8 ms·
Mom jailed for letting 10-year-old walk alone to town
- kleiba 2y agoMaybe we should consider changing out National anthem's lyrics from "home of the free" to "home of the safe"? Would rhyme better with "brave", too.
- rbanffy 2y agoToo soon to make this joke. Wait a couple years. He’ll have it fixed and you won’t need to ever vote again.
- post_break 2y agoAnd the police wonder why no one trusts them or there are movements to defund them.
- sgt 2y agoPhoning the sheriff first before offering to give the kid a ride? What's wrong with people?
- a_t48 2y agoPlease, we drill into kids heads to not get into cars with strangers.
- rendx 2y ago"When America’s missing children are featured in popular culture, it is usually the cases of stereotypical kidnappings, which happen to be very rare. […] The third NISMART study found that approximately 105 stereotypical kidnappings occur every year in the United States (Wolak et al. 2016). That is still 105 too many. The general public may estimate a much higher number of this type of case, based on how often they are portrayed in fiction. […] The rare kidnapping cases may be the most known of missing children cases, but are the smallest category in number. Looking at the broader nature of the missing child problem and considering the full spectrum of the missing, including endangered runaways, children taken by family members, lost and injured children, children thrown out of their homes, and children separated from their families by natural disasters and catastrophes, the number of families having a missing person increases exponentially. In 2018, there were 424,066 new reports of missing children entered into the National Crime Information Center, the computerized index of missing persons and criminal justice information (NCIC 1984, para. 1), which works out to about 1,162 new cases of missing children every day (NCMEC 2019c, para. 4). […] Despite what many people believe, a child can be in real danger when abducted by a family member. Family abductions are cases in which a family member absconds with the child, preventing the other parent from knowing the child’s location." quoted from: Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-89999-2 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-89999-2
- a_t48 2y agoRegardless of the danger or not of getting in a strangers car (and in comparison to getting into a known person's car), children are taught to not do it.
- fragmede 2y agoUnless you summoned that stranger with an app on your phone, then it's totally fine.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y agoI mean, yeah? There's a qualitative difference between your Uber driver showing up to the specified location where you're waiting and someone who could be an Uber driver stopping you while you're walking down the road to offer a ride.
- zaptheimpaler 2y agoThe person could simply have asked the child if they were OK or they need help, if they maybe need a phone to call their parents. Their attitude was more like seeing a stray animal out in the wild and calling animal control. They are fucking insane, there's no excuse.
- a_t48 2y agoI agree the situation is nutty.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoNeighbor jailed for offering to give child, "a ride."
- knowitnone 2y agoProbably not a neighbor but reporter jailed for soliciting a minor
- quantified 2y agoLess than a mile means no ride needed.
- tristanb 2y agoWhen I was 8? I think, I used to take a bus to go get a VHS tape from the local rental shop. It's important for kids to have autonomy. In Japan, its pretty common to send even younger kids out on errands.
- kleiba 2y agoWhen I was growing up in the 70s, it was totally normal for a dad to give their under 10 year old kid some money and send them to the corner store to buy a pack of cigarettes for dad.
- RajT88 2y agoMy Japanese friend told me his parents would send him to the store for beer at age 5. (He would successfully return with beer) I gather things are different now over there...
- MiguelX413 2y agoWhere is “over there”?
- tmtvl 2y agoI believe a common joke is about a protective parent sending a child on an errand and then following along to see if the child does okay.
- knowitnone 2y ago
- avmich 2y agohttps://www.gofundme.com/f/support-parentsusas-fight-for-brits-parental-rights https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-parentsusas-fight-for-bri... - "Support ParentsUSA's Fight for Brit's Parental Rights"
- slantaclaus 2y agoI would but PayPal banned me for life for taking payments for the sale of CBD oil in the early days of my CBD oil startup Update: I kicked in $50 anyway. This story really infuriated me and I felt strongly enough to fill it out manually.
- dwaltrip 2y agoI rarely donate, but couldn’t resist for this one. Thanks for link!
- ridiculous_leke 2y ago> She (the Sheriff) kept mentioning how he could have been run over, or kidnapped or 'anything' could have happened, This is weird. Is the crime so bad in the town? Even the good-for-nothing cops in my (developing) country do not come up with such nonsense.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoApparently not knowing where your kid is IS the crime. Which is rampant in the countryside, RAMPANT!
