‘Free-range’ parents plan to file lawsuit after police pick up children

[Gheld]

Yep. Like a lot of kids, I had to walk a couple miles home from school each day, and then I was on my own for an hour or more before my parents got home from work.

And in all those years, I only got molested by filthy hobos twice. Kids these days are just too soft.

Really though, I mean, it's ridiculous. The streets are devoid of children now, and yet children are still being abused, because low and behold, their families are usually their worst enemy. And the statistics can't account for when a junkie parent sells their child's body for a hit and then says "yeah, I don't know that guy" when the police catch up to them.

And it's always the helicopter parents posting those memes on Facebook about how children never go and play outside anymore. Well no shit sherlock; you insist upon absolute supervision and then are too busy posting memes on Facebook to take your damn kid to the park.

[Rathdranalon]

I would like to play a bit of devils advocate here (Keep in mind I understand all your viewpoints and in certain areas I can agree and others I find a tad irrational). Let us say these children had of been abducted by a child molester or something along those lines and had been indecently assaulted or even in the worst case murdered, would the police be at blame then?

I find the over reaction of the police force is not because they want to be draconian figures that control every aspect of their lives but rather because many of them try to avoid the worst case scenario that could possibly happen. Lets face it, what is the worst case scenario of these children being picked up by the police and protected until their parents are found, a bit of a fright and perhaps a lesson taught to the parents to know exactly where their children are (i.e. I know little Jimmy and Timmy were supposed to be at xyz park and taking abc route home, whats that they haven't arrived, lets alert the authority just in case something has happened.)

The most frightening thing about all of this is perhaps the complete over reaction of the Child Protective Services in America, what should have happened is the children were picked up, the officer in the patrol car going "Hey guys what is your name and were do you live?" and then taking the children to house and going "Ma'am found these children unattended for 5 hours, was not sure if they were lost or not so I brought them home" and then lodging a report with the Child Protective Services who could do a follow up visit to the household to determine if the children are being properly taken care of.

I understand also that some police officers are a tad more zealous and that society is not what it once used to be where the police happened to be a lot friendlier and there was more of a community aspect. I honestly think suing the police department is going far out of the way and I think the parents are just money grubbing fucktards for even considering suing the people who try to do a job that lets face it, 99 percent of us would never do. I think before going ham on either side we should perhaps look at the whole situation and see what is wrong with the overall picture and not take sides.

[Deleted]

Was just about to post more or less the same thing Rath, but you put it far more eloquently than I could have done.

[ItachiZaku]

I can understand the 10 year old having a little more freedom, but not the 6 year... and the 10 year old should not be accountable for a 6 year old either.

Yeah, pretty much. If the 10 year old was watching the 6 year old while the parents were at work, they'd get snapped up and taken away with the quickness.

[Dispraise]

I would like to play a bit of devils advocate here (Keep in mind I understand all your viewpoints and in certain areas I can agree and others I find a tad irrational). Let us say these children had of been abducted by a child molester or something along those lines and had been indecently assaulted or even in the worst case murdered, would the police be at blame then?

That's not playing devil's advocate, since the argument isn't that police shouldn't behave rationally to protect children, and it's disingenuous to pretend that that's the issue.

[nextormento]

What is this free-range thing?
What differentiates them from normal people?

[Gheld]

What is this free-range thing?
What differentiates them from normal people?

It's just a term for children who aren't overly supervised by paranoid parents that do everything in their power to prevent them from experiencing life in escence raising them in a tiny closed pen like livestock.

[Nobleshield]

I agree with the parents. The government constantly tries to act like it knows better than everybody else. They also didn't inform the parents and the parents thought the kids were missing. This is entirely DCS's fault, as well as whatever nosy neighbor called them in the first place because they couldn't mind their own business.

- - - Updated - - -

It's just a term for children who aren't overly supervised by paranoid parents that do everything in their power to prevent them from experiencing life in escence raising them in a tiny closed pen like livestock.

In other words, the way people used to raise their kids, not this pampering paranoid style of today.

[Gheld]

In other words, the way people used to raise their kids, not this pampering paranoid style of today.

Yeah. the way anybody born before 1990 was raised basically.

[Dispraise]

What is this free-range thing?
What differentiates them from normal people?

I guess people find "normal" to mean locking your children up in their rooms to prevent the badness from finding them, or something. Or at the very least fitting them with those heavy GPS ankle bracelets they put on people under house arrest.

[Gheld]

GPS

This is exactly why there is absolutely no excuse for helicopter parenting anymore. It costs very little for a parent to get their kid a GPS enabled device (usually at almost no extra cost on one of those family sharing plans that cell providers offer to try and wrench business away from landline providers) and voila, you can let your kid run and play all they want, and be constantly aware of their location. And all the kid thinks is "cool I have a cell phone."

[Gheld]

I'd be a bit skeptical about a city or a large town, but certainly a village is fine, I used to run around with my friends as much as I wanted, just so long as I was home for dinner.

Cant blame the police though, unsupervised kids are at a bit of a risk.

Again, it's impossible for a child to be in an entire city at once. The population density of their immediate surroundings is what is relevant.

[Dispraise]

Cant blame the police though, unsupervised kids are at a bit of a risk.

Again, can't blame the police for acting rationally.

