apparently no one lives in DC where kids roam on their own all the time! Take the metro, there's always kids riding without parents, or the bus. it's a fact of life in the city.

so instead they keep these kids past dinner time and bed time. way to go CPS.

Anonymous wrote:The parents' extremely poor judgment about defying CPS makes me doubt their judgment about everything.

And CPS's extremely poor judgment about picking up kids for being in the park makes you...?

Anonymous wrote:These parents seem hell bent on scarring their kids. If they are so ideologically committed to being free range, then they need to move to a neighborhood where it is appropriate and acccepted. Downtown Silver Spring does not meet that description. If these kods were in a quiet neighborhood or in a nearby park with a lot of othet friends and neighbors, or even just taking a short walk to school, that would be fine. But alone in a metro downtown? Not ok. That might be appropriate starting at 13, but not a 10 and 6 year old.

The kids were actually walking to a nearby park.

I'm also interested to hear from other parents who live in Silver Spring whether it's such a dangerous neighborhood that kids shouldn't be allowed to walk around without parental supervision until they're 13. I've visited the area, and it doesn't seem like a war zone to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents should NOT use their kids to make a statement. It should be clear to them that they do not live in an area where the community agrees with their style of parenting. So start a free-range advocacy group, write a book, or move to an area that agrees with your parenting philosophy. But for now, play by the rules. If CPS wants you to supervise your kids at public places, do it. If you don't, you have to know that the kids might be picked up again by CPS. That is simply TOO MUCH STRESS to put on these kids.

Neither should CPS or the police. The decisions of private citizens, such as the parents, are their business. The actions of public agencies, such as CPS and the police, are my business, your business, and everybody's business.

Nope. The illegal actions of private citizens are of course the business of cps and police

Agreed. Next question: what law says that a six-year-old and a ten-year-old are not allowed to walk to the park by themselves?

I looked it up a couple weeks ago. Don't have time now. It's easy to find. Under 8 needs someone over 11(if sibling) or over 13 (if not sibling) supervising.

The parents' extremely poor judgment about defying CPS makes me doubt their judgment about everything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents were previously explicitly told by CPS that it was unacceptable so whether they AGREE with it or not they should stop doing it (fight it legally in the meantime if they want but stop doing it) instead of risking losing their kids, right or wrong, to make a statement.

What about CPS, though? Is it ok for CPS to take custody of children who go to the park by themselves? Is this in the best interest of the children?

Apparently it is okay for CPS to do that...and your opinion doesn't matter.

But is it in the best interest of the children? And since CPS is acting in my name, and yours, and everybody else's, my opinion actually does matter.

Then you mount a campaign to change the situation. Call the county council and Ike. Complain. Organize. Find some organization or political leader to carry the flag.

But don't send your little kids to the park alone until the system changes...especially if CPS has already investigated you and told you not to do that again. Duh.

Since I don't think there's anything wrong with sending a six-year-old and a ten-year-old to the park by themselves, and I do think there's something seriously wrong with taking a six-year-old and ten-year-old into CPS custody for being in the park by themselves, I'm going to focus on the police and CPS actions, not on condemning the parents. It's also a lot more productive.

These parents seem hell bent on scarring their kids. If they are so ideologically committed to being free range, then they need to move to a neighborhood where it is appropriate and acccepted. Downtown Silver Spring does not meet that description. If these kods were in a quiet neighborhood or in a nearby park with a lot of othet friends and neighbors, or even just taking a short walk to school, that would be fine. But alone in a metro downtown? Not ok. That might be appropriate starting at 13, but not a 10 and 6 year old.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, this mythical "free range" thing involved kids moving in packs. Safety in numbers, be in a group.

Two siblings rarely played alone at a park, even in the 1970s.

BTW, I lived the 1970s. The fondness for them that is expressed here sometimes if misguided. It wasn't that great.

Total BS. At age 10, I commuted every day to my school BY MYSELF. This included walking, taking a bus and then the tube. I lived in London. NOTHING HAPPENED.

Yep. And at 10 they wouldn't be picked up. 10 is not 6.

The 10-year-old actually did get picked up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These parents are horrible. They obviously didn't learn their lesson but they will. They seem so lazy. Would it kill them to spend time with the kids? Selfish idiots.

Oh, have you met them? If not, how do you know?

Though I agree that they obviously did not learn their lesson -- the lesson being that, no matter how right the parents are, and how much the law is on the parents' side, if the police and CPS want to take their children away, the police and CPS can take their children away.

The law is not on their side. Look it up.

I've looked it up, and I've posted it. The law is on their side. If you know of a different law, please post it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, this mythical "free range" thing involved kids moving in packs. Safety in numbers, be in a group.

Two siblings rarely played alone at a park, even in the 1970s.

BTW, I lived the 1970s. The fondness for them that is expressed here sometimes if misguided. It wasn't that great.

Total BS. At age 10, I commuted every day to my school BY MYSELF. This included walking, taking a bus and then the tube. I lived in London. NOTHING HAPPENED.

Yep. And at 10 they wouldn't be picked up. 10 is not 6.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents were previously explicitly told by CPS that it was unacceptable so whether they AGREE with it or not they should stop doing it (fight it legally in the meantime if they want but stop doing it) instead of risking losing their kids, right or wrong, to make a statement.

What about CPS, though? Is it ok for CPS to take custody of children who go to the park by themselves? Is this in the best interest of the children?

Apparently it is okay for CPS to do that...and your opinion doesn't matter.

But is it in the best interest of the children? And since CPS is acting in my name, and yours, and everybody else's, my opinion actually does matter.

Then you mount a campaign to change the situation. Call the county council and Ike. Complain. Organize. Find some organization or political leader to carry the flag.

But don't send your little kids to the park alone until the system changes...especially if CPS has already investigated you and told you not to do that again. Duh.

If you want to donate to the family's legal defense, you can do so here:

https://www.causes.com/posts/942411-montgomery-county-schools-and-cps-at-odds-over-children-walking?hc_location=ufi

These folks have opted to send their kids into battle for this cause even after being warned not to do so...and now their kids have been picked up by the police and detained for something like 5 hours while their parents frantically searched for them...nice.

All I can think is: Those poor kids. That must have been so scary for them. But thank goodness they are o.k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents were previously explicitly told by CPS that it was unacceptable so whether they AGREE with it or not they should stop doing it (fight it legally in the meantime if they want but stop doing it) instead of risking losing their kids, right or wrong, to make a statement.

What about CPS, though? Is it ok for CPS to take custody of children who go to the park by themselves? Is this in the best interest of the children?

Apparently it is okay for CPS to do that...and your opinion doesn't matter.

But is it in the best interest of the children? And since CPS is acting in my name, and yours, and everybody else's, my opinion actually does matter.

I agree with CPS.

It is just like curfew laws. My kid might now be a menace to society and could be out past curfew without being a problem... but I would make them come in before curfew because it is the law.

Whether the child neglect law is "too general" or not. I believe CPS is acting the best interest of the child because until they take the children into custody and figure out what is going on nobody know if the children are being neglected or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These parents are horrible. They obviously didn't learn their lesson but they will. They seem so lazy. Would it kill them to spend time with the kids? Selfish idiots.

Oh, have you met them? If not, how do you know?

Though I agree that they obviously did not learn their lesson -- the lesson being that, no matter how right the parents are, and how much the law is on the parents' side, if the police and CPS want to take their children away, the police and CPS can take their children away.

The law is not on their side. Look it up.