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After letting her 7-year-old son walk from their home to a park to play, a Florida mother faces up to five years in jail for child neglect.
Nicole Gainey, 34, was arrested on July 26 after her son, Dominic, was found by police alone in a park less than a half-mile from her Port St. Lucie home.
I'm absolutely flabbergasted. This is a little different from the mom who left her daughter at the park during her entire shift at work. This is a kid going to the park for an hour to play!
I let my 7- and 8-year-olds ride their bikes unsupervised around the neighborhood - I suppose I ought to be worried about what the police will think.
Last edited by Jaded; 08-01-2014 at 11:32 PM..
Reason: Copyright
I'm absolutely flabbergasted. This is a little different from the mom who left her daughter at the park during her entire shift at work. This is a kid going to the park for an hour to play!
I let my 7- and 8-year-olds ride their bikes unsupervised around the neighborhood - I suppose I ought to be worried about what the police will think.
This is what it is coming to. If we aren't 100% helicoptering our kids then we are neglectful. Having said that, when my kid was 7 I wouldn't be comfortable with a half mile walk (and I was supportive of the mother who allowed her kid to stay at a park during her shift), but all kids are different. Like you, I did let her ride her bike around the neighborhood at that age, not that I wasn't a nervous wreck the entire time!
Yes, that's insane. Since when is a 7 year old too young to walk to the park? I used to let my then 7 year old and 5 year old walk to the park every day.
I can kind of see both sides...this story has been posted about a lot on this forum, btw.
On one hand, I don't think the woman should have been arrested. On the other, I hear a lot of people say, "When we were kids, we'd ride our bikes, we'd go to the park, me and my siblings would...yadda yadda..."
However, note the plurality that always comes up. I don't claim to know the neighborhood in question. Was it really safe enough for a seven year old to be by himself?
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