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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.
It's not even "back in the day" I was 11 in 1995. I remember being allowed to walk home from school 1.25 miles, running around my neighborhood until 9-10 PM during the summer, going down to the soccer fields near my house, going to the creek near my house, etc. There were at least a few times where a soccer or baseball practice had ended early and I got dropped off at my house before my parents were home. I would just go hang out on the side porch until they got home. This is a very recent development. Last 10-15 years.
Wow. When I was 12, not only did I stay home by myself, but I also babysat my six-year-old brother after school every day! He'd get off the bus at the neighbor's house and wait until I got home (about 30 minutes later). I'd go get him from the neighbor's and take him home, we'd do homework, then we'd play outside, and I'd start dinner for when my mom got home around 6. It didn't seem like neglect...it was just normal?
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!
Excellent point! If she identified a situation she deemed dangerous, then, "tag, she's it"! She was then obligated to do something to rectify the situation, such as invite the boy inside, or sit with him outside until parents arrived. Why didn't she speak to the boy and ask if he needed to use her phone to call someone?
Well, I guess calling police was doing something.....
Years ago someone turned us in to CPS for nonsense. It was ruled out, but our lives were destroyed. Our children recently turned 18, no, at least, we are beyond the reach of the system, but there will forever be a chasm between us that only time may heal.
Put me down on the BS list. Over a full day, 2200 views, 100 replies and not a single link to a single phrase from a reliable source. This. Did. Not. Happen.
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
I really don't think any blame should be placed on the kid. Do you teach your kid to talk back to police officers who are there to make sure they're being cared for?
Yeah, but who doesn't have an outside faucet? Some shade. And in an emergency situation, well the cop tinkled outside. I don't think 1 1/2 hrs. exposure to the out of doors in suburbia is going to kill anyone.
I guess they would have just strung me up if people had those attitudes back when mine were young. When my boys were that age they went outside for hours, over the bluff, down into the gorge and played in the woods, same places I use to play. Good Lord we use to drink water that came right out from an underground spring in the caves and pee right on the ground. Grandma would say, now you children stay away from those bobcat dens. She was more concerned that we washed our hands so we wouldn't get worms.
Doesn't sound like you live in FL. While I think this is ridiculous, the kid should have had a key.
FL(having lived there) is brutal most of the year, you also get very violent thunderstorms and getting struck by lightning is common. Where you need to be indoors. Storms come up very quickly.
I don't think the parents should have been arrested, and a decent neighbor would have invited the kid in.
But it's also not a place you want to spend a good deal of time outdoors most of the year.
Two Florida parents were charged with neglect because their 11 year-old son was playing outside alone in the backyard for an hour and a half.
According to his mom, he arrived home before his parents and was locked out of the house (delayed with traffic and rain). He shot some hoops in the backyard to pass time.
His nosy neighbor saw him outside alone and called the cops. The cops waited at the house until the parents arrived and they were arrested.
The parents spoke out recently to Reason magazine. They kept their identities hidden in fear that they might those their jobs. The mother stated, "The authorities claim he had no access to water or shelter. We have an open shed in the back yard and 2 working sinks and 2 hoses. They said he had no food. He ate his snacks already. He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone. In his own yard, in a state, Florida, that has no minimum age for children to be alone."
What kind of awful neighbors do people have, holy ****..........who are these stupid people with way too much time on their hands. This is the kind of individual that needs to straight up get punched in the eye.
My parents both worked fulltime jobs, my dad had two for awhile, it was often just me and my brother, or just me alone when he was much younger, they would have been locked up for life if we had neighbors like this.
Calling the police because a kid is playing in his own backyard, what a piece of garbage. Some people really desperately need a hobby to better occupy their time.
In the meantime, to comply with all of the CPS dictates, Cindy and Fred are attending parenting classes. They are also going to therapy. The kids are attending "play" therapy. This summer, as part of the deal, the older boy must attend day camp. The younger must attend day care. The reason, Cindy thinks, is that years ago there was a girl who disappeared while in foster care and it turned out that no one had been keeping track of her whereabouts. If kids attend day camp or daycare, their whereabouts will always be accounted for.
I asked Cindy how she and the kids spent last summer.
"We did little projects, we would go to the beach," she said. Or they would visit dad at work. She had been planning to enjoy another low key summer with them. Instead, she will be at home while her kids are in a program mandated by the state.
The insanity in this country is just beyond belief at this point.
I can't even count how many house keys my son went through.
I just made sure there was no identifying information on his keyring.
This. We don't know that the kid didn't have a key, we just know that he didn't have it that day.
It was more than a few times that I forgot my key before leaving for school. I was usually the first one home so if I didn't have my key, I just threw my backpack and stuff behind the fence and went off to the local playground to shoot some hoops or to the Boys and Girls Club. My parents always gave me a couple bucks for food after school so its not like I ever went hungry. If anything it taught me to be a little more independent. Then again, I grew up in the early 90's where people seemingly weren't as nosy as they are today.
Last edited by Juram; 06-16-2015 at 02:33 PM..
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