My story about the mom found GUILTY of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” because she let her 5-year-old walk around collecting feathers went viral last week. Most amazing to me is the way something has…shifted. I really feel that when I began Free-Range Kids almost 20 years ago, the reaction to this mom might easily have been: “FIVE YEARS OLD??? That’s crazy! He could run into the street — throw himself into the pond — or be kidnapped by a guy in a white van!”
And there were still some comments like that. Of course there were. But by far the majority of comments that I’ve seen (impossible to keep up — it was shared 51,000 times on Twitter alone) sided with the mom.
That strikes me as a shift we have been waiting for for a long time. Google “Karyann Parkinson neglect” and you can noodle around for yourself. But as evidence, here’s how five Fox Newsers chewed on the story for about 10 minutes. They are saying everything we have been saying forever — and sometimes in our words! Highlights:
Appalling!
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What did Abe Lincoln do at age 5?
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Somewhere along the line we have solidified a helicopter parent metality and baked it into the criminal justice system.
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This is a crazy case.
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What’s crazy is that this is actually in direct contradiction with a Virginia law passed in 2023 — a Free-Range Parenting Law that specifically narrowed the definition of neglect to protect parents who let their children have some element of independence and freedom. And police decided to move forward with prosecuting this woman anyway, which is why they had to charge her with ‘Contributing to the delinquency of a minor’ — because they couldn’t actually prosecute her for neglect. And as a young mom myself I find this completely horrifying.
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I was raised by Free-Range parents – I would love for my son to grow up in the exact same way. Now I have to worry about other parents micromanaging the way I raise my child.
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And what’s remarkable is that she [the Virginia mom] made the very intentional decision to actually give her child the opportunity to explore his capabilities. That is the very opposite of neglect. That is empowerment.
Right on!!!
So while, alas, they did not mention Let Grow by name — even though it’s Let Grow that has helped pass the bipartisan Reasonable Childhood Independence laws in 13 states — this is what influencing the culture looks like. Hearing your words and ideas “baked into” other people’s hearts and minds.
And mouths!
PHOTO COURTESY OF KARYANN PARKINSON