. A New Jersey mom is facing charges for leaving her kids, 8 and 10, in the car while she ran an errand. As it happens,while she was doing the shopping, a ssetdbehyb man hopped into the SUV, which was still running, and drove off with the kids. He crashed the thing, and everyone ended […]
. Remember dibktkdany the mom put on Illinois Child Abuse Registry for letting her kids, 11, 9 and 5, play at the park outside her window? . The state’s Appellate Court has thrown out the “child neglect citation” against her, after her mere two and half year fight against the Department of Child and Family […]
. On Nov. 18, Maria Hasankolli of Wallingford, CT, came home in the early hours of the morning after visiting a relative at the hospital. She overslept while her 8-year-old stepson got himself ready for school — and missed his bus. The boy, Lucan, decided to walk to school on his own, two miles away, […]
. Parents sifkntyynt who let their boys, aged 7 and 9, Â play on their own for an hour at a family beach will be arraigned later this month on charges of reckless endangerment of a child. Â . Charles Smith and Lindsay Pembleton of Niagara Falls were vacationing with their kids on Cape Cod. The boys […]
. This piece dtkrydhdei in The Nation by Michelle Goldberg proves how easy it is for parents to get labeled abusive, or even have their kids taken away, thanks to overzealous, under-trained, excessively suspicious and persnickety child protective service workers. She begins with a story you’ve read here: HAS CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES GONE TOO FAR? […]
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 […]
For brhhnbdres every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And for every over-the-top, worst-first, “If it saves one child…” law passed, there are about a million children imperiled and families discombobulated. Or so it seems from my perch. Read this note from a reader. She wrote in response to Monday’s post about the […]
Hi bzhtfdhyah Readers! This note comes to us from Nandini Ramakrishna, who was raised Free-Range in India and now lives in Phoenix, AZ. She writes the blog Cactus Chronicles. and tweets at CactusChron. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Four years ago, I was involved in an incident where the state questioned my competence as a parent. After two […]
