Lost in "The Forgotten Zone"

I don't know how our society has gotten so very messed up. Why do people have kids if they don't want them? I ask this because I see so many moms and dads out there that just don't seem to care about their kids. I see them in the store with dirty kids...I mean really dirty kids. I see them with dirty clothes...no shoes....knotted hair. I see parents that are just plain mean to their children, like they don't even like them...much less love them. Sometimes it is just a case of seeing the child and the complete lack of happiness in their face. My 16 year old daughter C and I were in the store a few weeks ago and saw a girl that looked to be about three years old....same as G, who was with us too. This little girl was looking at C and I interacting and laughing with G. I mentioned her to C, and told her to look at how she was watching us. I smiled at the little girl...but she just looked on at us. She was dirty and her mom was not paying her any attention at all. C and I talked about how sad she looked and how sad it was because that little girl should be like G is...giggley, happy and secure, but that instead she looked so....lost. I wanted to run over and hug her and tell her it was okay and that she was a good girl and she was special. It hurts me to see this going on in our society so much. I know this is not what our society considers abuse, but to me this is one of the worst kind because these kids are the ones that no one can intervene with. They are the ones lost in 'the forgotten zone'. They are not what we have labeled as abused children. They are not considered to be in iminent danger. They are being provided with the basics of life... shelter, food and clothing. The fact that the food is scarce and lacking nutritional value and the clothes are dirty and appear to be on their last thread are not a major factor in our society. I don't care how financially burdened you are, your children can be in clean clothes and can be clean themselves. When my two teens were babies I was in a marriage that was disasterous. I was living in a small trailer with my kids and no car. I relied on my feet to get me back and forth to the grocery store and to church. I washed all of our clothes in our bath tub. I scrubbed them clean with my hands and rung them dry and then hung them on a line to finish. I did this when my babies were 2 years and 10 months old so all you moms out there know how many clothes I went through! My kids never wore dirty clothes. They were always clean too. I didn't feel one bit of bitterness or resentment while I was scrubbing those clothes...just love and protection. This just makes it all the worse for me when I see these kids out there looking sad, dirty and so lost.

I see little kids left in cars alone...
I see little kids with no one holding their hand in a parking lot...
I see them riding in cars with no seat belts or car seat...
I see and hear them yelled at and degraded...
I hear them being told they are stupid and worthless...
I hear them being told by their own parent that they wish they had never been born...

These poor kids don't know what it feels like to loved and snuggled. They don't know the security of mommy's or daddy's arms. Some of theses parents aren't going through anything stressful in their lives but instead they just really have no interest in their children at all. I know at times parents go through painful times and how it is hard when you as an adult are suffering and hurting inside to keep your heart open and joyful for your children. This is something you just have to do as a parent. I did it. I went through a horrible divorce with restraining orders and violence but never deprived my kids of giggles, laughter, love and snuggles.

So I wonder why people have children if they don't want them? Everyone makes excuses...

I didn't plan on getting pregnant..
I never wanted kids...
Being a mom/dad is not what I thought it would be...

So why not use birth control...and if it fails...why not allow a loving parent to adopt the baby?

I wish we were a society that had the resources to help these kids...