- leonheld 2y agoRampant across Europe/Japan/South America/... why would anyone not let their kids outside exploring/walking/exercising?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- silent_cal 2y agoMany cops in the US have a massive superiority complex
- dylan604 2y agoYeah, but wouldn't the sheriff making the comment be own goaling the situation. Wouldn't her scenarios imply that she's shite at her job so that crimes like these are prevalent?
- quantified 2y agoTeaches the kids what the cops are about.
- michaelt 2y agoNo no, you see, the tremendous crime rate in the city is why voters should support giving the sheriff loads more unchecked power, and loads more money to buy MRAPs and AR-15s.
- l1tany11 2y agoWhat’s wild is this is happening in Georgia.
- drpossum 2y ago*happening in Georgia to white people
- TeaBrain 2y agoWhen I hear about police getting involved simply because a person is out walking, the story almost always turns out to be about somewhere in the south.
- cafard 2y agoWell, Maryland is indeed south of the Mason-Dixon line, but Montgomery County is pretty generic mid-Atlantic suburban, and the first "free range kids" story I remember hearing was from Silver Spring.
- TeaBrain 2y agoThe county referenced in the article is in Georgia. I'm not surprised that it's happening all over though. When I was younger, a neighbor called the police about a suspicious man in a hoodie wandering through a backyard. The suspicious person turned out to be me leaving through my parents' back gate to go on a walk.
- 3pt14159 2y agoWhen I was five years old I would walk along a path and take a bridge across a river to visit my friend to play board games. By the time I was nine I was bicycling forty-five minutes to school on a 80 km/h road. The level of paranoia that's infected people around keeping kids near their parents is insane.
- eitally 2y agoYes, but. For all of the happy survivor stories like yours (and mine), the reality is that the rate of child accidental deaths has steadily decreases over the past few decades as parents (and society) became more protective. That isn't to say I agree with over-parenting and eliminating independence -- I don't -- but there needs to be rationality applied as well as personal values.
- samatman 2y agoI expect we would discover that almost all of that is improvements in car safety though.
- detourdog 2y agoAnd farm rules.
- eertami 2y agoIn Central European cities kids will walk unsupervised to school from age 5, even today in 2024. Parents are even actively discouraged from taking children to school. If what you suggest is true, then statistically we should see Swiss children dying at a higher rate than American children?
- quantified 2y agoRationality says let the kid out. I was wandering around Chicago from age 10. Stuff happened, I survived. Kids can decide to wuss out on their own.
- elpocko 2y ago
- mouse_ 2y ago"Why aren't people having kids?"
- iamleppert 2y agoToo big of a liability and not enough ROI, or negative ROI from what I've seen with others who have children. How does having a child help me diversify my portfolio? All I see is a bad risk.
- Culonavirus 2y agoIf you see children like that, you're not ready (some people will never be ready, it's ok).
- Brian_K_White 2y agoIf you see a comment like that only at literal face value, you're not ready for a lot of things, and it's not ok.
- gosub100 2y agoThis is a huge reason for me. I don't want to explain to someone that the world used to be free, but now everything is limited and "locked down" because safety.
- exabrial 2y agoSoft. I was 10+ miles away from home on a bike when I was 8.
- hollerith 2y agoI heard that 4 or 5 US states have passed laws to broadly protect parents who let their kids range around.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoWhich states are these?
- hollerith 2y agohttps://letgrow.org/states/ https://letgrow.org/states/
- beaviskhan 2y agoThe Venn diagram of people who think it's ok to treat parents like this and people who vote "for liberty" is a circle.
- epcoa 2y agoWhile I agree there’s some ironic amount of overlap, you ruined your point going full circle.
- krunck 2y agoAs drawn by you? Or are you saying that people who value freedom are the ones supporting nanny state policies?
- heisenbit 2y agoThere is a wide gap between the people who understand what freedom means and value it and the ones loudly proclaiming freedom. "Reason" may actually fall into the secondary category. The way this works is by undermining the rule of regulations by finding the most ridiculous example of excess (note how the author of the article wastes no effort on finding examples where sanity prevailed stoking emotions of the reader against this extreme but rare overreach). It is important to realize the total absence of regulation promoted implicitly often leads to rule setting by the strongest and most ruthless. Edit: The author is truly specialized on such stories as can be seen here: https://reason.com/people/lenore-skenazy/ https://reason.com/people/lenore-skenazy/
- nickff 2y agoCould you please explain why you believe this to be the case? One of the major advocates of 'free-range parenting' (and who allowed her child to ride the New York Subway unaccompanied) is a frequent contributor to a leading libertarian magazine (Reason). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy
- freehorse 2y agoWho is actually the author of the present article in that exact magazine's website.
