Raise your kids any way you want and when a tragic accident happens because of your ignorance and stupidity blame yourself. Plain and simple "you don't leave a five year old alone in a car that is running". That is a blanket statement and just plain common sense, ding ding, it's the common sense bell again. It is lazy, and I dare say criminal. Why don't you go to your local police station and ask an officer what they think. I can already tell you their answer, your just inviting tragedy. Sure it may not happen that particular time but when you tempt fate like that you will lose at some point. Why ever take that chance with the most important thing in your life, your child? Your supposed to be their parent, safeguard their life, and not put them into situations like that where I come from. Nothing you can say is going to change that fact or rationalize that at all. It is plain moronic to do something like that in my opinion. What is wrong with you people that would do this? It is not irrational to be cautious in this world, do you watch the daily news on tv at all? Out of every story they run aside from sports or weather, how many are not something negative, not many I would say. Why would you want to take a chance to be that feature story of a tragic accident or worse, it makes no sense to any intelligent person with children.
You mention "our whole point" as if you represent everyone with your point of view. I would dare say that in this thread I am the 99% and you are the 1%. We should rename this thread to "Occupy Common Sense" because apparently the 1% in this thread don't have any. So let me just say again,
"you don't leave a five year old alone in a running car for 30 minutes while you shop". This is a one size fits all rational for sure, your kid doesn't have to hit the gear shifter that you spent a whole paragraph trying to defend. It is just one of a myriad of things that could happen. Why not spend another paragraph trying to defend the probably most common thing that could happen, the child opens the door and leaves the vehicle? Once that happens, you can now add exponential possibilities that could occur, to the detriment of the child, while your so busy looking at cans of soup or whatever. How the heck does that make sense, please explain.
I encourage you to ask a police officer if it is ok to leave your child like that, and do please tell us what the response is. I can guarantee you that if something tragic happened from doing that in my state you will be brought up on child abandonment charges and arrested, be the highlight of the local news broadcast, and thown in jail and hopefully they would lose the key....
Lets hear some more irrational reasoning that it is ok to do this, like it is everyone's choice to do as they please with their childs life. Let me tell you some things are not, like endangering their safety which is exactly what you are doing in this situation. You wouldn't throw your five year old over a fence at the zoo and see if the lions will eat the child, maybe they won't if they're full. Why would you leave a five year old alone in a running car who can't read or write or understand much more than a cartoon, for 30 minutes. Maybe they would stay in the car, maybe they wouldn't, maybe someone steals the car with the kid in it, heck you left them the keys. Wake up and smell the coffee, their is no sensible, intelligent basis for your argument to defend that type of parenting. I pray for kids who have parents that would do that to them, that they will be ok, and not just become another news story on tv.
You want some more reasonable reasoning on this, getcha your popcorn ready I'm just getting started on people like you who would do this and think nothing of it.