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posted by janrinok on Friday January 16 2015, @05:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-knows-the-kids-best? dept.

The WaPo reports that Danielle and Alexander Meitiv in Montgomery County Maryland say they are being investigated for neglect after letting their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter make a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. “We wouldn’t have let them do it if we didn’t think they were ready for it,” says Danielle. The Meitivs say they believe in “free-range” parenting, a movement that has been a counterpoint to the hyper-vigilance of “helicopter” parenting, with the idea that children learn self-reliance by being allowed to progressively test limits, make choices and venture out in the world. “The world is actually even safer than when I was a child, and I just want to give them the same freedom and independence that I had — basically an old-fashioned childhood,” says Danielle. “I think it’s absolutely critical for their development — to learn responsibility, to experience the world, to gain confidence and competency.”

On December. 20, Alexander agreed to let the children walk from Woodside Park to their home, a mile south, in an area the family says the children know well. Police picked up the children near the Discovery building, the family said, after someone reported seeing them. Alexander said he had a tense time with police when officers returned his children, asked for his identification and told him about the dangers of the world. The more lasting issue has been with Montgomery County Child Protective Services which showed up a couple of hours later. Although Child Protective Services could not address this specific case they did point to Maryland law, which defines child neglect as failure to provide proper care and supervision of a child. “I think what CPS considered neglect, we felt was an essential part of growing up and maturing,” says Alexander. “We feel we’re being bullied into a point of view about child-rearing that we strongly disagree with.”

 
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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday January 16 2015, @07:09PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 16 2015, @07:09PM (#135476) Journal

    Bingo! That's the real question. At a guess it's a rather safe and conservative place, but that's a guess. And the guess is partially based on the belief that if it were actually dangerous, you wouldn't find the "child protective agencies" active there.

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  • (Score: 2) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Friday January 16 2015, @07:46PM

    by Jeremiah Cornelius (2785) on Friday January 16 2015, @07:46PM (#135497) Journal

    F8ck. I've seen the row-housed hell-holes of Falls Church and Sterling. There's NOBODY out on ANY street. Human presence is suspicious. Human habitation is even doubtful.

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    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday January 17 2015, @05:21PM

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 17 2015, @05:21PM (#135690) Journal

      I don't know those places and can't tell whether you're talking about high-class trailer parks, wealthy suburbs, or slums. All seem to have instantiations where the custom is to not be visible.

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