Posted on 04/06/2024 1:39:58 PM PDT by Twotone
Beth Widner is a mother who lives in Canton, a middle-class suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. She has four kids, whom she homeschools while her husband, Glenn, telecommutes.
In August of 2018, the Widner kids—then ages 13, 11, nine, and seven—were members of a swim team at their local YMCA, which was about two blocks from their house. One day, after swim practice, the 7-year-old, Jackson, lagged behind while the rest of his siblings walked home, and stopped by the grocery for a free cookie.
A store employee thought it was so unusual to see an unaccompanied 7-year-old that a store employee called 911. Then, instead of letting him leave, the employee told Jackson he had to wait for the police to arrive.
This became part of a pattern; indeed, Jackson's semi-independence attracted police attention on no fewer than three occasions, leading to two investigations by Child Protective Services (CPS).
Widner recently had the opportunity to share these experiences with the governor's office. (The meeting was arranged by the Reason Foundation, which publishes Reason, and Let Grow, the non-profit at which both of us work.) She hoped that her story would inspire support for a "Reasonable Childhood Independence" law in the state. Such laws establish that neglect occurs when parents put kids in obvious, serious danger, not anytime they let their kids out of sight.
We hope to see a law like that passed in Georgia sometime soon. Eight other states have already jumped on the bandwagon, and this year Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire will vote on similar bills.
When Jackson refused to tell the authorities where he lived—having been taught not to give such information to strangers—the police deduced he had been swimming and went to the YMCA to learn more. The cops were very cross with Jackson and informed him that being out and about without his parents was a serious infraction. He responded that he would promptly go home "if you would just leave me alone," his mother recalled later.
After the police finally brought Jackson home, they informed his father, Glenn, that it wasn't safe to let a child his age wander around outside.
"You just can't raise kids like that anymore—it isn't safe," said the cops.
Glenn begged to differ, reciting statistics that kids today face no greater risk from stranger danger than previous generations. Nevertheless, the police summoned child protective services.
A caseworker from Georgia's Division of Family and Child Services arrived a few hours later. She told the family, assembled together, that the police report stated that Jackson had been unattended from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The Widners set the record straight—swim practice had ended by 10:45 a.m., and everyone had been back at home well before lunch—and the caseworkers closed the investigation. She even said that her own kids could learn a bit more independence from the Widners, Beth recalled.
But that was not the end of things. Later that year, for Christmas, Jackson received a new bike. On January 2, just before lunch, he asked his mom if he could ride it and off he went. An older woman in the park stopped Jackson, telling him he was too young to ride his bike alone. According to Jackson, he took a few more circles around the park and then ducked into the grocery for—you guessed it—a free cookie.
Soon thereafter, Beth got a call from Jackson, using the new watch phone his parents had gotten him after the August incident. He said the police wanted to speak to her. Once again, cops had detained Jackson for being outside unsupervised.
Beth got to the grocery parking lot within a couple of minutes. She found Jackson seated like a suspect in the backseat of a cruiser. The complaining witness watched as the police let Beth take her son home. Beth wasn't told what to expect further, and she didn't hear from child services. But she later learned that child services had been informed about Jackson's flagrant act of unaccompanied bike riding.
On January 18, Jackson's unabated taste for free cookies turned into a full-blown investigation. While his parents had warned him that he should not indulge his sweet tooth (or independence) anymore, he went to the grocery store after a bike ride once again. As in August, a store employee called the police. The employee fed him chicken and fries—it was lunch time—to stall him until the cops arrived. The police then escorted Jackson home, bike and all. Glenn came to the door to hear what the cops had to say about his son, the cookie recidivist.
One of the police officers accused Glenn of "breaking the law" by letting Jackson go out alone. "What law is that?" Glenn inquired. The officer replied, "You can Google it." The most senior officer accused him of neglect and "contributing to delinquency of the minor," and told him not only could he be arrested, but he might face felony charges and spend time in jail.
A CPS caseworker showed up two hours later. Unlike the first one, who had complimented the family, this one accused the family of having "a problem with child supervision." When Beth and Glenn asked what specific law they had broken, she said she didn't have it written down.