You certainly can blame the police for lying to the kids about taking them home, detaining them without good cause, failing to call their parents, keeping them locked in a car for three hours without letting them contact their parents, keeping them detained for another three hours without feeding them, and only releasing them to their parents at around midnight.

[Raelbo]

Responding to the call, contacting their parents, taking them home, and ensuring their safety would all have been justified.

Lying to the children about doing any of the above, taking them into custody for no reason, locking them in a car for three hours, keeping them captive for six hours without food, not allowing them to contact their parents, not informing their parents that they're "safe" in police custody, and not releasing them to their parents until about midnight? No, absolutely not justified.

Firstly, you don't know all the facts. Neither do I. But it is just as easy for me to speculate about possible circumstances based on what I read in the article. It seems to me like the cops were worried that the kids may have been neglected. This is why they made the parents run through hoops before they handed the kids back. You are, however, welcome to keep on speculating that the cops acted without reason, even if it doesn't make any rational sense.

More importantly though is that you miss the actual point I was trying to make. The fact that the anyone could have picked up those kids and the parents were clueless, and only became "concerned" after enough time had passed for the kids to have been raped, murdered and had their bodies dumped in a park, is of far greater significance and basically justifies the cops concerns that these parents are being negligent.

Like I said, these idiot parents should be thankful it was the police who picked up the kids and not a rapist murdering psycho (unless of course there happens to be zero precedent of this ever happening within a hundred miles). If these idiot parents had any intelligence they would re-assess their views on "free-range" parenting and see this as a wake up call highlighting the negligence of their actions. Instead they just see an opportunity to leech of society by suing the state for lots of money.


As for this "free-range" philosophy I get the idea of allowing kids the space to grow. It's a great idea if you're comfortable with the idea of "acceptable losses". Personally I don't think it's worth the risk. A far more rational approach is to give the kids an illusion of freedom, but always be aware of exactly where they are and who they are with. Ideally the child would grow up believing they're independent, but in the rare cases where they land up in trouble which they cannot cope with, the guardian appears.

I reckon a lot of "free-range" parenting is just lazy parents who can't be bothered to actually look after their kids, so they have come up with this clever label to make it look like a good thing.

- - - Updated - - -

And then there is this:

A couple of months after Danielle and Alexander Meitiv were found responsible for “unsubstantiated neglect” for letting Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6, walk home from a park close to where they live in downtown Silver Spring, they gave the children permission to do it again.

Of course there was going to be an administritive mess to sort out. These parents are basically ignoring what local law enforcement is telling them.

I can just imagine some future news report:

"Shock and horror for Meitivs as their free-range children disappear - for real"

[Deleted]

I would totally agree with you that it's sensationalized, fearmongering bullshit, except for the part where government officials literally seized their children off the streets as they walked in their neighborhood.

Where the children taken to a secret government agency location where they where conducted to horrific tests in order to build them into some kind of superweapon?

Or where they taken of the street because the police where worried that they might've been lost or neglected or whatever else their line of thinking was. Either way the cops responsible should've taken better care of the kids and not letting them sit alone in a car for 3 hours.

But someone has put a lot of tought in how to make it sound like this is the next step in the government complete takeover plan which probably goes something like this: Step 1; Make a black man president, Step 2; Take their guns, Step 3; Take their children, Step 4; Profit???

[Kellhound]

Nanny state is getting out of hand. Its not like kids that age didn't wander around by themselves for decades in the US....

[Deleted]

In my country I was one of the "key necklace generation". Basically very young children who wore the house key tied with a shoelace around their necks, so they can get into the house or yard.

It's not a problem in Europe but then europeans aren't as paranoid about pedophiles lurking at every street corner ready to pounce on unsuspecting children, as americans are.

[Aqua]

I'm sorry but I used to wander around my neighborhood and local park by myself and with my younger sibling (11 and 7) constantly.

I maybe got asked once by a policeman if I was okay and I knew where I was and where my home was, and he just nodded and moved along when I told him that yes, I lived 1 street over and the house number.

I really really detest this fear-mongering. There are sick fucks, and horrible people in this world, they're going to exist no matter how nosy and distrustful of people you're going to get. But if you teach your children to fear everything and never to be alone anywhere, they're going to have seriously stunted self confidence right up into their teen years, if they ever break out of it (internet and all that)

Police should have escorted the kids home if concerned, NOTHING MORE. Detaining them in a station? Bullshit. The 10 year old should know where they live. I cannot believe for one second that was not the case.

[Deleted]

In my country I was one of the "key necklace generation". Basically very young children who wore the house key tied with a shoelace around their necks, so they can get into the house or yard.

It's not a problem in Europe but then europeans aren't as paranoid about pedophiles lurking at every street corner ready to pounce on unsuspecting children, as americans are.

In Europe schools tend to be in walking/bike distance from where the children live, don't know the situation in the US, but I can imagine they have to travel a lot further, which might be an explanation. I wouldn't want my -12 kid to walk/bike to a school that is further away then 5km.

[Bladeface]

Yep. Like a lot of kids, I had to walk a couple miles home from school each day, and then I was on my own for an hour or more before my parents got home from work.

And in all those years, I only got molested by filthy hobos twice. Kids these days are just too soft.

Doesn't matter had sex