- zaptheimpaler 2y agoThere's something extremely sick about the modern attitudes to children in the US (and maybe elsewhere). These people are fucking crazy. They can't imagine a world where children actually exist out in the real world and live their life like every other country instead of only in supervised jail schools. Anything approaching affection or concern for other children is seen with suspicion as if its pedophilia. Everyone hates babies or children existing or making noise in public, we don't accomodate parents or children in any way, while watching population growth collapse. Boomers who lament never having grandchildren are called monsters. We are completely losing the fucking plot on the most important responsibility of humanity. There is nothing without children, no future, only immigration which will eventually run dry or extinction. None of these attitudes towards children exist in other places, it doesn't have to be this way.
- SunlitCat 2y agoAnd (to complete that picture) as soon as they turn 18, they get the boot to the street to fend for themselves!
- dylan604 2y agoThat is definitely trending downwards by the number of 20-somethings still living at home with parents (for any number of valid reasons).
- knowitnone 2y agoyou might have gotten the boot at 18 but many get a job or go to college and still live at home. where are you getting your numbers from?
- SunlitCat 2y agoAh! Thank you for your question. It was an addition to the previous post, although it might still happen here and there.
- loughnane 2y agoDon’t let the internet fool you. I’m a 39yo man and I see none of those problems in real life. I coach kids sports, tons of kids in our neighborhood, take my kids to places, etc. It’s all good.
- etimberg 2y agoThis kind of incident is a microcosm of everything that's going wrong in the western world
- nicolas_t 2y agoThat particular bit of insanity is mostly restricted to the US. Other western countries still allow children to roam free for now
- TeaBrain 2y agoFortunately for the rest of the Western world, I don't think most of it has to deal with the artificial community concern about children walking on their own that the US experiences.
- metalman 2y agomy mom was taken into "adult protection custody" , for jwalking, this is happening now, and she is held in the hospital in bridgewater ns, on.the locked ward and has now had her cell phone taken for obsessivly calling and trying to be released she does have alzhiemrs but canadas constituion specifies that people are allowed to take there own risks held incomunicado for her own saftey I got banned from the hospital grounds for "acting up", no threats or foul language the only reason trump got voted in, is because you have to bring your own pen to write in putin and nobody thought of that in time
- plagiarist 2y ago> A few days later, DFCS presented Patterson with a "safety plan" for her to sign. It would require her to delegate a "safety person" to be a "knowing participant and guardian" and watch over the children whenever she leaves home. The plan would also require Patterson to download an app onto her son's phone allowing for his location to be monitored. Monitored by whom? This is insane.
- smeej 2y agoIt's wild to me that the fact that he has his own phone isn't considered security enough. Surely by 10 or 11 years old, the kid knows how to call for help if he needs it.
- BenjiWiebe 2y agoWasn't that many years ago, children didn't have phones when away from the house...
- smeej 2y agoWasn't that many years that not even every household had any phones.
- INTPenis 2y agoGood old USA of course. There was another body cam footage of an eldery woman who was arrested for merely walking along the road. I don't blame anyone in the story, this is yet another symptom of the US sprawl, car centric culture, and capitalism that leaves people desperate without any safety net. Take care of people's basic needs and you might see crime drop.
- unethical_ban 2y agoMeh. Were it not for [reason.com] I have come to assume this kind of nanny-state behavior in Australia and the UK; certainly not in a place like rural Georgia.
- dennis_jeeves2 2y ago>Take care of people's basic needs and you might see crime drop. I would replace needs with 'rights' (what ever that might mean)
- __turbobrew__ 2y agoI don’t know what is up with the USA and its obsession that kids cannot have autonomy. I think many of us grew up where our parents didn’t know our location at all times. My parents used to tell me to be home by a certain time, but I used to roam the neighborhood, go get candy at the gas station, explore the forest. Maybe it is a sign of the eroding social trust in the USA where people do not believe that others in the community are decent people as well. It kind of makes sense if you never actually go out into the community and meet others. The USA lifestyle is you drive everywhere in your big SUV, all interactions are transactional, you don’t talk to your neighbours and instead watch netflix and binge social media where you are sold the idea that everything is horrible and the world is a bad place.
