Parents Accused of Child Neglect Fighting Back After Kids Detained by Officials

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/parents-accused-of-child-neglect-fighting-back-116486374942.html

The story in a nut shell: Parents of a 10 year old and a 6 year old allow their children to walk to a local park by themselves. Others feel that this is child neglect.

I walked 1 mile to school by myself when I was in the third grade. Granted, this was in the late 60's, but there were risks in those days just as there are today. Many say that allowing children to "free range" helps build an independence and maturity. I mostly agree with this. Imo, today's children are too often coddled and it becomes expected later in life.

I have no issue with children "free ranging", but the type of neighborhood needs to be considered. I am also more concerned about lack of adult supervision if children become too unruly at a play ground. However, with proper upbringing, that can mostly be avoided.

The cop that detained the children and did not allow them to call home was just wrong. if he was concerned about their well being, he should have allowed them to call home or personally take them home instead of taking them to the station.

 

I did the same with my brother, guess my parents were neglecting me too

 

sadly, it sounds like it was the cops that were the biggest threat to their family in this scenario

 

Strange that the excuse seems to be a "homeless" guy that was looking at the kids and this cop knew him. So instead of the cop watching the suspect lets round up the kids and punish them...

Makes zero sense.

 

I wouldn't say that they were a "threat". I'm sure their intentions were in the right place, their actions were just not warranted.

 

right, but their actions are the ones that harmed the family, well them and the system itself, that was my point, no bad guys harmed them, just the good guys did

 

How exactly were they "harmed"? They might have been inconvenienced, their rights as parents and their wishes might have been ignored, the children might have even been a little scared, but they really were not "harmed" in any great sense. If anything, the detention of the police would have been a learning experience for the children.

While I do not agree with the arrogance of the police and the "system" and I think the matter could have been handled differently, I do not think anybody was physically or mentally "harmed".

 

I saw this on the news. IMO - letting your kids, 10 & 6 yrs old wander a mile away from home is to far. For one thing, in this day and age and the pedophiles & creeps out there, that's a risk I wouldn't take w/my 10 & 6 yr old. Another thing, 10 yrs old is to young to be responsible for a 6 yr old. If something happened and the 6 yr old is seriously injured, worse killed, the 10 yr old would have to live w/that forever.........

Sure, when we were kids, we were all over the place. I know I was, but these days....... no, I wouldn't take that risk. If I wouldn't take my kids to a church where pedophilia was allowed, why would I let them wander off a mile away where they'd be among strangers and no adult supervision? This is no way to teach your kids independency.

I think the cop should have let the kids call home. Be interesting to see how this turns out.......

 

There were pedophiles when we were growing up also. We just hear about incidence like that more today because news travel faster today.

I would be fine with a 10 year old being responsible for a 6 year old. However, I wouldn't let them roam in just any neighborhood and I would not let them roam too far. Today it is much easier for a parent to keep tabs on their children than it was when I grew up. On weekends, we would disappear and usually did not show up until dinner time (often demanded to be that way by our parents).

I do agree that not every parent would not be comfortable with their children being out of their view range, but those insecurities should not be forced onto other parents.

 

At exactly what age can a kid venture out one block?

 

Yeah, there's been pedophiles since the beginning of time and you can teach your kids about 'stranger danger', etc and do everything right, but w/them that far away w/no one around that they know if they need help, whatever......to me, being responsible for another life is to much of a responsibility for any 10 yr old, particularly that far away from home. Now if my 10, 6 yr old kids wanted to go a few blocks down from home to play at a park that we're familiar with - sure, b/c I could be there in a few minutes..... But no mile away.........

When my kids were growing up, every neighborhood we lived in, the neighbors were friends and we looked out for each other's kids. In the last neighborhood we lived in b/f we left the suburbs of a large midwest city and moved out here to a small community, I was one of the neighborhood block mothers - sign in my front window for a lost child to come to for help or whatever the child's problem was. Do they even have that anymore? I hope so.

 

I don't think it should be the age, but the maturity of the kid.

 

we seem to live in a constant state of fear these days and i have to wonder how much of it is designed to cow us into submission. we are fed a constant diet of violence and perversion, then warned that even constant vigilance cannot save us from what is waiting just outside our door. only the thousand governmental agencies, law enforcement armed as if for combat and the myriad intrusive laws of the police state can keep us safe. obviously even these measures are not enough. there are always pleas for more laws, more control and less freedom.

so here are a few facts to remember next time you feel you just have to demand more government protection for your family. most child abductions are perpetrated by a family member. most child abuse (sexual or otherwise) is also perpetrated by a friend or family member. most rape victims are already acquainted with their rapists. so what is it you are expecting the state to do about it? more importantly, what do you think the state believes they can do about it?

 

Bingo.

 

You're right, but the key word here is 'most'.....not all.

But where does 'you just have to demand more government protection for your family' come in? Somehow I missed that. I don't think the Americans should have anymore government in their families than what they already have and even then, it's often to much........

