This kind of attitude is just exacerbating the fact that children have less and less autonomy and freedom. These parents did nothing wrong.
I don't disagree. The question for me is did the guy that called 911 do something wrong?
Yes. He absolutely did something wrong. "Hi, 911? Yeah, there are two kids here who don't appear to be in any danger and rather than asking them if they're okay, I want you to roll A FUCKING SQUADCAR." That's the guy. He spent seven minutes talking to 911 and then when the cop rolled up, he was off like a fart in the wind.Police said an officer saw a “homeless subject” who was “eyeing the children.”
Well, the article says the kids were walking home from a park around a mile from home. Did the person who called 911 know the kids? How exactly did they know they weren't in the presence of an adult somewhere? I see calling the police as kind of an extreme response. Like, did you go talk to the kids? edit: The kids even have these Lanyards that are like "Dawg, I'm not lost, my parents just trust me enough to go to the park by myself" Considering these parent's style of parenting which means that the kids are out and about alone a fair bit, I think it's not unlikely that this is some nosy mom who thinks she knows better than the parents, and called the police to "teach them a lesson". Its probably sad that that is my first thought, and not "this person was legitimately concerned for the children".
It was a man that was walking his dog and was concerned. See another comment of mine in the thread re my thoughts on it.
Worth noting I think is that the alternative to "free-range" parenting ... is "battery-cage" parenting.
You're not a weirdo. I needed a lot of convincing. I'm really glad someone was willing to put in the effort 'cuz I was adamantly against children until I was in the right place to contemplate one. Even then I was scared shitless and totally unsure of the idea.
It's a sign of the times that we live in. What should this guy have done? If the kids look like they were perhaps lost, should the man have walked up to them and ask them if they were heading home? Could he himself had been mistook for a "bad guy"? We live in such a litigious society that I can almost see why hewould want to have 911 on the phone with him. however, it would seem pretty easy for the police officer to say, "hey kids how are you today? Where are you headed? Are you headed home? Do you know how to get there? And then drive next to them as they walk home. That's pretty simple, right? Why they felt the need to get child protective services involved is beyond me. I used to walk at least four blocks away from my house every day to my friends house and play at an age as early as six years old.
Here's where shit gets really batshit: So check it out: CPS has already made the Washington Post with this shit. Did'ja watch the video? The kids are wearing lammies that say "I'm not lost." Those suckers, ages six and ten, have already experienced a media circus related to walking home from the park. When I was nine I walked a mile and a half to school and a mile and a half back. Every. Single. Day. When I was ten I took my sister. This shows my bias. I put a social worker through grad school. CPS? I've known people who worked there. Fuck - I had friends in high school that were taken away from their parents. Why? They were drug addicts who kept dogs and ferrets and those kids were living in filth. There's a pretty clear line between "intervention needed" and "situation under control." This particular CPS agency has long since crossed it, has already created a firestorm and chose to double down. Someone should be fired, but they won't be. An agency should be bankrupted, but it won't be. There should be clarification, but there won't be.The Sunday episode followed an earlier incident when the Meitiv children were picked up by police as they walked home from a different Silver Spring park, about a mile from their home. In both instances, callers reported the children to police.
In the earlier case, the parents were held responsible for “unsubstantiated neglect” and informed that CPS would keep a file on the family for at least five years.
I decided a long time ago I was never going to have biological children. I might adopt at some point, though.