Parents Questioned By Authorities for Letting Children Walk Home from Park
It was a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. But what the parents saw as a moment of independence for their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, they say authorities viewed much differently.
Danielle and Alexander Meitiv say they are being investigated for neglect for the Dec. 20 trek — in a case they say reflects a clash of ideas about how safe the world is and whether parents are free to make their own choices about raising their children.
. . . .
On Dec. 20, Alexander agreed to let the children, Rafi and Dvora, walk from Woodside Park to their home, a mile south, in an area the family says the children know well.
The children made it about halfway.
Police picked up the children near the Discovery building, the family said, after someone reported seeing them.
. . . .
The Meitivs say that on Dec. 20, a CPS worker required Alexander to sign a safety plan pledging he would not leave his children unsupervised until the following Monday, when CPS would follow up. At first he refused, saying he needed to talk to a lawyer, his wife said, but changed his mind when he was told his children would be removed if he did not comply.
Following the holidays, the family said, CPS called again, saying the agency needed to inquire further and visit the family’s home.
And it goes on like that.
My son Matthew is a walker, an apparently genetic trait passed down to him from my mom through me. In grade school, he decided he wanted to start walking home, rather than being in the after-care program. It’s about a mile, all downhill, and it gave him time to be alone with his thoughts, some measure of independence, and a head-start on being home.
If authorities had tried to intimidate me over that, I would have raised holy hell.
Government is starting to take over society, replacing traditional institutions and systems like the family, religion, fraternal organizations, and many others. As a commenter recently noted, it’s not all government’s fault; we vote for these people. We need to remake society. I’m just not sure how.
For now, I’ll keep doing my little part by speaking out against it.
Thanks to G.R.
Hello.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:31 amAnd here is an interesting article on just this subject reflecting how things have changed since we were kids.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-462091/How-children-lost-right-roam-generations.html
Let’s face it. At the rate we’re going, and the direction we’re heading, we deserve to lose to the Muslims.
Steve57 (2baf2d) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:39 amMy kids walked to school, sometimes — gasp! — by themselves. And I walked to school, well over a mile, all by myself. Shocking, I know.
I rode my bike my myself, sometimes down a county road we just called The Lane, I walked everywhere. When I was in the 7th grade, which would have been 12 to 13 years old, I had a paper route, tha took me all over town. Oddly enough, I survived until adulthood.
Of course, it’s also true that, except for part of the third grade, I grew up in small towns. (The third grade included Portland, Maine, where I walked to school during a Maine winter.)
If we wonder why kids are growing up today fearful and afraid and offended by everything, it might have to do with how we bring them up.
The daddy Dana (1b79fa) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:42 am==Police picked up the children near the Discovery building, the family said, after someone reported seeing them.==
In his mausoleum Mao smiles.
elissa (af825d) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:54 amSoft targets. They, the social workers at children’s and court services, have to fill in their ime sheets and these families are easier than the ones who really need help. Where there’s no daddy and the kids go to school only for the breakfast and lunch because mommy used the food stamps to buy drugs.
nk (dbc370) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:57 amWhen I was in second grade and my brother in sixth grade, we rode the bus to downtown Dallas’ Medical Arts building on Elm for his orthodontist appointments. The bus let us off in front of the building. After the appointment, we would walk to the H Green store for a coke and then over to Commerce street to the downtown public library to get and return books and then would catch the bus home at that point. My mother (who had a new baby) went with us once to make sure we knew the stops, etc and after that, we did it on our own throughout the time of my brother’s braces. Our friends of the same ages did the same thing…we all rode the bus to Fair Park for school days during the State Fair, etc. I believe that once we were in 4th grade, no one seemed to think that an older sibling was necessary for such trips.
First Spouse (38ef5d) — 1/17/2015 @ 9:58 amutterly insane,
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:04 amhttp://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/2015/01/14/montgomery-county-kids-roam-free-meitiv/21765547/
One of my earliest memories is my first solo trip to the corner grocery store, I was pre-school about 4 maybe 5. My mom was preparing supper and asked my father to run out for a loaf of bread. I volunteered to go in his stead. But both parents thought I was too young to go alone.
