3 ms·

The fact that our society needs such a law is beyond insane. When did the law change? I walked to school in the 90's by myself at 9 years. Or has the law change

by mnm1 9y ago

The fact that our society needs such a law is beyond insane. When did the law change? I walked to school in the 90's by myself at 9 years. Or has the law changed? Or has the enforcement just changed without anyone's consent? I can't imagine raising kids in America today. I'd never subject another human being to this kind of life. Children are human too but Americans seem to have forgotten that lately.

vinay427 9y ago
> Or has the enforcement just changed without anyone's consent? I'd bet that the enforcement of existing laws has changed with society's consent, as is usually the case. Like it or not, parents are more likely to see new threats that didn't exist a few decades ago, and this manifests itself in what law enforcement officers see as threats.
kolpa 9y ago
Thanks to Internet and mass media, the occasional extreme case gets misreported and widely publicized as "the new normal" The irony is not lost: "Free-range" advocates say that society vastly overestimates the risk of harms, so they campaign against child-protection laws that they vastly overestimate the harm of.
- tropo 9y ago
  I've dealt with those agencies enough to know that they are horrible. I've even caught them in criminal acts, which of course won't be prosecuted. The typical harassment starts with a kid who gets a normal childhood injury or is found unattended at a library or church, or sometimes an anonymous tip by somebody who wants to cause trouble. This is enough to start an investigation. The agency's workers then feel entitled to interview and examine the kids alone, invade the home, and even inspect the content of a refrigerator. Depending on your location, a warrant may be automatically approved by a judge. The thing with the refrigerator is particularly absurd. It's not as if you can't feed children without one. You could even eat out every day! If the agency's workers find moldy food you forgot in the back of your refrigerator, they will presume that the children are being fed moldy food. If you haven't been shopping recently and the refrigerator is mostly empty, they will assume the kids aren't being fed. The agency benefits greatly from people's reluctance to talk with friends, news media, and so on. So much of the malicious activity occurs in private. These investigations have lasting effects. Years later, one can snap awake in a panic due to a nightmare about kids being grabbed out of the home. You can forever lose your feeling of safety and security in your own home. When the report is anonymous, you can no longer trust anybody you know.
- mnm1 9y ago
  Because riding the bus or going to the park alone are such dangerous activities. Please.
smelendez 9y ago
I've gotten the impression it's really an issue in areas where nobody walks anywhere. There seem to be more of those than there were even a generation ago, probably as small town and suburban "main streets" have declined, people have longer commutes so less time to spend walking around town, etc. People then have a sense of walking as weird and potentially dangerous. If they see a kid walking, they think the kid must be neglected, or else why wouldn't they have gotten a ride from a parent? If they see a grown woman walking, they think she's taking an unnecessary risk. If they see a grown man walking, they worry he's up to no good, and might even post on NextDoor or call the police to report "suspicious activity." Also, I think as small towns and suburbs have moved more commerce and also some housing to the outskirts of town, more streets have become arterial roads, which means faster cars and more danger to pedestrians.

by mnm1 9y ago

vinay427 9y ago

> Or has the enforcement just changed without anyone's consent? I'd bet that the enforcement of existing laws has changed with society's consent, as is usually the case. Like it or not, parents are more likely to see new threats that didn't exist a few decades ago, and this manifests itself in what law enforcement officers see as threats.

kolpa 9y ago

Thanks to Internet and mass media, the occasional extreme case gets misreported and widely publicized as "the new normal" The irony is not lost: "Free-range" advocates say that society vastly overestimates the risk of harms, so they campaign against child-protection laws that they vastly overestimate the harm of.

tropo 9y ago
I've dealt with those agencies enough to know that they are horrible. I've even caught them in criminal acts, which of course won't be prosecuted. The typical harassment starts with a kid who gets a normal childhood injury or is found unattended at a library or church, or sometimes an anonymous tip by somebody who wants to cause trouble. This is enough to start an investigation. The agency's workers then feel entitled to interview and examine the kids alone, invade the home, and even inspect the content of a refrigerator. Depending on your location, a warrant may be automatically approved by a judge. The thing with the refrigerator is particularly absurd. It's not as if you can't feed children without one. You could even eat out every day! If the agency's workers find moldy food you forgot in the back of your refrigerator, they will presume that the children are being fed moldy food. If you haven't been shopping recently and the refrigerator is mostly empty, they will assume the kids aren't being fed. The agency benefits greatly from people's reluctance to talk with friends, news media, and so on. So much of the malicious activity occurs in private. These investigations have lasting effects. Years later, one can snap awake in a panic due to a nightmare about kids being grabbed out of the home. You can forever lose your feeling of safety and security in your own home. When the report is anonymous, you can no longer trust anybody you know.
mnm1 9y ago
Because riding the bus or going to the park alone are such dangerous activities. Please.

smelendez 9y ago

I've gotten the impression it's really an issue in areas where nobody walks anywhere. There seem to be more of those than there were even a generation ago, probably as small town and suburban "main streets" have declined, people have longer commutes so less time to spend walking around town, etc. People then have a sense of walking as weird and potentially dangerous. If they see a kid walking, they think the kid must be neglected, or else why wouldn't they have gotten a ride from a parent? If they see a grown woman walking, they think she's taking an unnecessary risk. If they see a grown man walking, they worry he's up to no good, and might even post on NextDoor or call the police to report "suspicious activity." Also, I think as small towns and suburbs have moved more commerce and also some housing to the outskirts of town, more streets have become arterial roads, which means faster cars and more danger to pedestrians.