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Maryland couple want ‘free-range’ kids, but not all do
Washington Compost ^ | January 14, 2015 | Donna St. George

Posted on 01/15/2015 5:02:57 AM PST by ConservativeInPA

It was a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. But what the parents saw as a moment of independence for their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, they say authorities viewed much differently.

Danielle and Alexander Meitiv say they are being investigated for neglect for the Dec. 20 trek — in a case they say reflects a clash of ideas about how safe the world is and whether parents are free to make their own choices about raising their children.

“We wouldn’t have let them do it if we didn’t think they were ready for it,” Danielle said.

She said her son and daughter have previously paired up for walks around the block, to a nearby 7-Eleven and to a library about three-quarters of a mile away. “They have proven they are responsible,” she said. “They’ve developed these skills.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: alexandermeitiv; childhood; childprotectivesvcs; children; cps; crime; daniellemeitiv; freakstate; freerangechildren; freerangekids; homeschool; maryland; meitevfamily; nannystate; parenting; parents; psychology; safety; silverspring
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Our nation is soft.
1 posted on 01/15/2015 5:02:57 AM PST by ConservativeInPA
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To: ConservativeInPA

Right? I remember walking to school, and it was a 5 mile walk. When I got to middle school, I got a bike, but when that bike had a flat or was broken, I walked. We used to walk a quarter mile through our winding neighborhoods to get to a park and a 7-Eleven to buy Slurpees.

Kids today can’t play in their front yards anymore, let alone walk out of a neighborhood. This world is messed up.


2 posted on 01/15/2015 5:07:32 AM PST by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: ConservativeInPA

Perhaps, but letting your kids walk through Silver Spring alone is pretty stupid.


3 posted on 01/15/2015 5:09:49 AM PST by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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To: ConservativeInPA

Its not about soft or tough its about control. Our govt thinks we no longer are allowed to make our own choices. It thinks it has final review and say. It didn’t used to be this way but some where along the line enough people demanded govt do their thinking for them or demanded the govt think for their neighbors. From what I know of liberals its the later....its the control thing.


4 posted on 01/15/2015 5:13:18 AM PST by 556x45
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To: ConservativeInPA

The irony is things (for now, give or take SHTF) are much safer for children than it was 200 years ago: consider disease (malaria, cholera, etc), Indian raids and abductions.

As someone who lives in the People’s Democratic Republic of Maryland, I would have known that wouldn’t fly. I walked about a mile to school every day in Maryland though, when I was a kid. Socialism makes people soft.


5 posted on 01/15/2015 5:14:42 AM PST by baltimorepoet
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To: rarestia
The world is messed up. We walked to and from school twice a day. (Maybe that's why we weren't fat). We played in the yard, on the street, in the park, everywhere was a playground as long as you stayed off neighbors yards who didn't want you playing there.

How many remember seeing a large appliance being delivered and going to ask if might have the box? Going in mass to the local pool, swimming hole or creek in which case there were no adults? We played with firecrackers, cap guns, bottle rocks, tennis ball cannons, threw rocks at each other, rode our bikes down ridiculously steep hills, all without adults or helmets and pads.

I don't remember anyone ever getting really hurt.

6 posted on 01/15/2015 5:15:28 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: ConservativeInPA

Any wonder we know have a nation filed with helicopter parents and 30 year old children?


7 posted on 01/15/2015 5:15:31 AM PST by Flick Lives ("I can't believe it's not Fascism!")
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To: ConservativeInPA
Dumb idea for the parents to do this in Silver Spring, especially for the six year old. This isn't some idyllic rural enclave.
8 posted on 01/15/2015 5:17:20 AM PST by OpusatFR
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To: ConservativeInPA

Maryland around DC is a no go zone


9 posted on 01/15/2015 5:18:05 AM PST by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
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To: ConservativeInPA

When younger, neighbors along a 5 mile stretch disciplined us and protected us. Not today. Still, I see no problem with a 10 year old going to a playground. Yet, I bet if that same 10 year old posted a tasteless selfie and the parent was outraged...the tables would be turned.


10 posted on 01/15/2015 5:19:13 AM PST by lysie
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To: ConservativeInPA

In 1959 I walked 1 mile each day to kindergarten alone.


