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Free range
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Free range Seems Maryland does not like independent ... Remember the Maryland parents who let their two walk home from a park alone and then had to deal with police and protective services? They heard from the state today. The couple was found responsible for “unsubstantiated” neglect, a confusing charge that resolved nothing and left the couple possibly more nervous and paranoid than ever. In December, Danielle and Alexander Meitiv let their 10-year-old , Rafi, and his 6-year-old sister, Dvorah, walk 1 mile home through Silver Spring, Maryland, alone. The got picked up by the police, who then turned the case over to protective services. The Meitivs, as it happens, are “free-range parents” who have a very coherent<b> philosophy </font></b>about giving more independence. They had let their walk home alone that day only after practicing and felt the were ready. What they learned from the latest CPS decision, Danielle Meitiv wrote me, is that “teaching independence clearly IS a crime.” As she understands it, the charge means “something happened but were not at substantial risk.” Why then, she reasonably asks, “find us responsible for neglect?” In the letter to the Meitivs, dated Feb. 20, CPS says that it has closed the investigation. But a charge of “unsubstantiated” is not quite as definitively closed as “ruled out.” (The third option is “indicated,” the equivalent of guilty.) Danielle told the Washington Post she felt numb when she first opened the letter and then told her husband, “Oh my God, they really believe we did something wrong.” “I was kind of horrified,” she said to the Post. “You try as a parent to do what’s right. Parents try so hard. Even though I know they are wrong, it’s a painful judgment.” CPS officials did not say they would keep an eye on the Meitivs. But now they have a charge of neglect in their file, which puts them in a precarious position. They believe strongly that should be able to roam the neighborhood unsupervised. But they no doubt believe even more strongly that they don’t want to be at any risk of having their taken away from them for a second charge of neglect. Why on earth should the state have any right to put them in that predicament? |
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Kids vary in responsibility. The parents should be the judges as they know their kids the best... in my view.
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