylvania, was charged on Friday after an inquest into the death of 11-month-old Heath Conrad Ryder, who died of a traumatic brain injury at Hershey Medical Center in August last year.
The baby boy was at day care when the alleged assault happened a few months earlier. His mother, Shelly Ryder, came to pick him up and found him 'limp and lifeless'.
The young girl, who has no history of behavioural problems, will be tried as a juvenile and has been released into the custody of her parents until the next hearing later this month on condition that she does not have unsupervised contact with children under five.

Weird news - 3 year old daughter goes to get rescue for collapsed dad, saves his life

How often can somebody expect that their 3 year old child can do something to save their life ? Seems a very difficult and chancy statement, but it happened in this case. You can train your children as much as possible, but whether it will ever work is a different matter altogether. And yet, when something like this happens, it seems remarkable. Consider the following case where the 3 year old daughter managed to recognize that her father was in danger due to some wrong medicines, and went to the nearby fire station, and got quick help for her dad. Something really remarkable, and validates all the teaching that the daughter got about how to get help in times of need (link to article):

Frank Tafoya told CNN affiliate KOVR that he "took a mixture of medication I wasn't supposed to at the time -- a bed-time dose -- and I guess I collapsed." Alesaundra did exactly what she was taught -- walking two blocks to reach Fire Station 243, a firehouse the family passes daily.
Once there, she told firefighters that her dad was "frozen" and wouldn't wake up, according to KOVR. "I've been here over 20 years," Capt. Robert Villalovoz said. "It's the first time I've had a 3-year-old walk up to the fire station."