You Can Do What on Craigslist?

 I found something extremely disturbing tonight on Craigslist. I sometimes browse Craigslist out of boredom. I saw that they had forums that I had never seen before. I clicked on the parenting forum and I was totally horrified. It makes me sick writing about it, but I felt like I had to share. I went to the parenting forum because I am a single mom and I don’t have a lot of friends that live in my area. All of my friends are amazing, they just live in other parts of the country or the world. I guess that’s part of being a blogger. First I want to say, that I don’t really like Craigslist. I don’t buy or sell things on it. I don’t do much on it but browse. Noah is asleep because he is sick. I am not sure why I crawled in the bowels of Craigslist. I thought I would see normal parenting problems and people looking for advice. I thought maybe I could lend an ear, I mean I am a moderator on a parenting website and all. I am pretty good at giving advice when someone is looking for it.  I knew there were people advertising getting women pregnant on Craigslist but this is a whole kind of disgusting....

So, I click on it and start browsing. I keep seeing posts about people who are looking for babies to adopt. Maybe they are looking for a good agency or some guidance from others who have been through the process. Then I see it, I am pretty tired, so I thought I saw what I did, I rubbed my eyes and looked again. My heart sank. There are PEOPLE OFFERING CHILDREN UP FOR ADOPTION ON CRAIGSLIST. There’s a lot of them too. It’s so sad and sick that people would do this kind of thing. I am all for adoption when it is done the right way. I am sure adoption is expensive with all the legal fees and lawyers but still Craigslist? That’s really dangerous. You have no idea who these people are. They could pretend to be a loving and happy family and they really aren’t. They could do horrible things and be horrible people. I don’t understand it. Why would you just give your child to someone who answers an online ad? This cannot be legal. It surely isn’t sane. As I am reading these ads… cause let’s face it, that’s what they are ADS, for these unwanted children, I am crying. I am thinking about all those children who are victims of child trafficking. These little kids who did nothing wrong, and here they are being given away like a piece of furniture on Craigslist. I also wonder if this is some kind of scam that people are running. What is the whole process? Does money change hands? Are these kids safe? Are they being abused? Are they hungry? 

This person posts a lot!

What is Craigslist thinking by allowing this to be on there? Don’t they moderate it? Apparently not because there’s posts from 2011, so I guess the forums have been around a lot longer. It’s a horrible thing what is going on. Come on Craigslist, didn’t you learn anything from The Craigslist Killer? I would rather see people hooking up than kids being dropped off at God knows where with God knows who. It’s deplorable.  It’s disgusting. It’s WRONG.  I also think of Silvia Likens, a 16 year old who was brutally murdered 50 years ago.  She was staying with a family with her sister and she was murdered and tortured. How can this happen? We live in a society where we have options, but Craigslist should not be one of them. 

Then I saw this ad…. I threw up in my mouth. This poor 12 year old boy has behavior problems and possibly some form of Autism. I am not qualified to say either way, but his mom or maybe his mom’s boyfriend wanted to get rid of him on Craigslist. We have children, we love them, we take care of them, we nurture them, and it’s our job. We shouldn’t just give them up to anyone who wants them. Then there’s a follow up post.

 19 days after the person posted, someone else posted the boy has a good home. NINETEEN DAYS! What the hell is wrong with people? I am not going to say I know what it’s like to be in their shoes, because I don’t, but there’s help out there. If you decide it’s too much, please get help. Go through the proper channels and at least protect your child and watch out for them.

Where are these children ending up? Why is Craigslist allowing this? Are these children slipping through the cracks? Why has no one noticed?

This has to STOP right now! We need to take a stand for these children.