Posted on 04/14/2015 11:22:57 AM PDT by drewh
Two suburban Washington, D.C., parents are under scrutiny again for letting their 6- and 10-year-old children play in a park and walk home alone in a case that has stirred debate about "free-range" parenting and government powers.
For the second time in four months, police picked up the children of Danielle and Alexander Meitiv on Sunday as they were walking home alone from a park that's nearly a mile from their house. This time, instead of bringing the children home, police took them directly to Child Protective Services.
"It's beyond ridiculous," Danielle Meitiv said Monday. "The world is safer today, and yet we imprison our children inside and wonder why they're obese and have no focus."
The Meitivs, who live 6 miles from Washington in Silver Spring, Maryland, believe in "free-range" parenting, which includes allowing their children to play and walk alone in the neighborhood to teach them self-reliance and responsibility.
Danielle Meitiv said she and her husband began worrying when the kids weren't home by 6:30, but that Child Protective Services didn't call them until 8 p.m. to say the children were in their custody.
Police had picked them up on the walk home after another concerned citizen called.
The Meitivs were able to take their children home around 10:30 p.m.
"This morning my daughter wanted to go play in the yard and I couldn't let her out because I was making breakfast," Danielle Meitiv said. "Are they prisoners? She's 6 and she's not allowed to play in the yard?"
The case has drawn international media coverage, and Danielle Meitiv said the couple has heard from people all over the world. The majority have been supportive, Meitiv said, but some have expressed outrage at the couple's parenting style.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
At age 7+
Whatever happened to “make sure you come home when the street lights turn on”...Oh yeah that was 50 years ago.
My guess is that extreme positions held on each side of the issue can’t come up with a common sense solution...Everyone, it seems, needs someone to blame.
I bet you drank water from a garden hose, too.
What are these “street lights” of which you speak?
;-)
Here’s the money quote, from the mother:
“Child Protective Services has succeeded in making me terrified of letting my children out,” she said. “Nothing that has happened so far has convinced me that children don’t need independence and freedom, except that they’ll be harassed by police and CPS.”
In the summer, when the streetlights come on... go on home... at my folks summer home...if I wasn’t home... I was either 1) at a friend’s house or 2) camping on one of the islands in the lake or 3) motorcycling in the woods (sans helmet).
I saw this story the other day and I wept a little for the future of childhood.
As I was out around the property yesterday and I saw a couple kids walking down the dirt road. They were carrying .22 rifles, fishing poles and a stringer of fish and that gave me a little bit of hope. (of course thats not real uncommon to see round here)
There are still some great places to live in this country. They are slowly getting swallowed by the “progressive” America, but there are still alot. Key is to get as far away from a city as possible.
“1 mile from park”
“6 miles from Washington”
I was 6 miles from the nearest road. We were poor as dirt and I thank God for that.
“...and not coming back till almost dark.”
I know the feeling. Best you be home in time for supper.
When my Dad was eight he would take the NYC subway by himself.
From the time I was 6 to 12, I walked to school.. from 12 to 14 I took a bus...14 to 17, I either motorcycled, smowmobiled or drove to school...one day, I canoed.
“”I bet you drank water from a garden hose, too.”””
Garden hose? Well well, looky at fancy pants. We drank straight out of the creek. Cow pasture run-off and all.
(and we didn’t die)
VERY VERY VERY TRUE!!!!!!
Each kid is different. My brother and I were good kids, so we got additional freedom and responsibilities.
Me too...or my mom called the moms of my friends to tell me to come home for dinner...
Yes.
Back in the late 80’s when my kids were very young I was shocked at the statistics regarding the number of children abducted every year. But a funny thing happened. I did some research (yes, before the internet it was possible, but difficult) and found out that the lion’s share were abducted by estranged family members. In fact, at the time only two kids per state were abducted by strangers every year.
That is bad, of course, but depending on your neighborhood, you probably should worry more about them sticking a fork in a socket - unless you have estranged family members with a motive to steal the kids “back”.
Free Range chickens taste better and free range children become more well rounded and productive adults.
Are there laws against this? If so, they need to be abolished.
i.e. if they are going to quantify this, fine, but otherwise, short of attacking your child with a baseball bat, they are treading on thin legal ice arguing you are doing anything wrong.
And the rub is that they CAN’T quantify it, for two reasons:
1. It would need to be massively complicated - kinda like obamacare.
2. It would look ridiculous, both because it would be so overbearing on the rights of parents and because it would be so incredibly complex.
So they find people “guilty of unsubstantiated child neglect.” Can you imagine being found guilty of “unsubstantiated burglary”. Call my crazy, but if it is unsubstantiated, you are not guilty of anything!
They are TRYING to make the laws squishy. They want the “letter of the law” to be as rigid as the “spirit of the law”, i.e. up to their own internal definition.
“What has become of America?”
24-7 communist brainwashing and fearmongering via the TV
“The world is safer today, because the president is a black man”
Progressives love labels.
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