- mchanson 2y agoIt's not equally distributed. In Boston, MA area kids have as much autonomy as their parents wish to give them AFAIK. It's not uncommon to see 10 year olds in my town nearby they are doing all sorts of biz around town on their own.
- 93po 2y agoLiterally any very low income area of any larger city in the US is the same. You see kids all the time walking around without adults. If they're very young (like 6 or whatever) they're typically an older kid, sometimes like around 10 to 12, but again this happens everywhere. It's only middle class neighborhoods and above where people start to have strong reactions to this in a "won't somebody think of the children!!!" sort of way
- Clubber 2y agoI think a lot of it has to do with constant fear mongering on the news and its effect after 40+ years of it. Also the phenomenon of (I forgot what it's called) but where people are afraid of flying but not driving because they see constant news coverage of crashed planes.
- sfmz 2y ago
- jmyeet 2y agoSo what we see here are the very real ramifications of a media-driven crime hysteria. The deputy noted that the child could be "kidnapped". You will see claims like "800,000 children are kidnapped every year". The media loves to drum up fear. The vast majority of these cases are custody disputes. Actual cases of children being kidnapped by strangers? Fewer than 100 per year, probably a lot fewer [1]. This is a small rural town. That makes it less likely just because there are fewer strangers. Not that there aren't dangers from known people and family members but that's a risk regardless. It really has nothing to do with walking a mile down a road. This isn't a major road either. The article notes it has a 25mph speed limit. Compre that to firearm-related deaths, which are in the thousands [2] One side note for any non-American: you may expect there to be sidewalks on roads. For most roads in the US, this is not the case. There might be a shoulder. There might not. There often won't even be a curb. So you're walking on uneven ground. So you could get hit by a car but this isn't a high speed road. Common sense should rule here. Like don't the police have better things to do? And the DA? Or DCFS? [1]: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/child-abductions-strangers-moreau-kidnap-rare-18404760.php https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/child-abductions-str... [2]: https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/the-impact-of-gun-violence-on-children-and-adolescents/ https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/the-impact-of-...
- goodluckchuck 2y agoThe child was kidnapped, by the police.
- smeej 2y agoIn a town of 370 people, I'm surprised the driver didn't know the kid, his family for three or four generations, where he lived, and maybe even what he had for breakfast.
- thinkingkong 2y agoThere are a few components to this that I can see being frustrating. One is that many people here likely had a more free roam childhood and this kind of behaviour from law enforcement and society in general is quite peculiar and off-putting. Being socially outcast because I let my child walk to the store is one thing. Being actually arrested and threatening to remove the parent of a child in the name of their safety is another. Another part is the data / justification for this behaviour. From 1999 to 2010 at least, it seems that motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of teenagers dying. Then it's homicide and suicide. Homicides are mostly committed by people the person knows. I don't have a full complete data set here but ~85% of homicides against youth are committed by family members or people that know the family. Not strangers. It's not to say you should't protect your kids from strangers, just that... walking to the store isn't that.
- BLKNSLVR 2y agoI only just read the article linked below, before checking HN. The contrast between the two is just jarring. O' what money can buy, freedom in the land of the free, for those with the resources to purchase it. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-13/donald-trump-moves-to-dismiss-criminal-conviction/104593384 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-13/donald-trump-moves-to...
- Sohcahtoa82 2y agoWhen I was 9 back in 1991, we lived in the Keflavik Navy Station, and my 12 year old sister and I would ride our bikes all over the base. We'd frequently ride to the youth center which was over a mile from our apartment. The next year, we moved back to Virginia Beach, and I'd frequently ride my bike by myself to the video rental store about 3/4 a mile away. Are kidnappings really more common now than then? Aren't most kidnappings actually done by close relatives? I knew not to trust strangers. What really bothers me is how the generation that grew up with the least supervision is now the generation that's calling the cops for children being unsupervised, while also wearing their lack of supervision as a badge of honor.
- whizzter 2y agoThat is really ironic how many scold parents for being helicopter parents whilst saying kids today are weak because they didn't do shit they themselves did. But, it could also be an age-old thing where people who were neglected as kids has some kind of savior complex. The Swedish character Pippi Longstocking in the TV series (probably also in the books from 1945) was hounded by a "nanny" character that wanted to put her into a childrens home since she was living on her own, so perhaps these occurrences aren't new.
