--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is impossible to make it a crime to…" description: "\"It is impossible to make it a crime to take your eyes off your children without also making it a crime to be poor.\" — Kim Brooks" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/kim-brooks-10671_children_it-is-impossible-to-make-it-a-crime-to-t_1641767.jpg" --- # It is impossible to make it a crime to take your eyes off… ![“It is impossible to make it a crime to take your eyes off your children without also making it a crime to be poor.” quote by Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/kim-brooks-10671_children_it-is-impossible-to-make-it-a-crime-to-t_1641767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/kim-brooks-10671_children_it-is-impossible-to-make-it-a-crime-to-t_1641767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/kim-brooks-10671_children_it-is-impossible-to-make-it-a-crime-to-t_1641767.jpg) > “It is impossible to make it a crime to take your eyes off your children without also making it a crime to be poor.” [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Neglecting children is criminalized, yet poverty is not, revealing societal double standards. **In simple terms:** Child neglect is crime, poverty isn’t. Key Takeaway Advocate for equitable child‑care policies. Themes justice poverty child welfare Mood concerned urgent Type activist analytical When to use this quote - policy reform - community support - parenting programs Key Concepts social inequality legal standards Questions to Reflect On - How can we protect children without criminalizing poverty? - What support helps families thrive? A Different Perspective Criminalizing neglect may ignore systemic causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes/) ## Related quotes > [In a country that provides no subsidized child care and no mandatory family leave, no assurance of flexibility in the workplace for parents, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/in-a-country-that-provides-no-subsidized-child-care-and-no-mandatory/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I have been addicted to crime since I was born. I was making up crime stories when I was a 4- or 5-year-old kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-clark/i-have-been-addicted-to-crime-since-i-was-born-i-was-making-up-crime/) [Marcia Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-clark/) > [There is a blessed necessity by which the interest of men is always driving them to the right; and, again, making all crime mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-a-blessed-necessity-by-which-the-interest-of-men-is-always/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Poverty is a crime and the poor are terrorists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/poverty-is-a-crime-and-the-poor-are-terrorists/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I think there is a lot of crime caused by desperation, and it doesn't mean that people commit crime because they're poor, but certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-moskos/i-think-there-is-a-lot-of-crime-caused-by-desperation-and-it-doesn-t/) [Peter Moskos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-moskos/) > [All my businesses are scrupulously legal. Not because I have any moral problems with crime. It just makes my life easier to obey the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lieb/all-my-businesses-are-scrupulously-legal-not-because-i-have-any-moral/) [Josh Lieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lieb/) > [but what should we do when the highborn and wealthy take to crime? Indeed, if a poor man will spend a year in prison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-what-should-we-do-when-the-highborn-and-wealthy-take-to-crime/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Crime is for poor people. You don't need to rob the bank if you own it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lieb/crime-is-for-poor-people-you-don-t-need-to-rob-the-bank-if-you-own-it/) [Josh Lieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lieb/) > [We should make it a crime even to attempt to pollute. Our children should grow up next to parks, not poison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/we-should-make-it-a-crime-even-to-attempt-to-pollute-our-children/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [To make crime unprofitable, let the government run it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irene-peter/to-make-crime-unprofitable-let-the-government-run-it/) [Irene Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irene-peter/) > [There are certain things that words on paper can never make a crime, .. There are certain acts that by sheer common sense are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kevorkian/there-are-certain-things-that-words-on-paper-can-never-make-a-crime/) [Jack Kevorkian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kevorkian/) > [Make it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-weller/make-it-a-crime-to-harm-a-fetus-during-another-crime/) [Jerry Weller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-weller/) > [If today you can take a thing like evolution and make it a crime to teach it in the public school, tomorrow you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/if-today-you-can-take-a-thing-like-evolution-and-make-it-a-crime-to-2/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [Make crime pay. Become a lawyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/make-crime-pay-become-a-lawyer/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [If you are going to break a Law of Art, make the crime interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/if-you-are-going-to-break-a-law-of-art-make-the-crime-interesting/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by Kim Brooks > [I got an MFA in fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-got-an-mfa-in-fiction/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I allow myself to feel fear without always capitulating to it... 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Mark was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/that-s-why-i-hadn-t-talked-to-you-for-a-while-but-man-did-i-miss/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [The desire to keep television out of our son's life was one of the few parenting priorities my husband and I agreed on from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/the-desire-to-keep-television-out-of-our-son-s-life-was-one-of-the/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I had never intended to be a stay-at-home-mom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-had-never-intended-to-be-a-stay-at-home-mom/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [When I earned my diploma from the University of Virginia in the spring of 2000, it never occurred to me before my senior year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/when-i-earned-my-diploma-from-the-university-of-virginia-in-the/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [It shouldn't be normal to be anxious all the time about your children, so women should seek mental health help if they're having excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/it-shouldn-t-be-normal-to-be-anxious-all-the-time-about-your-children/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I think that the expectation on parents has changed from giving your children shelter and love and support and guidance to this idea that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-think-that-the-expectation-on-parents-has-changed-from-giving-your/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [As a teenager, I'd longed to get my driver's license so I could get away from my parents. 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I love my family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-love-my-husband-i-love-my-family/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I adore cooking and baking and holiday feasts and dining with friends and spending too much money on mind-blowing meals in wonderful restaurants, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-adore-cooking-and-baking-and-holiday-feasts-and-dining-with-friends/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [Motherhood was the first instance in my life where I was asked to sacrifice anything for anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/motherhood-was-the-first-instance-in-my-life-where-i-was-asked-to/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) > [I wonder if all love affairs, all marriages, all lifelong partnerships, aren't in some ways a turning away from the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-brooks/i-wonder-if-all-love-affairs-all-marriages-all-lifelong-partnerships/) [Kim Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) [Explore all 64 Kim Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-brooks/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. 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