Parents Under Investigation for Neglect After Allowing Kids

Wow, I went to kindergarten when I was 4 years old and I walked alone, I can't imagine that a 6 and 10 year old are not considered able to do a short walk to the playground together and I'm not a free rangeparent

Over half the students in my school are walkers. We don't have bus service for them. Some walk more than a mile and a half. What would they do in our town?

Yeah, I'm a bit unclear about how far and what the area is like. There are some neighborhoods and parks where I'm at you don't walk through no matter your age. But here's a small excerpt from what I read in the link:

But officials disagree. In late December, Montgomery County Police picked up the kids, Rafi and Dvora, walking just half a block from home after being alerted by an observer. Six cop cars soon showed up at the family’s house, and the incident spurred Montgomery County Child Protective Services to investigate Danielle and her husband Alexander for child neglect. This week, CPS officials visited the parents at home and also interviewed the children at school — without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

I don't know. But I'm assuming that the school takes attendance and would notify a parent if a child was absent? I know there are laws about what age you can leave a child unattended at home. There are certainly a lot of peas who are vocal about leaving children (and pets) unattended in a vehicle. So I'm thinking it has more to do with a minor being left unattended than it is about walking a mile or so.

CPS is taking this too far. It's clear the children were not being neglected.

Ya know that first article had me thinking CPS/police were being way over the top, but after reading the article freebird posted I'm not so sure. 1 mile from home, in the winter, at age 6 & 10. I don't know. Plus the weird thing about them carrying a card that says "I'm not lost, I'm a free range kid". I find that weird. If they're old enough to be out alone they should be old enough to explain t adults that their parents know where they are.

I know at our neighborhood school, kindergarteners (who are usually 6) and 1st graders are not allowed to walk to and from school alone.

At the end of the day they will only be released to an adult. They cannot leave if they are alone.

WTF, so not a great idea maybe, but 6 freaking cop cars?

Shit like this frustrates me. CPS gets legitimate concerns from school personnel and we are told it doesn't warrant investigation, but they'll follow up on this crap?

I admit I don't know the area these kids live in, but luckily I live in an area where the kids take off in the morning and some parent will see them when they are hungry. Typically I can call someone's cell, but sometimes they don't answer
and I don't worry

it would absolutely freak me out, but if we lives our lives rules by fear, is it really living?

The school where my DD goes to Pre-K and will go next year for kindergarten will not let Pre-K or kindergarten kids off the bus if a parent or other designated adult isn't there to get them, even if the bus stops right outside their house. I'm not sure how they handle the kids that walk. We're across the highway from the school so our kid will always take the bus.

Different children have different levels of maturity. A couple of my kids I would have let make that walk. A couple of them I wouldn't. It's all in the kids. One of my friends home schools and they are done with their work by noon almost every day. These are intelligent children who are ahead of their peers in almost every subject, so they have their afternoons free. They are active and wanted fun things to do. The oldest is 13 the youngest 7. My friend started out letting them walk by themselves to the library four blocks from their home. Now they range all over town. They always have a cell phone on them and know how to call. They always have backpack with snacks and water for "long" trips. They never go out alone. they always have a destination and a time to be home. They are good mature kids who can handle the responsibility because they have been trained slowly to know how to handle it. If those two children are like my friend's kids, then a mile isn't a big deal and they were fine.

I think one of the problems we are having in our society with rules is that we are judging everyone by the same measuring stick and sometimes that stick seems cut awfully short without any wiggle room.

Honestly, I feel like I often restrict my children, not for their own good, but because I am worried that something like this will happen. I am fairly free-rangey but am not going to detail my exact parameters and philosophies on teh interwebz because, again, I am just that paranoid. Suffice it to say that I think that encouraging everyone to keep their kids indoors with parents or in the car at all times is probably not good for anyone, and that I think my kids build a lot of confidence by being given some latitude to navigate the world on their own.

And honestly, they are statistically much more likely to be in danger from the adults they know than the adults they do not.

Since we're reminiscing about our childhoods I'll tell you what almost happened to me. We lived on a border town. I was about 12 and was allowed to skate, bike and roam our neighborhood. I was walking back with a friend to my home when a large white van starting creeping alongside us. There were several men in the van, windows rolled down, looking at us. We quickly crossed the road but they pulled out ahead of us, opened the sliding van door and took several rapid photos of us.

I was a responsible, level headed kid. But at that moment, at that age I didn't fully realize the danger I was in. My friend and I ran until we had stitches in our side. We didn't walk alone after that.

More recently, in my last neighborhood overseas, there were several attempted abductions. The pervert finally realized he didn't have to abduct a child. He had free and easy access to all the unattended children on the playground. A little girl and a young boy both molested in a playground not far from their homes. About two blocks from where I lived.

Now I'm back Stateside and there's been a few attempts made in this area. A couple of times the same description of a man trying to take a child walking to and another walking from school. They haven't caught him. And I wonder when he'll realize he doesn't need to abduct a child.

So, maybe I live in a different world where bad things are pretty commonplace? I don't know. And I'm not knocking these parents for their parenting style. But I'm a homeschooler and I make sure I abide by the law. I never know when an "observer" will take it upon themselves to call in regarding my children and my parental choices. I'm not even sure the police requiring them to sign a statement that they'll abide the law is out of bounds. Six cop cars? Interviewing the children at school without parental consent? Yeah, those things bother me. But there has to be some middle ground between hands off and hovering over our children.