CPS is a necessity for the sake of the kids, but they sure can screw up at times........

 

I'll have to disagree.

We consider far less things "harmful" in society when compared to this, police not allowing kids to call their parents then taking them to a strange place. That can be extremely harmful to a child especially at such a young age. I would never EVER trust a police officer again, ever.

My best friend is a criminal attorney and he was won money in cases for a lot less.

City is gonna pay on this one.

 

Hmm, close call, but going to take the cops' side in this case after reading the facts and prior history. I smell uppity hipster in-your-face "nobody's going to tell me how to raise my child" attitude, and have a strong hunch of other such eccentricities, possible neighborhood complaints, instances of "activism," that likely don't endear these people to their neighbors, cops, CPS or their community at large. So the cops likely thought, "well OK, if you are going to let your kids wander, we aren't going to let them and continue to have our time wasted by concerned call-ins, we aren't going to be your valet either, come get them at the station," and media picked up this relative nonevent. Now they are going to sue for this "heinous travesty of justice." Meh. Bleh. I have no concrete evidence of this whatsoever, just a strong hunch from the facts and history, and a mild opinion formed from that.

 

the point is that these statistics haven't changed. it is only our responses to them that have changed. this is the same world it was back when i was a child and we ran wild through the night on halloween, road our bikes into the next town or spent our free time wandering unescorted through the woods with our friends. parents that allowed such things now would be considered reckless at best and criminally irresponsible by many, though the real dangers out there are the things that even the most watchful parent are no guard against. we wrap our children up in so many layers of protection that it's no wonder they would rather sit in front of the television or computer, watching reruns of mindless drivel or playing video games.

while such agencies as cps may have their uses, why has their power and scope grown so much? why is it that an unsupervised playgroup or that lone child who recklessly dares ride his bicycle without being trussed up and ready for battle is grounds for a visit from a legion of bureaucrats and jackbooted thugs? it isn't merely the natural tendency of bureaucracies to expand. it is the people demanding a greater and greater role be played by such agencies. the sheep demand a watchful shepherd to lead them into their pens and woe to those who refuse to join that mindless herd. such strays are forcibly shackled or simply slaughtered as too much trouble to deal with.

 

hmmmm... authoritarian much?

 

Actions count more than intentions, and "good intentions" is not an excuse.

In the Tulsa, OK, shooting, Deputy Charles Bates had good intentions, he did not intend to shoot Eric Harris with a handgun, but he did shoot and kill Harris.

 

Explain this "learning situation".....

- - - Updated - - -

And how do the police or DCF know the maturity of said kid?

 

Are you kidding?

First, last December, police pick up their kids and 6 cop cars show up at the parents house, and Child Protective Services starts an investigation of child neglect which can result in the removal of the children from the home. The CPS investigation goes on for 3 months, questioning the kids, parents, neighbors, and CPS finally closes the case with the odd determination that the parents were “responsible for unsubstantiated child neglect”. You don't think that put a lot of stress on those parents and children wondering if their family would be torn apart and/or criminal charges would be filed?

And what does a CPS ruling of "child neglect" do the prospects of the parents? Are they put on the list with all the pedophiles and real child abusers? Do they have to register as child abusers and follow all the regulations for such people, such as informing their local community that they are living in that neighborhood, being banned from entering a day care facility, etc?

Then last weekend, the cops grab the kids again, telling (lying) the 2 kids - who were almost home - that they would drive the kids the rest of the way home but instead took the kids to the police station and detained the kids in the police car for 3 hours, no water, no food, and limited or no bathroom, and then keeping the kids another 2 1/2 hours in the station. During that time, the parents realized their children were missing but the cops did not allow the kids to call their parents and the cops did not inform the parents of the location of their children for 3 hours. You don't think that did not harm the parents?

And you don't think the detention of the kids - kids who already had a very negative experience with cops and CPS - did not harm the kids? Do these kids have nightmares about cops? How insecure are they now, thanks to Child "Protective" Services (now there is a misnomer)?

 

If these children are such delicate flowers, then maybe they shouldn't be roaming town without adult supervision.

I do not think there is anything wrong with children being allowed to walk to the neighborhood park without adult supervision (dependent on the neighborhood), and that the cop and family services over reacted to the situation. However, if being picked up by a police officer and detained at the station causes these children to (*)(*)(*)(*) their pants and have nightmares, then maybe they are not ready to be out in the world without their parents. There are much more "scarier" things in life than this.

 

the issue was not the cops, it's the stupid law they are compelled to enforce, whether they agree with it or not.

 

The opposite actually, and believe me I am no fan of our "justice bureaucracies" generally, but also very familiar with neighborhood level politics. If cops don't pick up unaccompanied young children after receiving a call, and something bad then happens to those kids, well we would be hearing an -entirely different- and far more serious angle on this story. So the cops can't win either way. They know this, and so are exercising reasonable judgment in inconveniencing the parents into complying with community standards of behavior. Also, I believe there is more to this story than we are being told by media.