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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 17 2015, @07:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 17 2015, @07:39PM (#135708)
    Yeah and there are already 7 billion of us after all it's not like a few kids dying from doing stupid stuff or in rare accidents is really such a huge problem from the Big Picture point of view.

    Call me heartless, but fact is I think it's better for the greater good if more of stupidly careless kids die out (or render themselves less likely to breed or qualify to vote).

    The cops should be working to make the area safe enough for kids to walk home alone, rather than harassing kids and their parents.

    If the area is safe enough already, there's no need to bother the kids or their parents. The cops can escort them home if they want. And maybe imprint a "Cops are good guys" image to the future generation. Rather than cause problems and cause the kids to realize that "Cops are bad people to be avoided".