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I have a friend who suspects that it is the overall agenda to weaken the family as a control unit. He ascribes it to the left. I am not so sure.
However, I personally have had some very bad experiences. I have two children, now 19 and almost 18. Almost exactly 7 years ago, when they were 12 and almost 11, my older son was considerably stronger than my younger son, who is on the high end of the autism spectrum. One day my older son was playing a little bit more roughly with my younger son than I liked. I sat him down on the stairs for a lecture. I told him that he is never to pick on someone smaller or weaker than him, for any reason.
That upcoming October, my younger son is bothering my older son at school. We ask the school to keep them separate during the day to the maximum extent possible. Not an uncommon thing that siblings will bother each other during the school day. The school psychologist asks my older son if his parents (meaning my wife and I) have ever done anything that "scared" him. He tells her that I "put" him on the stairs for the above-mentioned lecture. She writes it down as "pushed" and files a report with Child Protective Services. They come out to "investigate." The report is dismissed as "unfounded."
We scheduled a meeting with the head of the department that handles special education and the school superintendent. The former says that he "wishes more parents" would take bullying as seriously as we did. I said "not when it results in a Child Protective Services complaint."
Circling back to my friend's view, he believes that the left wing is out to weaken families. He cites such things as gay marriage, child protective services agencies, restrictions on corporal punishment and the like. I am not sure that the agenda is deliberate. I believe (and have posted elsewhere) that government overreacts to individual situations. The easiest way for them to react is to pass a law. Performing real services, such as hiring skilled social workers that could make a real difference to a dysfunctional family is hard and expensive. Thus the blunderbuss approach of passing a law rather than enforcing existing laws.
Sort of like lowering a speed limit from 40 to 35 on a road where someone is killed doing 100.
Government assisted family protection? </sarcasm>
It's the predictable, natural outgrowth of leftist promotion of a heavily-funded Big Government hyper-state that progressives fully understand results in this kind of nannying of society.
But it is also planned, by a darker, more occulted layer:
I had five sons. All were allowed to play outdoors from the time they were 8 y.o. During the Summer, they needed to come home for lunch, then back to play as long as they were home for supper.
They're all grown up now (the eldest is 62) and have their own families. Wonder how that happened?
There is an actual movement called "Free Range Kids" which promotes allowing children the freedom from being constantly monitored by a parent/caregiver when age appropriate. The safety of our children is of utmost importance, but overprotection has very serious consequences in the child's overall development.
Wow. Now its a movement and has a name. As many of us remember back in the day it was just normal parenting and being a kid.
What difference does it make if the kid is inside playing video games or outside playing basketball. Personally Id rather mine be outside playing.
It doesn't really, and i agree that I would rather have my kid OUTSIDE playing but only if I am home. I do not want my kids (10) outside playing when i am not home.. but that may just be me..
Oh good Lord. I played outside by myself for hours at that age. What a dipstick of a neighbor. Invite the boy in for a lemonade if you are so worried about him!
Exactly!! Stuff happens, parents get caught in traffic etc. He is 11 not 3 for cripes sake.
freakin nosy neighbor...I would invited him in, turned on TV and given him a snack
It doesn't really, and i agree that I would rather have my kid OUTSIDE playing but only if I am home. I do not want my kids (10) outside playing when i am not home.. but that may just be me..
That would most likely depend on where you live. I image in some areas there is a real concern for human predators, gang violence or stray bullets, some areas maybe even animal predators. I feel luck to live where the worst danger of kids playing outside might be a encounter with a venomous snake.
but why didn't the kid have a key to the house or a garage door code???
My kids, younger than 11 have a house key in case they get home before me.. which happens almost every day!
Still, NUTS!
Another good point, my neighbors have my cell phone number, at least most do and on more than one occasion i got a call saying my daughter was at their house because she lost her key or left it at home that day..
This IMHO was not a concerned neighbor but someone being a P.I.T.A. (pain in the arse) or someone with a grudge with the parents. A concerned neighbor would have invited the child in for a drink or sit and wait with him.
Why didnt the kid just say "hey look, ive got shade and water right there. I just had something to eat. Thank you for being concerned but please go find something more worthwhile to do"?
but no, he kept his mouth shut and let his parents get in trouble
It doesn't really, and i agree that I would rather have my kid OUTSIDE playing but only if I am home. I do not want my kids (10) outside playing when i am not home.. but that may just be me..
Do you think your neighbor should be arrested if she lets her 10 or 11 year old play outside when she is not home though?
I would file a FOIA request with the 911 Center to get the Call, find out who it was who called is. A FOIA for the 911/Police Dispatch logs, any computer logs for the officers car.
File Civil suit against the caller.
File a complaint against the office for leaving a "Child" alone in a car, in the Hot Florida Weather. (Does not matter if the AC was on and he was 10 feet away, Look what they do to parents who do that...)
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