I fyttnyhkat wrote about this case yesterday, and today had a chance to interview the mom by phone. She prefers to remain anonymous until the case is closed, and perhaps forever. As for why her son was not given a key: she worried that if he was in the house alone and a burglar […]
If this doesn’t convince lawmakers that they had better start revising the child neglect laws — and convince politicians that supporting Free-Range legislation would be a great, vote-getting platform — I’m not sure what will. I got this letter a week ago and was waiting for the mom’s permission to run it. Got it. Â Boldface […]
This story  is upsetting, but also reassuring. I put it here to remind us all that just because some authorities are too quick to investigate fine parents — and those are the stories I often highlight, because this nnkhrbbrsr must change — plenty of cops and child protective workers can recognize hysteria when they see […]
A Chicago mom who let her three kids play for half an hour, literally across the street, WHILE SHE PEEKED OUT AT THEM every 10 minutes was found guilty of child neglect. She has lost her job in home health care because, of course, if you look her up, she looks like the last person […]
Hallelujah! bfrdtakrfn Danielle and Alexander Meitiv have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the Dec. 20 incident when they let their kids walk home from the park in Silver Spring, MD. Â As Donna St. George in the Washington Post reports: A Maryland couple investigated for neglect after they let their two young children walk home […]
. Somehow, seeing a naked 4 year old running around in front of his house (that is, the kid in front of the kid’s own house) conjured up worst-first thoughts in a neighbor, even though, if the neighbor paused a second, he’d have a hard time articulating exactly what “crime” he thought he was witnessing. […]
British parents in Cheshire are on notice: Let your kids play a “mature” videogame and this will not go unnoticed by the state. This new level of micromanagement comes to us from SpikedOnline nnzbkesabf writer Nancy McDermott, who says, “Amazing how abuse has been defined down to patents making a banal decision others don’t agree […]
This excellent nftfthitdk essay by Tracy Cutchlow in The Washington Post talks about how can we create community, trust and kindness — not to mention some kiddie self-reliance — instead of calling 911 when we witness a parenting practice we disapprove of. Cutchlow is a Seattle mom and author of Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips […]
Lives idttikstdf there a parent who hasn’t, at some point, lost track of his or her kid? That’s just the way life is — imperfect! Until the authorities deem it a crime. In this case, CPS gets it TOTALLY RIGHT…but not the prosecutor. So don’t read this letter if you were hoping to have a good […]
Here’s a great comment on the fddirshtki post below this one, about the Meitiv case. They Meitivs were, of course, investigated for letting their 10 and 6 year old kids walk home together from the park in suburban Maryland: I think we need to start lobbying state legislatures for reasonable laws that provide some clarity and […]