I knew the way and firmly insisted I could get the bread and be back in a few minutes, eager to prove I was capable of a simple chore, it was a young boy’s first formal step toward self assertion. My parents debated the issue, tried to dissuade me, failed, and finally agreed I could go.
I was back with the bread lickety split. It was a proud and transformational moment for me, I was competent, demonstrably so, and could be trusted to go outside the confines of our yard, actually cross the street on my own, and go all the way to the corner store, exchange money for groceries just like an adult, and come straight home without dawdling. It was my first step on a long and complex journey.
It was over 20 years later that I found out my father had surreptitiously followed me to the store and back. But, it didn’t make any difference, I’d earned by wings.
ropelight (1be5c2) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:18 ami hate these stories where the whore CPS workers remain anonymous and we have no idea how to find out where they live
happyfeet (831175) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:19 amFurther confession: I used to ride my bike without a helmet!
The risk-taking Dana (1b79fa) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:21 amDid you know that when we played sandlot baseball when we were kids, we didn’t have any batting helmets?
The crazily risk-taking Dana (1b79fa) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:22 amFrom the fourth to the seventh grade, when I walked to school, I’d take the short cut and walk along the railroad tracks!
The insanely risk-taking Dana (1b79fa) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:24 amA lot of people are noticing and are trying to do something positive for their kids. It’s called the Free Range Movement which “advocates for a child’s right to separate gradually from a parent’s assistance and to learn the joy and self-confidence that comes from trying out independence.”
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Range-Raise-Self-Reliant-Children-Without/dp/0470574755
elissa (af825d) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:24 amif you send a kid out and tell him to try try try his absolute dead level best to get his ass abducted he’s still gonna be home for dinner that night
and the next night
and the next night
and the next night
this is why meal planning is so important
happyfeet (831175) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:27 amRe:13– Make no mistake. I think it’s both frightening and tragic that a book actually needs to be written about this and read by parents. But it is quite apparent looking around society that a book DID need to be written about this.
elissa (af825d) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:34 amWhen walking over to the railroad tracks, to head for school, I’d cross Richmond Avenue where there was no marked crosswalk!
The Dana tremendously lucky to be alive (1b79fa) — 1/17/2015 @ 10:43 amI walked home from first grade, probably 8 blocks length with many turns. It was a small “bedroom community”.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:05 amAmerica was at onetime – free.
mg (31009b) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:09 amGovernment is starting to take over society, replacing traditional institutions and systems like the family, religion, fraternal organizations, and many others. As a commenter recently noted, it’s not all government’s fault; we vote for these people. We need to remake society. I’m just not sure how.
It’s not just that we vote for these people. Everytime a child is abducted by a stranger (a crime, by the way, which may actually be far less prevalent than it was a couple of decades ago) we whip ourselves into a hysteria and demand that police and legislators do something about it. And our 24/7 news cycle means that every single abduction gets wall-to-wall coverage, so it’s no wonder that some skittish parents start to helicopter over their children. And I was just reading about the Free Range Children movement that elissa made reference too; that woman who heads the program sounds like someone we should all get behind and give her our support. Apparently she is getting hassled by the very authorities whom she is criticizing.
JVW (60ca93) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:12 amPerhaps the young will realize progressives are telling them what to do, what to eat, and white is wrong. I think the trash cans full of old lady obamas school food says the young are already revolting.More socialist programs run down the young’s throat will naturally make them conservative.
mg (31009b) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:15 amI hope.
This is a clear indictment of the local ‘public safety’ officials who, by their own admission, cannot provide a save environment for the children.
Wayne M (8c1cf3) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:42 amJust as micromanaging is the hallmark of the poor manager, hovering is the hallmark of the less-than-competent parent.