- kgwgk 2y agoAn interesting map: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/playgraphicDM1406_736x800.jpg https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_02/playgraphicDM1406... Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462091/How-children-lost-right-roam-generations.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462091/How-children...
- Clubber 2y agoThat prosecutor should be disbarred.
- Molitor5901 2y agoThis is utterly absurd. I really hope the mother sues and wins a lot of money. DFCS is like most government agencies: They will never, and can never, admit when they are wrong because it undermines their authority.
- FrustratedMonky 2y ago""A few days later, DFCS presented Patterson with a "safety plan" for her to sign. It would require her to delegate a "safety person" to be a "knowing participant and guardian" and watch over the children whenever she leaves home. The plan would also require Patterson to download an app onto her son's phone allowing for his location to be monitored. (The day when it will be illegal not to track one's kids is rapidly approaching.)"" I'm liberal Democrat. But sometimes I think maybe we should just have a beer watch the world burn.
- geff82 2y agoIsn't it equally bad in Canada? That said... stories like these are incomprehensible for the European mind.
- whitfieldsdad 2y agoMaybe, but, I've never heard of any cases like this. Granted, I'm only 32, have only lived in Canada for 32 years, and haven't checked to see how common it is for parents to be sent to prison for things like this.
- gravitronic 2y agoMy 10 year old walks home from school with a few friends regularly and stops in at the local library. I haven't been arrested yet.
- mindslight 2y agoThe fundamental dynamic underlying all of this is that there are absolutely zero downsides or repercussions for the professional bureaucrats persecuting their victims in this way. At the very least, the civil damages of legal expenses, emotional pain and suffering for the mother plus her four kids, physical harm from being held in poor jails, straight up wasted time, etc should be coming out of the budgets of the organizations perpetrating these attacks. Instead, in the worst case they simply get told "no" after a long arduous battle on the part of the parents (that the bureaucrats even get paid to engage in!), and are free to try again. This creates absolutely zero incentive to exercise judgement whether to actually persecute individual cases. Essentially, sovereign immunity being applied to every penny-ante government employee strikes again.
- Brian_K_White 2y agoTown of only 370 people only a mile away? There is no way this sherrif did not know both the kid and the mom at least indirectly, and no way MOST kids in the area don't travel a mile on their own routinely, many every day, and no way this sherriff is not aware of this norm, and this is some personal and/or brown/yellow-people bs. Maybe or maybe not driven by the sherrif directly but like a neighbor wants the property they live on or something. This has "make someone go away" (for whatever reason) smell. Though they are just as guilty for being willing to perform even if it was someone else's direction. Like when a business just mysteriously can't get a normal permit in a tiny town where the entire staff of the department is Frank, the brother in law of the guy that owns half the town or the competing business across town, or their personal house near by and they just don't want the view. All impossible to prove and no one to complain to to even try. I grew up in a comparative metropolis of ZOMG SIX THOUSAND(1) people and kids younger than 11 routinely travelled a hell of a lot further than a single mile by themselves, in the US. This is not crazy or dangerous or abnormal in the slightest in such a setting. In fact it's practically unavoidable in that setting. But Hey we were white and in the north-east version of rural instead of Mexipino-looking in the south-east version of rural. (I seem to remember a figure more like 10-12k when I was there, but the census figures on wikipedia and say just under 6k for that time frame. Maybe these rural people avoid cooperating with the census, maybe the figure I heard included more of the general area than strictly the borders of the town, maybe I just never heard any such figure since we are talking late 70s and me only 7 to 12.)
- calibas 2y agoTo me at least, a cop arguing that it's not safe to walk around town, is a cop saying they have failed to do their job. If our towns have actually become so dangerous recently, and that's not what the statistics say, then it seems like there's a whole other discussion we need to have. I don't think the world is more dangerous though, I think the average American has become more isolated and fearful over the past 25 years.
- goodluckchuck 2y agoThe cop was the danger.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- zzzeek 2y agoin the woke hellscape of NYC you will see ten year olds riding the subway home from school all the time (the MTA explicitly recommends age 8 as the cutoff age for riding alone, although 12 is the more in-practice age).
- aguaviva 2y agohttps://archive.md/WXM06 https://archive.md/WXM06
- CalRobert 2y ago"She kept mentioning how he could have been run over" Seems like it would be a good idea to catch the people who are running over kids, instead of forcing them to spend their childhood in a virtual prison.
