Recently, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend occurring around this country.

News articles appear in my social media newsfeed almost weekly about parents leaving their children in hot cars unattended and the majority of the time the child dies. 

According to WebMD, almost 600 children have perished in hot cars since 1990. 

This boggles my mind. 

Although I’m not a parent, I just do not understand how a someone can forget they have their child with them in the car. 

Parents assume a great responsibility when a child is born; they cater to its every need from changing diapers to giving baths and providing meals. 

When parents aren’t working, the children are with them all the time, how does one forget they are there? 

In this day and age, some people panic if they forget their cell phone in the car, I’m sure it’s something they look for before getting out of the car. 

How about checking the backseat to make sure you gather up that little human restrained in the car seat?

In a WebMD article, Christopher Haines, DO, director of pediatric emergency medicine at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia said that on a day that is just 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature inside a car can increase by 30 to 40 degrees in an hour and 70 percent of this increase occurs within the first 30 minutes. 

Heat stroke may occur when body temperature passes 104 degrees Fahrenheit. That overwhelms the brain’s temperature control, causing symptoms such as dizziness, disorientation, agitation, confusion, sluggishness, seizure, loss of consciousness and/or death. 

It hurts my heart to hear about these tragic occurrences. 

We are all human and make mistakes, have a lot on our minds and are forgetful, but becoming a parent means caring for not just yourself, but the helpless little being that relies on his or her parent for absolutely everything. 

Remember the children. 

If you see a child alone in a hot vehicle, call 911 immediately, advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.