For two generations, we have told the primary caregivers of America’s children – our own daughters – that domestic service is of no value or importance while systematically withholding the teaching of domestic skills. The resulting decline in parenting skills should come as no surprise. I think it is hard to blame the government for this woeful change, which has come one little girl at a time.
ThOR (a52560) — 1/17/2015 @ 11:42 amPeople call and some officers think that they MUST do something or risk the wrath of the person calling (complaints). As this was presented this was not a good call on the officers part and getting CPS involved was really dumb.
labcatcher (61737c) — 1/17/2015 @ 12:12 pmWe need to remake society. I’m just not sure how.
Several years ago it was considered poor form — particularly by the chattering, intellectual class — to discuss the ideological orientation of, for example, no less than a nominee to the US Supreme Court. Generally, it’s considered ill-mannered and poor form to be too inquisitive of people’s political biases when attending, say, a cocktail party or at a family gathering.
Beyond that, and now more than ever before, people who lean left or are squish-squish command the public’s attenton, dominate the public hierarchy (eg, media, entertainment) and institutions (eg, Christian churches, the US military), and are given far too much benefit of the doubt—by, naturally, liberals but also all the so-called centrists throughout America. Changing that is long overdue and one way to, as you say, remake society.
Mark (c160ec) — 1/17/2015 @ 12:45 pmIs it possible for someone to logically explain the use of the word “squish” as it appears above in political commentary? The traditional definition according to Merriam-Webster is:
google dictionary shows how to use “squish” as either a verb or a noun.
Meanwhile, the more slang-oriented Urban Dictionary definition is :
None of these uses of the word “squish” or double “squish-squish” seems particularly appropriate or descriptive or relevant when talking about politics as far as I can see.
elissa (d7d2e1) — 1/17/2015 @ 1:26 pmI guess you can count on me to be a contrarian or, at the least, a Devil’s Advocate but I’m conflicted on this. I don’t like using the government to enforce proper parenting. Nor do I like the “It takes a village” approach to judging and supervising parents. I think parents should be able to raise their children according to their own values. Period.
Nevertheless, I’m not surprised to see people using peer pressure to control other parents, and that’s what I’m conflicted about. It’s too easy a step to go from peer pressure to bringing in the government, and I oppose that. But, let’s face it, too many parents could care less about their kids, and some of those kids can use protection or a helping hand from observant adults. In addition, we have an interest as humans in protecting children, especially now that abortion and contraceptives have made children a scarce commodity.
When my 90-something father was growing up, children died in all sorts of preventable accidents. It was as tragic for those families as it is for modern families who lose a child, but typically there were other children yesterday’s parents had to focus on. Today’s families are having fewer and fewer children, so not only is it tragic for the family to lose a child but we as a society can’t afford to lose any of them.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 1:38 pmWikitionary has heard of a political squish:
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 1:42 pmOh, I think in general there is a lot to be conflicted about when it comes to the interface of society and parenting. It’s fashionable to decry too much government involvement in parenting — because there often is too much — but at the same time we see plenty of children who are being raised horribly, and will clearly have a harder life because their parents don’t raise them properly.
I know of no magic cure for all this.
But on the narrow issue of children’s freedom to roam, I think we have changed for the worse in the last few decades. In my lifetime, in fact. My wife and I had far more freedom than most kids do these days. We try to allow our kids to have freedom within reasonable limits. What seems reasonable these days, judged by reference to commonly accepted beliefs, seems so different from what seemed reasonable when we were kids.
That said, I got myself into a LOT of dangerous situations when I was a kid. A lot. It does scare me to think of my kids doing the same kinds of crazy things: climbing on houses under construction, crawling in sewers, running around in other dangerous areas, and the like.
Hmmm.
Patterico (9c670f) — 1/17/2015 @ 1:49 pmDRJ, the “it takes a village” business always made me shiver. Because it depends on the village, as you know.
Sort of like the “Do your own thing, so long as it is my kind of thing you do” hypocrisy of our very immature and shallow culture.