- whitfieldsdad 2y agoThankfully, it sounds like the child's mother won't be required to go to prison for a year - as long as she agrees to always have someone physically watch her son, and additionally surveil her son 24/7 using an app installed on their phone. I wonder how many people these days think that they're going too light on her, and are thirsting for stricter penalties?
- SunlitCat 2y agoThe damage for the kid is also considerable. I mean, he learns that he needs to be surveilled 24/7.
- whitfieldsdad 2y agoYeah, the requirement for 24/7 surveillance to avoid being sent to a foster home - or something - kinda sucks
- jancsika 2y ago> A woman who saw him walking alongside the road—speed limit: 25 in some places, 35 in others—asked him if he was OK. He said yes. > Nevertheless, she called the police. Yeah, but which road was this? From Street View for Mineral Bluff, Ga: 1. Murphy Highway-- no sidewalks, a lot of parts with no shoulder whatsoever, no protection for a walker even on parts with small shoulder 2. Mineral Bluff Highway-- somehow even less shoulder than Murphy Highway. I see a guardrail that would force a pedestrian to walk about a foot away from traffic 3. Railroad Road-- I'd guessing this road has lower volume traffic. But it's still extremely hostile to pedestrians-- only shoulder is either deep grass or a large ditch that's unwalkable. So the kid would have been forced to walk directly in the road for most of this #1 and #2, woman absolutely did the right thing calling police. #3? If low volume, meh. Still dangerous, though.
- daft_pink 2y agoIs there a place in the United States where letting your children walk to school on their own is legal?
- a_victorp 2y agoDoes anybody else get a feeling that this is fake? Reason is the only source (other news outlets just link to this article), there is no comment from the DA or the sheriff nor any documents or mention of official documentation that could corroborate the story. And the GoFundMe has very little info
- 5555624 2y agoShe shows up int the "Fannin County Sheriff’s Office Arrest Report 10/28 – 11/3/2024," as Inmate 2512, charged with "Reckless Codnict," the charge in het article. (https://fannin.fetchyournews.com/2024/11/05/fannin-county-sheriffs-office-arrest-report-10-28-11-3-2024/ https://fannin.fetchyournews.com/2024/11/05/fannin-county-sh...)
- dwaltrip 2y agoThanks for verifying
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- sswaner 2y agoThis makes me think of that show from Japan where parents send their 5-year-olds to go grocery shopping on their own. And reminds me of the many times friends and I rode our bikes 5 miles along the highway to the next town so we could play video games at an arcade. Growing up in the 80’s was very different from now.
- giardini 2y agoAbsolutely nuts! Why, when I was a kid we ranged through the city, adjacent forests, rivers, lakes, streams, and over peoples' fences without provocation from anyone except other roving gangs of boys (upon whose detection a dirt-clod battle was likely to ensue). We caught large snakes and brought 'em home as "pets" (always rejected). We were unstoppable in our curiosity about what lay over the next 500 yards. Aaaaargh! Get offa my lawn!
- NemoNobody 2y agoThe worse thing about this article is that the child statistically is far more likely to be harmed by law enforcement, than by a passing motorist.
- yusufnb 2y agoSucks. More than the system it's the silly woman who called the cops. Instead of helping the child she did a great disservice to him and his entire family. I had a similar hiccup when I first came to US when our apt neighbor called cops because my 1 year old was screaming. Crazy, I know. This country thrives on fear - health, insurance, legal, weapons - the biggest money making industries in US all feed on fear economy.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y agoThat seems too much even for this. What did the cops said? Children are screaming all the time with tantrums
- jinushaun 2y agoThis story is crazy because 10 years old is so old! That’s 5th grade! It’s almost old enough to baby sit small children!
- phil9909 2y agoIgnoring the ridiculous trajectory the world (well mostly the USA) has taken here and just assume it is a necessity to always be able to GPS locate your kids: Kids are smarter than some of the involved parties here seem to think. And they also value their freedom (maybe because the want to do something forbidden, but also just "because"). So, if you force install tracking apps on kids phones, what will happen? They will get creative. Maybe they will just leave their phone at home, maybe they find more involved strategies to fake their location, but they will find ways. Now in a real emergency, they can't call for help. Good job. See also: Simpsons Episode 422 "Lost Verizon" from 2008.
- sub7 2y agoI was traveling by local buses in the first grade in an Indian city of 25M people. Today my (well off) siblings in NY won't let their kids out of their sight for even 1 second. America wonders how they produce these safe space snowflakes and this is absolutely the attitude that causes it.
