Top 10 Parenting Scandals of July 2011

July 5, Casey Anthony is found not guilty.

In the most controversial trial since the O.J. Simpson case, despite prosecution’s seemingly convincing arguments that party-loving mom Casey Anthony murdered her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, Anthony was found not guilty of first-degree murder and acquitted of child abuse and manslaughter on July 5th. The only thing she was found guilty of was four counts of lying to the police. Anthony now walks as a free woman.

July 6, Georgia investigation uncovers largest school cheating scandal in history

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released an 800-page report stating that at least 178 teachers and administrators in Atlanta had been cheating for years to boost their students’ test scores. Some teachers even held “changing parties” where they changed their students’ incorrect answers to correct answers using the answer sheets provided by the district. Umm … shouldn’t they at least have been able to get the answers right without the help of answer sheets?

July 8, British organization announces the launch of a “Baby Lottery”

A U.K. charity called To Hatch is launching a monthly lottery where, for the price of $32 per ticket, you’ll become eligible for $25,000 worth of personalized fertility treatments. Included in the prize package: a stay at a luxury hotel, a chauffeur-driven ride to the treatment facility, and option of a surrogate if IVF treatments fail.

July 12, Mom charged in death of child hit by car

Raquel Nelson, a mom from Georgia, faces up to 36 months in prison for the death of her son, who was struck by a car while Raquel and her three children tried to cross the street. Raquel is being charged because police discovered she had not been in the crosswalk section when her child was hit by the car. However, the driver of the car who actually struck the boy admitted to having drank alcohol and taking pain killers beforehand — and was blind in one eye. What’s worse? He’s only facing up to six months in jail.

July 13, 8-year-old murdered in Brooklyn during first time walking home alone

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: Eight-year-old Leiby Kletzky begged his parents to let him walk home alone from his Orthodox Jewish day camp, just blocks away. The first day his parents finally relented, Leiby never showed up to the corner where he was supposed to meet his mother. After two days of frantic searching, the boy’s body was found dismembered with parts of his body in a dumpster and parts in the refrigerator of 35-year-old suspect, Levi Aron. Our hearts break for Kletzky’s parents and his entire community.

July 13, Mother jailed after fighting TSA over daughter’s pat-down

41-year-old mom Andrea Fornella Abbott was jailed for refusing to go through the body-scanning machines at a Nashville airport and for reportedly screaming and swearing at TSA agents for attempting to give her daughter (age withheld) a pat-down. We have a feeling this won’t be the first time we ask the question: Was this mom out of line, or have airport security measures gone too far?

July 15, Police shut down kids’ lemonade stand

In the normal kid rite of passage, three young girls in Midway, Georgia, started a lemonade stand to raise enough money for a trip to a nearby water park. After only one day in “business,” local police shut the stand down. Why? Because they didn’t have a business license, peddler’s permit, or food permit. Police Chief Kelly Morningstar said there was no way to know what was in the lemonade or how it was being made. We don’t know which one is more surprising — that police shut the stand down or that the actual police chief was involved.

July 15, 9-year-old found with heroin track marks on his neck

Jose Velasquez, a dad from New Mexico, faces felony counts of child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly injecting his 9-year-old son, Luke, 10 times with heroin. This story is almost too horrific to believe, but not only has the boy himself claimed it’s true, but his drug test came back positive for THC and opiates. Luke was with his father because of a court-ordered custody agreement, but his mother is now fighting for full custody of her son.

July 16, Mom kicked out of American Girl store for breastfeeding in public

Despite New York laws that say it’s completely legal for a woman to breastfeed in any public or private place, employees at an American Girl Place store in New York City forced a mom who was breastfeeding in the store to move to the dressing room. The mom was very upset, and she and her husband tweeted their frustration, which caused a Twitter storm of indignation. Many moms even started tweeting an unofficial campaign to boycott the American Girl brand entirely.

July 22, Terrorists open fire on Norway youth camp

Two hours after a bomb went off in a Norway government building that housed the Prime Minister’s office, a man dressed in a police uniform opened fire at a Labor Party youth camp on the island Utoya, right outside of Oslo. The camp, which housed mostly teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18, erupted into a panic and many of teens began to swim away from the island. An estimated 80 people were killed in the youth camp shooting alone. 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik was arrested as the suspect in the youth camp shooting, though police say they’re still unaware of his motive.