The “squish” thing makes me laugh. Folks who don’t like to be called names don’t mind calling other people with whom they disagree “squishes.”
It’s like everyone forgot Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment.
And Axelrod smiles.
Simon Jester (dd561f) — 1/17/2015 @ 1:51 pmI agree we’ve changed for the worst in how we raise kids, even if they are “safer,” but my point is that it’s almost an economic decision and we have no choice but to be that way. It’s supply and demand, and we don’t have enough supply to take many chances.
I feel this way about helicopter parenting, too. Yes, our kids will be a lot better off as adults if we let them fail and learn lessons the hard way. But the price they pay for failure in today’s society is incredibly high. It can mean losing a valuable scholarship or chance at attending a college they want, or a misdemeanor record for minor drug/alcohol violations that would have gotten a wink and nod in my day. It’s a tough call and my take is we do the best we can to find a balance, realizing there are short-term and long-term consequences to every decision.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:01 pmIn addition, the reason so many of these decision involve government enforcement is that too many parents in the past 20-30 years have abdicated their role as parents. Too many don’t care what their kids do, so society steps in to protect the child from the parents or other people from the child.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:05 pmWhen I was ten years old, my mother played a trick on me to see if I could walk home from school on my own. She followed me from a distance in her car, so I would not see her. Tge key worry was waiting for the traffic light to cross a six lane street. I seem to have passed with flying colors..at least that is what she told me afterwards. From then, I was alliwed out on my own whenever I wished…and walking such as Patterico describes was a main feature of my life for years afterwards.
kishnevi (294553) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:05 pmToday my mother would probably be jailed for doing that.
DRJ @31
kishnevi (294553) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:12 pmI tend to disagree. I think it is a cultural trend that overemphasizes child safety over everything else. A babyfication so to speak in which parents are seen as incapable as the children to decide what is best, even when the parents are truly capable. It is not so much a governmental bloat as a societal and cultural disease.
The SF writer Dean Ing wrote an essay about childrearing in his survivalism-tinged book, “The Chernobyl Syndrome.” I have been looking for a link to that essay about childrearing, but no such luck. Basically, he starts off giving little kids a “salary” for chores, and they need to buy something from that salary (socks, for example). You have to hold the line on that one and not bail them out when they spend their salary on candy. You continuing upping the ante each year or half year. By the time you have teenagers, they are very self-sufficient and solid capitalists. The problem is that they are used to solving their problems their way, not yours.
If that is a problem.
Anyway, it’s worth reading that essay.
Simon Jester (dd561f) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:12 pmI love the stories about kids who were allowed to walk home while the parents secretly followed them. They are endearing stories that result in precious memories. It’s also what virtually every parent did 25+ years ago. Ask your parents. Mine certainly did it. Not as many do it today.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:24 pmTrue story, DRJ. As a boy, I was afraid of the dark. I could “see” bad things in the dark. Every summer, we would travel to my step-grandfather’s orchards in Northern California. Lots of family would visit and worth with the migrant folk my step-grandfather employed (I’m told I spoke Spanish as a child, but I surely don’t remember it). I idolized one of my cousins, who was in college while I was in 7th grade. He decided to cure me of the fear of the dark.
After midnight, he woke me up and we hiked about two miles toward the river. He sat me on the log in a clearing and told me he was going to leave me there for an hour. That I shouldn’t wander off, and I should look at the sky and listen to the woods. Then he vanished.
He was actually about fifty feet away, making sure nothing happened to me.
I weeped for a while, and then I looked up. The Milky Way was brighter than I had ever seen it, and I could see a satellite cruising past. Then I heard the woods all around me. Nothing big. Just life going about its business. Above and below, things were as they should be, in a very calming harmony.
I loved it by the end of the hour.
My cousin was pretty smart.
Times were indeed different, weren’t they?
