Posted on 06/09/2015 5:03:05 PM PDT by Kaslin
There was a time not too long ago that parents could let their kids walk to school alone, take a solo bike ride around the neighborhood, and, once reasonably old enough, stay home alone. Those days are gone, and gone with a vengeance. This type of parenting, which was once considered the norm, is now getting kids taken away from their guardians, and parents locked up and treated as negligent criminals.
The latest story comes out of Florida, where an 11-year-old boy, whose parents were delayed in traffic, hung out in his own backyard for an hour and a half waiting for them. I’ll let the mother who wrote to Lenore Skenazy over at her website, Free RangeKids.com, explain what happened next (emphasis from Skenazy):
My children are not free range children. The younger one has always had a baby sitter. The older one who just turned 11 a couple of weeks ago always had a baby sitter as well. This school year that changed. The eleven year old comes home and is met by his dad who lets him in the house. In the event dad isn’t here on time, his instructions are to wait in the backyard until I come home about 20 minutes later.
On this particular day, a little more than a month ago, both dad and I were both running late due bad traffic and rain. We were about and hour and a half late. When we arrived the police had been anonymously called and we were arrested for child neglect.
We still do not have our children, we are fighting for our own freedom and due to the nature of my employment I am no longer employed. My son was in his own yard playing basketball, not in the street or at the park. The authorities claim he had no access to water or shelter. We have an open shed in the back yard and 2 working sinks and 2 hoses. They said he had no food. He ate his snacks already. He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone. In his own yard, in a state, Florida, that has no minimum age for children to be alone. If you have any advice for what I should do I will accept it.
And then for her update:
Our sons were returned to us on Tuesday/Wednesday in the children’s court/DCF with adjudication withheld. However the criminal prosecutor is not dropping the charges as of today. We have to appear in the criminal court on June 11th to put in our plea. I would love to speak to someone however due to my job (which is still on the line) I don’t know if it will make it better or worse. I am a state and county employee with the school system and I was made to sign a paper stating I would not speak with teachers parents or students regarding the matter.
This is disturbing on so many levels. These children were taken away from their parents for a month. Criminal charges were filed against them, the mother may end up losing her job, and on top of all that, she can’t even speak about it.
Similar incidents are happening all over the country, and as Matt Walsh over at The Blaze points out, the problem is just as bad if not worse in public schools, where parental rights are virtually nonexistent.
This is the epitome of the nanny state and the worst part about it is that it’s not even to correct a problem in society—there has never been a safer time to be a child in America.
As Skenazy noted in her story about the article, “If this doesn’t convince lawmakers that they had better start revising the child neglect laws — and convince politicians that supporting Free-Range legislation would be a great, vote-getting platform — I’m not sure what will.”
The end goal of the left is to take away all parental rights, but not parental responsibilities.
Seriously an 11 year old for an hour and a half in its own backyard? You think the child needs to be overseen?
What is wrong with you?
I really wish we could go back to the 50s when people knew each other and looked after others
Even in the 60’s and 70’s we had neighbors we could count on.
I was a Latchkey kid during that time. Free range would be an understatement.
At some point in the mid to later 1970’s as I hit my teens I relied less and less on the neighbors and my friends parents as they were working more and more. There was a time when we would walk into each others homes like we lived there. And were welcomed.
There is really something empowering for a young kid to be left to their own devises. Left to figure things out on their own.
We were fearless, but we knew who to stay away from and why.
We developed our own instincts.
And that was normalish behavior back then. Most eleven year olds today would stand in the street and cry without an adult nearby.
At eleven years old, I was delivering newspapers after school. I wore my canvas paperbags as I didn’t have a bike. The route covered an area roughly ten blocks square and took anywhere from two to three hours to complete. It was also nearly a mile away from my own neighborhood. It was often rainy, sometimes there was snow, and the Sunday morning papers were damned heavy. Think about that; dark by 4 o’clock in the winter, dark on Sunday mornings. No adults driving me in the car and a seven day a week job.
Makes me sound like my life was something out of a Dickens novel, doesn’t it? No CPS to step in and protect me. Slave-labor pay. Occasionally running into a bully or a mean dog. And I’m willing to bet more than a few Freepers did something similar. I loved it. I had my own money. I learned how to deal with people, mostly nice ones, a few deadbeats, but I was getting an education that most kids today will miss out on. I was learning about life.
Neither my folks nor I had any idea how badly they were mistreating me. That was how it was in 1957. I guess today I’d sue them or have them tossed in jail. /s
I bet they don’t care about such neglect in the inner city.
If I was them, I would point out that they only do this to white people, and never show concern for poor black children roaming free.
The same neighbor would then have turned them in for leaving an 11 year old in the house alone.
Stop and think about it. There are more ways to get hurt in the house than there are in the average back yard.
So in a case like this, you lose no matter what you do.
Ditto !
If I were the neighbor I would watch out for the kid until the parents came home then introduce myself to the parents if we hadn’t met yet.
Too bad a neighbor wanted to stir up drama instead of fostering good neighbor relations!
Those three girls from Ohio disagree with you. Lifes ruined.
I hear ya. I did my own laundry, the dishes and made sure my room was clean. Dad always had a good list of chores for Saturday. Sunday was all mine.
yeah .....
I have an 11 year old. He is turning 12 soon. There is no way my wife and I would allow him to be alone for an hour and a half in the rain. My wife or myself drive all 4 kids to the bus stop at the corner or take them to school ourselves....I mostly do that because it is faster and safer. But occasionally they like to ride the bus and the wife can be a pushover at times. Our oldest is now 17 so he is starting to drive which is exciting of course. The next is 15 and our youngest is 7 years old. We have done a great job with our kids and kept them safe but still participate in sports and other activities but we are not stupid and irresponsible. My wife and I are going on 20 years next April and would love another kid although we are both 46 now so who knows. Raising kids is a total responsibility that we both take seriously. These parents were negligent. The only difference is that my wife stays home. This woman wanted to work so had others watch their child and of course that failed.
You are right.
We have fatal auto wrecks. We should ban all autos and close all highways.
Had one today on a hihway I travel twice every Tuesday and Friday, 30 minutes before I passed that point.
I should sell my vehicle and never go that way again?
There is no such thing as total 100% safety.
Only for those in the grave.
I’m astounded at how insecure and fearful people are today and terrified at how it’s being transferred into our children.
American exceptionalism? Forget it. It’s become American pansies.
It sure looks like your parents raised you to be independent and responsible at an early age
I should sell my vehicle and never go that way again?
Please do. We want you around a lot longer and sitting on FR all day is very good for your health.
It doesn’t mean that is was raining in that particular area
Well you see three innocent girls taken from their yard and kept in terror for ten years while getting rapped and tortured all because of playing in the yard. As a parent you find that it is not worth risking your kids and put them in activities that this won’t happen. I know that some don’t put their kids as priority and could give a crap if they are kidnapped but no way will my wife and I allow that. Some people are not meant to be parent and certainly don’t take it seriously. I don’t know what kind of parent you were, but perhaps you didn’t love your kids and didn’t have time to keep them safe. I don’t know and not saying one way or the other but in a country of 300 million definitely some parents don’t give a crap.
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