The caseworker proceeded to question all four children at the kitchen table, then notified the Widners that they would be subject to a "parenting plan" requiring them to supervise the children at all times. The Widners told her that they would not be following the plan. Upon hearing this probably unusual response, the caseworker warned the Widners that she would talk to her supervisor.
After she left, the Widners never heard another word from her, although a few weeks later, two unidentified caseworkers stopped by the house asking to speak to Glenn. He wasn't home and they left.
The Widners realized their freedom to raise their kids as they saw fit was in danger. Fearful that they could land on Georgia's child abuse and neglect registry, Beth and Glenn decided to move the family outside city limits. Jackson, now 12, no longer worries about asking for a free cookie at the store.
But a state law that definitively puts the matter to rest—by stating unequivocally that the police should not harass parents who let their kids exercise some basic independence—could offer further protection.
Note well what’s happening here.
Little Timmie wants to go buy Legos at the toy store with his own money, he will get arrested.
Wants to cut his dick off and wear a dress? Well who are we to argue with that?!
In the 50s when I was eight and my sister was seven we rode the city buses in Portland, Oregon to a Neighborhood House day camp. We had to change buses at the Yamhill stop which was huge with many connecting buses. We did that for two years. The camp was three-fourths black and all the kids got along fine.
I suppose my mom figured we would be okay since it would be the the Ransom of Red Chief with the two of us little rascals out there in the ghetto. We rode through really poor areas where folks were lined up at soup kitchens.
My parents were from North Dakota where all the kids had grown up free-range and saw no need to change the plan.
It is safer for cops to go after these people than the carjackers in the cities. Path of least resistance.
I remember walking home from school one afternoon. I took a detour to walk through a wooded area and lo and behold, there was a full 6-pack of beer sitting there on the ground!
So I did the obvious thing, I picked it up and walked the rest of the way home with it.
Hey mom, look what I found! LOL!
I got to drink some if it, and I guess the parents did too.
When I was 7, I disappeared at daylight and only came home when I was hungry. My mother was concerned I’d get snake bit cause my playground was a 500 acre swamp.
This has nothing to do with an HOA.
Listen
Has zero
to do with a cookie
In the 1st paragraph it says “home schooled”.
Teachers union and gub mint types dnn likethat
“Ransom of Red Chief”. LOL!!!
They were definitely different times.
Whenever you see a lone police officer. call 911 and report it, it’s not safe for them to be alone.
“He responded that he would promptly go home “if you would just leave me alone,”
Man it must have burned those cops that they couldn’t steamroll a seven yr old.
Ditto.
At that age I was riding through the mountains on my horse. As long as I got home before dark, it was OK.
That’s assuming he wasn’t aborted.
In a time that is long gone, in a land that seems infinitely far away, I used to walk to school. .7 mile. I used to walk places. I picked up the groceries. Visited friends. Rode my bike.
That time is never coming back, and it’s impossible to go back to that place.
It’s a different world now. The trust that held us together as a society is gone. Now there’s crime and kidnapping. And the streets are impossible to cross, when you’re a little kid.
It really was like that. It isn’t any more. If the politicians were serious about keeping us safe by throwing the criminals in jail for a long time, I wouldn’t be posting this.
I’m afraid I have to agree; I’d never let a young daughter of mine do the things I was free to do as a kid.
Maybe there are still some little pockets in the US where the streets - and schools! - are still safe for kids; but I don’t know where they are.
I grew up in the ‘90’s, and although my mom was a little overprotective (some of that was because I’m female) you can bet that by 8 or 9 I was cycling around the neighborhood and to the local grocery store (5 blocks away). Summers were spent outside until I was in my teens - I didn’t have a lot of friends.
Then high school came, I started dating, and I was never home as long as I had a ride or got my license.
Both my boomer parents were allowed to wander in Manhattan with no chaperone, as young teens. Would they have let me do the same? No. They wouldn’t let me do it now!
bttt
Hunting and catching green garden snakes was an occasional event in my neighborhood!
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