PLN-23

Saying "please"; an important concept in many homes. From the minute our children are old enough to talk, to every question they ask us, we say "Now what do you say?". Most children don't catch onto it right away. However, all children do eventually learn. In Mother's lawyer: Child killed for failing to say 'please' from Cnn.com, one man named Royce Clyde Zeigler beat his step-daughter, Riley Ann to death because the two year-old couldn't learn fast enough.



Riley Ann, as I blogged about previously, was a two year old who was found floating in a plastic box after obviously beaten to death. Riley's mother and step-father were arrested after her body was identified. However, it was not until Wednesday, the 28th of November that the true cause of Riley Ann's death was determined. Riley's mother's attorney admitted on Wednesday that "The stepfather of a 2-year-old girl lost control and beat her to death because she wouldn't say "please" and "yes sir,".



This article matters to me because, not only have I written about Riley Ann's brutal death, but because I have a niece about Riley Ann's age, and she too, is learning how to say please. I know how frustrating it is to listen to a little girl say "I want..give me...". However, I love my niece enough to never even think about striking her. My niece is going though a stage that consists of her telling me "no, I don't like you...but get me my blanket." So true, there are times when I scream inside. It is hard to hear your only niece tell you she doesn't like you, and then demand that you get her everything her heart desires. Fortunatly, unlike Royce Zeigler, I know that my niece will grow out of this stage, and that she will learn how to say "please" without us asking her to.

This article relates to the world, because of the mysteries and findings surrounding Riley Ann's murder. When two year-old "Baby Grace" showed up in a plastic box on Galveston Bay, millions of hearts went out to her. Everyone who heard about Riley Ann mourned her brutal killing. Thousands more were disgusted when they heard that the people who should have loved and cared for Riley Ann were the ones who beat her to death.

Royce Zeigler is almost twice my age, and he never learned what I have grasped at age fourteen: babies grow, and they learn. All they need is time, something Riley Ann's parents didn't give her.