11 posted on 01/15/2015 5:19:15 AM PST by Raycpa
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To: Timber Rattler

“Perhaps, but letting your kids walk through Silver Spring alone is pretty stupid.”

I can agree with that but it’s still none of the nanny state’s business.


12 posted on 01/15/2015 5:20:46 AM PST by Graybeard58 (Much violence and crime can be explained by the Bell Curve (Bing it))
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To: ConservativeInPA; Abundy; Albion Wilde; AlwaysFree; AnnaSASsyFR; bayliving; BFM; Bigg Red; ...

Maryland “Freak State” PING!


13 posted on 01/15/2015 5:21:45 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Je suis Charlie, you miserable Islamist throwbacks!)
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To: 556x45

I question the legitimacy of a “democratic” form of government to govern, when it continually invades people’s lives to control them. I think that perhaps it may be time for a large number of people to withdraw consent. I’m having a bit of what one might call a “crisis of conscience” when it comes to the idea of “governing through the consent of the governed” and the “social contract”.

Everyone knows that the “divine right” concept of monarchy was a bunch of bull excrement. But think about what happens when you try to withdraw your consent to be governed. The same thing that happens with a monarchy: you get imprisoned and/or murdered. (witness the Civil war).

How can a “social contract” be valid, if said contract is under duress? (You must consent to let me govern you, otherwise I will murder you). Try enforcing a contract where you hold a gun to someone’s head and make them sign a contract where they sell their Mercedes to you for $1.


14 posted on 01/15/2015 5:21:54 AM PST by baltimorepoet
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To: SheLion; Eric Blair 2084; -YYZ-; 31R1O; 383rr; AFreeBird; AGreatPer; Alamo-Girl; Alia; altura; ...

For the children . . .

Nanny State PING!


15 posted on 01/15/2015 5:22:18 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Je suis Charlie, you miserable Islamist throwbacks!)
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To: rarestia

you walked an hour and 15 minutes to school as a kid? I walked a mile to high school. But people don’t walk anymore except for exercise.


16 posted on 01/15/2015 5:24:11 AM PST by yldstrk
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To: baltimorepoet

The real irony is that this couple are uberlibs and are getting a taste of their own liberalism.

“free range children”?...at age 10 and 6? only a liberal could dream that one up....


17 posted on 01/15/2015 5:24:34 AM PST by Crim (Palin / West '16)
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To: defconw

I remember doing all of this as a child too. Unfortunately for me I almost became a statistic when as a 12 year old boy I was assaulted by a group of 21 year old men who thought I had flipped them off. I woke up in the hospital a few days later and found out I had such a severe concussion that I was moments away from surgery to open my skull to relieve the pressure. The doctors’ claim after the fact was that I was pretty lucky (to be alive).

My parents were pretty protective after that - I didn’t get to play hockey for a year, I was pulled out of phys ed several times (I did get beaned in the head shortly after this incident and ended up home bawling and puking from the migraine I developed as a result). To this day I suffer from migraines and it is 40 plus years later.

I don’t blame my parents for being protective after that incident - I’m pretty sure that was a normal response. They did gradually let me have more freedom and things were pretty normal for me after the first 6 months or so, but I was definitely more paranoid and aware of my surroundings afterward also.

In the end, there is a risk/reward choice all parents have to make about this, which is dynamic and based on several factors.


18 posted on 01/15/2015 5:29:22 AM PST by jurroppi1 (The only thing you "pass to see what's in it" is a stool sample. h/t MrB)
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To: rarestia

I walked to school on my own too in the 1970’s in PA. It was about 3/4 of a mile each way.

Walked lots of places, or rode my bike.

I was often miles from home on my own, as were all the other neighborhood kids.

Later on when I was riding a school bus, I stood outside and waited by myself for the bus. That’s not allowed anymore either.


19 posted on 01/15/2015 5:31:34 AM PST by ltc8k6
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To: ConservativeInPA
It is much safer for kids today than it was when I was 10 years old, more than 50 years ago. What's different today is that moms now consider the MSM God's honest truth and are about a gazillion times more paranoid than they were back then.

If the parents aren't in jail, the kids should turn out okay.

20 posted on 01/15/2015 5:32:00 AM PST by Sooth2222 ("In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve." - Joseph de Maistre, 1753-1821)
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