Free Range Parents Cleared In Neglect Case

[Webster]

USA Today: "Free-Range Parents" Cleared In Neglect Case

SILVER SPRING, Md. — A Maryland couple who had been investigated for letting their children walk alone has been absolved of child neglect in an October case that first brought the family public attention.

Danielle and Alexander "Sasha" Meitiv are known for letting their children walk together but without an adult around their neighborhood in this Washington suburb, a parenting style that's been dubbed "free-range parenting." The Meitivs first came under scrutiny in December after callers reported that Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6, were walking home from a nearby playground.

In April, police and Montgomery County Children's Protective Services held the children for hours after they were spotted walking from a park. The parents were cleared in May in that incident, but the December case was pending until the Meitivs learned in a June 13 letter that they have been cleared.

Earlier in June, the Maryland Department of Human Resources issued a new statewide policy saying children walking or playing outside alone is not neglect and does not warrant the intervention unless the children are in danger or at risk. Officials haven't commented publicly on the Meitivs' case.

Thoughts? Was this the right decision here?

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Without a question this was the right call. Only because todays new generation of panzy ass millenials is this even something to discuss.

 

[Jazzy]

Their kids were picked up while walking alone to the park. Yet, their school district, like many in our nation, allows children to walk to school alone if they live less than a mile from campus. So those neglect charges seemed like an obvious leap in logic and waste of resources.

 

[Dee]

This country and its people have a lot of hypocrisies buried deep within their views of what they believe is right and what's wrong, how people should be parenting their children, etc. This is just one example of the ridiculousness that plagues this country. I'd be more afraid, if I had kids, of a neighbor calling CPS on me for letting my children outside alone than someone picking them up and taking off with them. Yeah, it happens, but that happens to teenagers and adults, too. You give your children the tools and the knowledge to keep themselves safe, set boundaries and whatnot.

 

[Webster]

Their kids were picked up while walking alone to the park. Yet, their school district, like many in our nation, allows children to walk to school alone if they live less than a mile from campus. So those neglect charges seemed like an obvious leap in logic and waste of resources.

This is one of those times where I wish that either the cops or the state's attorney had used their prosecutorial discretion and told CPS to go jump in a lake.

 

[identityissues8]

Look, not something I'd do, but with a 10 year old something that should be able to happen without punishment.

I'd love to live in a world where I'd feel safe with my kids walking to the park alone. Love to!