I am sure mom has had a hard life and knows not even the basics about being a mother. But FGS why not contact the state social services office and have the kids put in foster care, or put up for adoption? It is not that difficult to realize when you are not fit to be a mom, whether it be due to immaturity or just plain not caring or whatever. I am sick and tired of kids being abused and even killed because they are unwanted by a parent. There are lots of people who would love to care for such children and it boggles the mind that kids are suffering just because of their parent's ignorance or greed or addictions of what-have-you. Is it because they get a welfare check for each child? Welfare is a pittance so it's hard to buy that as the reason, but there has to be some explanation for why people keep kids that they do not want.
I am not cutting this woman any slack because her life was hard. So was mine, I was raised by an alcoholic, religiously fanatic, hoarder mother that literally put everything in her life ahead of me. At the age of 15, when I moved out, I had no idea how to operate a microwave or a washing machine. It sucked, let's not sugarcoat that. I had to learn how to live in a world that I had literally never been a functional part of. But I figured it out. And at 17 when I had my first child, yes, I struggled. Financially, emotionally, you name it. My boyfriend, her father, became abusive, and I didn't leave. Until he hit her. Once, that was all it took. If a 17 year old with no financial support, no grasp on the world as a big picture, and a no resources for help can get the guts to lave the second her child is abused, this woman could have done the same. Luckily, he only used his hands, because if he had ever stabbed her, I would have stabbed him back. There is no excuse.
In many cases, I think it is the welfare check. Most people don't realize how much a person on welfare and enrolled in other low income programs can make off the system. They ask for help with furniture and toiletries and appliances, the community helps, they sell them for drug money. The community helps through toys for tots, christmas programs, and things given away for free on Craigslist. The parents sell those things for drugs. The state helps with cash, food stamps, and WIC, and the parents trade them for drugs. Not to mention, a child is always good for getting money from family members that believe a good sob story, as well as being a financial gain for people soulless enough to sell their kids, which happens quite often. And remember, the more kids you have, the more the state pays you, and if you aren't using that money to feed them or clothe them like you should, then it's considered free money by some. Most of the people that live like this grew up poor and know how to live on next to nothing, or the paradox is that they are complete addicts and no amount of money will ever be enough, so having a dollar in their pocket is the same desperate situation as having a thousand dollars in their pocket. They know it will be gone at the end of the day anyway, and they will be searching for more very soon.
Sorry for the editorial, I have just about hit my limit with people that think it's okay to allow someone else to beat their kids, that allow their kids to starve, or any of the other daily atrocities. It's Christmas, and I bet those kids didn't even know it until they had been removed from that house. It makes me literally ill.