Free-range kids picked up AGAIN by police

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big difference between playing in your yard and playing a mile away.

I get that, but the law doesn't say one is OK and the other is not, does it? In fact, the law that people have cited here talks about leaving kids under 8 in buildings and cars but says nothing about whether they can play outside without an adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's an updated story from the Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/15/listen-to-the-911-call-that-led-cops-to-take-the-free-range-kids-into-custody/?hpid=z2

The caller didn't want to scare the kids, so he called 911 and had the police come get them.

Good grief.

I know. Irony alert, huh? I wonder what he thinks about how this played out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, if it's completely unsupervised. That doesn't include on the block or on the street where the parents can see them or in the yard where the parents can check through the window every once in a while.

OK, so you're saying it's only legal for kids under 8 to play outside without an adult if parents can see them out the window? Where does the law stipulate this?

Also, does a parent have to watch the child continuously? Anything can happen in just a second or two, you know. And what if the family has a really big yard? Does the child have to remain in plain sight near the window, or can the child go to the other end, or behind a tree where the parent can't see them?

What about the woman in the news yesterday(?) who supposedly let go of her stroller to swat away a bee? Terrible outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big difference between playing in your yard and playing a mile away.

So how far is too far? My yard is ok. How about the neighbor's yard? Is that ok? How about the neighbor's neighbor's yard? How about the yard at the other end of the street? How about the yard two blocks away? How about...? If I don't want CPS to accuse me of neglect, how close a watch must I keep on my child?

[Anonymous]

OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yea for you for understanding that intergration and civil rights is just as important as the age that kids can walk to the park alone. BRAVO FOR YOU!

No, that is a different argument. Here is the argument the poster was addressing:

PP#1: The people who fought for civil rights didn't put their children in harm's way.
PP#2. That is factually incorrect.

And if sending Ruby Bridges to this school instead of that school is about integration and civil rights, then letting your children walk home from the park alone is about parental vs. state rights (aka freedom). It's incredibly reductive to say that the whole case is about the age that kids can walk home from the park alone.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the law and regulations are unclear and that there's even some contradiction, since MCPS recognizes that children may walk to and from school without an adult. Some posters think what these parents did is illegal. Many others think it is not illegal.

It would help all parents if the authorities would issue clear guidance as to whether children under a certain age may be outside without an adult, walk to and from school or a park without adult supervision, etc.

It's pretty clearly illegal. Many posters think it shouldn't be, not that it isn't. I bet we'll get plenty of clarity very soon. Though there's a lot to be said for agency discretion in these matters.

Is it? There seems to be disagreement. So you think it is illegal for children under the age of 8 to play outside without an adult present?

Yes, if it's completely unsupervised. That doesn't include on the block or on the street where the parents can see them or in the yard where the parents can check through the window every once in a while.

I live in Silver Spring, not blocks from, but yes close to downtown (in 20910), and one block from a park where there is play equipment. My kids, ages 10 and 7, sometimes walk or scooter that one block to the park and play. They are on the block, but out of my sight.

Illegal? Show me where it says that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Big difference between playing in your yard and playing a mile away.

So how far is too far? My yard is ok. How about the neighbor's yard? Is that ok? How about the neighbor's neighbor's yard? How about the yard at the other end of the street? How about the yard two blocks away? How about...? If I don't want CPS to accuse me of neglect, how close a watch must I keep on my child?

No one will call the cops if kids are playing in a front yard...whether it's your yard or the neighbor down the street...because common sense dictates that a grown up is in the house or within earshot. The same is not true when kids are a mile away from home in a non-residential area (in this case, in front of a parking garage). A reasonable person did not see any adults around, and there weren't any houses nearby...just a busy street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

And everyone's definition of "common sense" is the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

In my experience, people only say "Common sense says that..." when there is actually a disagreement about what common sense says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, if it's completely unsupervised. That doesn't include on the block or on the street where the parents can see them or in the yard where the parents can check through the window every once in a while.

OK, so you're saying it's only legal for kids under 8 to play outside without an adult if parents can see them out the window? Where does the law stipulate this?

Also, does a parent have to watch the child continuously? Anything can happen in just a second or two, you know. And what if the family has a really big yard? Does the child have to remain in plain sight near the window, or can the child go to the other end, or behind a tree where the parent can't see them?

What about the woman in the news yesterday(?) who supposedly let go of her stroller to swat away a bee? Terrible outcome.

So we should pass a law prohibiting bee-swatting while walking with a stroller?

What is your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

But there is a problem even by saying common sense says it's okay for your kid to play in your yard. I'm getting mixed up with which jurisdiction says what, but ... some suggest, provide guidelines saying kids of a certain age (under 10?) cannot play alone in their own yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

And everyone's definition of "common sense" is the same?

Common sense = my opinion (as well as yours, if it's the same as mine). If your opinion is different from mine, then obviously you are a common-sense-lacking wacko.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, if it's completely unsupervised. That doesn't include on the block or on the street where the parents can see them or in the yard where the parents can check through the window every once in a while.

OK, so you're saying it's only legal for kids under 8 to play outside without an adult if parents can see them out the window? Where does the law stipulate this?

Also, does a parent have to watch the child continuously? Anything can happen in just a second or two, you know. And what if the family has a really big yard? Does the child have to remain in plain sight near the window, or can the child go to the other end, or behind a tree where the parent can't see them?

What about the woman in the news yesterday(?) who supposedly let go of her stroller to swat away a bee? Terrible outcome.

So we should pass a law prohibiting bee-swatting while walking with a stroller?

What is your point?

S*** happens to everyone, even in the presence of adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG!!! We get that the law is vague. But it's been pointed out that both CPS and the courts have discretion to interpret it rather broadly...and they have. And common sense dictates that it's okay for your kid to play in your yard but not okay to play a mile away.

And everyone's definition of "common sense" is the same?

You need to step away from the question mark key. No one is going to stop thinking about the underlying issues in this case if you, I don't know, left this thread alone for fifteen minutes.