- smeej 2y agoI think this part is being underappreciated too: > It would require her to delegate a "safety person" to be a "knowing participant and guardian" and watch over the children whenever she leaves home. I was 11 when I started "babysitting" my 9 and 6yo siblings, and 12 when I started babysitting other people's kids. I took a Red Cross training course, got certified, and that was that. Heck, there was a whole series of kids books, The Babysitters Club, about kids who were just 12-13. Is it no longer normal to leave younger children in the care of older children when parents go out? Even beyond whether a pre-teen should be fine walking to and from town, they need supervision at home whenever mom leaves??
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago370 people, wtf how the hell it turned out like this
- schmookeeg 2y agoIANAL but this stuff interests me -- looks like Mom was charged with 16-5-60(b) [1] "A person who causes bodily harm to or endangers the bodily safety of another person by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his or her act or omission will cause harm or endanger the safety of the other person and the disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation is guilty of a misdemeanor." So either this little half-horse town is a serious stepford hellscape, or Mom eats a grand or two (yay for the GoFundMe) to get a competent lawyer to brush this nonsense away. If they succeed in pressing this case that Mom endangered her child, then I hope the reaction is the installation of guardrails and sidewalks all over that town, such that its budget simply implodes. Just ridiculous. The whole apparatus at work here makes me sad, and there are layers of impersonal failure and risk aversion at work here. It's very cold, and frankly, the kids watching mom get cuffed in their home means any purported damage we're trying to shield the kids from -- is already done. The government here needs the adult supervision, not the 10 year old. [1] https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-16/chapter-5/article-4/section-16-5-60/ https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-16/chapter-5/arti...
- teo_zero 2y agoAt 10 the state insists to protect you against being hit by a car on dangerous roads, at 15 it gives you a license so you you can drive one along the very same roads! Education in Georgia must be excellent if they make responsible driver out of kids not to be left unsupervised in only 5 years.
- SunlitCat 2y agoAlthough to be honest, 5 years as a child / teen feel like an eternity! :)
- perrygeo 2y agoA lot of folks talking about the "10-year-old" part but the more pervasive problem in America is the "walking" part. In many areas of America there is zero infrastructure for pedestrians. Anyone walking is viewed as suspicious because surely no sane person would subject themselves to the danger of walking on these streets. Heaven forbid you are young, brown skinned, or wearing unique clothing - then the act of walking is probable cause. Literally. I was working on a contract job in Houston and stayed at a hotel a mile from their office. First day was a nice morning so I decided to walk. It was ridiculous to navigate 8+ lane wide intersections. It was loud and not exactly a nice walk, but not unsafe and at least it was better than driving. By the time I got to the office, I realized that the security gate only opened for cars - I wasn't able to trip the sensor to even get the com working! A security guard came out to accost me and immediately treated me like a criminal. He couldn't comprehend why I was traveling on foot and refused to release me until my client came down to rescue me. My client's response, shocked in a scolding tone - "WHY did you walk?". I am apparently insane for wanting fresh air and a little morning exercise.
- eesmith 2y agoI walked once to a client's site in PA. It was about 1.5 miles from the center of the small town and the hotel were I stayed. The walk was quite nice, until I got to the block where the client's site was. The intersection had "no ped-X-ing" signs on all four sides. The road widened so it was 6 lanes across. And there was no pedestrian entrance, so I needed to walk up to the guarded gate entrance for cars. The guard was a bit confused, but I think what helped was he likely did not grow up in car-centric US, based on his Caribbean accent. The building itself had bike rakes by the entrances. Completely unused.
- coreyh14444 2y agoHere in Copenhagen, Denmark (I'm American), it is very common for kids at around 8 to start walking or biking to school and we are in a (somewhat) big city. Even taking the metro at 9/10 by themselves is quite common.
- the_70x 2y agoIn the land of the freedom
- red-iron-pine 2y agoI wouldn't sign the safety plan either. it was roughly a mile into town, a 15-20 minute walk for an 11-year old. we're going into winter but as long as this kid is wearing a coat I wouldn't be too worried.
- Yizahi 2y agoImagine being concerned for the well being of a stranger kid, and then a minute later decide to thoroughly destroy his life for the nearest years. Unbelievable.
- averageRoyalty 2y ago> It was dinnertime on October 30, 2024 The day before Americans let their kids run around the streets unsupervised, knocking on strangers doors and eating food provided by strangers? What a strange set of standards.