Simon Jester (dd561f) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:30 pmSimon Jester,
That reminds me of the mommy blogs that ponder what to do when your child steals something from a store, something that many children do at 3-5 years of age. The solution I favor is what my Mom did with me when I stole one green bean at the grocery store. She immediately drove back to the store and made me tell the clerk what I’d done, apologize, and then pay for the green bean. I never took anything again.
I’m not sure this works for every child but zero tolerance does work in some areas and some children, especially when they’re young. A lot of people object to this approach, and maybe it does humiliate or traumatize some kids. My gut says to let parents choose what works best for their children, but I wish more parents would at least consider tough love as an option.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:31 pmMy 37 wasn’t responding to your 36, but to an earlier comment. And, yes, times were different. I think they were better. Even though we didn’t have the electronics, money, travel, TVs, etc., I’m so grateful to have been raised then.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:33 pmI really like your story about your cousin.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:34 pmDRJ…
As I recall, I was upset with my mother because she didn’t think I knew how to cross the street safely…something she had been teaching me from about the time I learned to walk.
The irony is that the next year I started going to a school that drew its student body from all over the county, and required an hour long bus trip each way.
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:38 pmI can tell she did a wonderful job teaching you about crossing the street and a lot more, kishnevi.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:42 pmI followed my kids when they ventured out on small journeys of independence. I dont see it as helicopter parenting so much as me wanting a reassurance that they were indeed ready and able to handle the route, the crossings of streets, etc. they didn’t know and I was able to get that reassurance and let them go. I think it’s being a conscientious parent, and every parent’s gauge and timetable is a bit different.
Dana (8e74ce) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:52 pmThank you. She passed away two years ago, during the time I was away from here. She was 83. Alzheimer’s. I hate Alzheimer’s.
kishnevi (3719b7) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:54 pmI’ve always understood helicopter parenting as something that applies to parents of high school and college kids, but maybe I’m wrong. I didn’t have younger children when this term came into use.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:54 pmI’m sorry, kishnevi. It is a hard disease.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 2:55 pmagreed-alzheimers is brutal.
mg (31009b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:02 pmDementia I hate as well.
My dad teaching me how to ride a horse was the start of freedom for me.
mg (31009b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:08 pmI was fortunate to grow up in rural farm country with loving family, that taught me how to survive.
I guess one solution is for conservative families to have more kids and raise them well, including letting them do some things without supervision.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:14 pmI didn’t either, DRJ, but I’m using the modern term for what would have at the time been perhaps “hovering” parents. My point is, parents active in their children’s’ lives and who spend time with them are the ones with the best insight into their children’s’ “readiness” for independent adventure. With regard to the article linked in post, two of mine would have met the criteria to walk the distance without mishap at 10ish, but the third kiddo – well, only if we wanted a police escort home for him because the little rascal was a magnet for mischief and an overwhelming curiosity and lack of maturity would have guaranteed t-r-o-u-b-l-e.
Dana (8e74ce) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:16 pmI’m admit I’m biased but if we’re going to blame something for cases like this, I blame schools and teachers. Walking home alone was handled between parents and teachers in my day, with teachers helping students to learn about dangers/risks and watching carefully when parents said they were going to let their children walk home unsupervised. Parents and teachers were partners in raising children, with parents taking the lead but teachers were there to help. In the past two decades, too many teachers have become parents’ adversaries instead of partners. Unfortunately, teachers have played a big role in what their education systems have become, systems that too often are about helping teachers more than students.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:24 pmOf course, I know some teachers are great. My kids have had some of them and I know many others, but they seem few and far between now, and the system doesn’t encourage them to be that way. It only tolerates them.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:25 pmI think there is a way to help a child work on learning to control desires to do bad things like everyone has to deal with without being shaming.
“Yes, dear, sometimes we not only want to take things that are not ours, but we actually do it, and we need to learn not to,” and then help the child walk through the consequences.
But that takes more work in the short run, and I quickly admit I’ve thought about the concept far, far more than I have had any clarity of thought and have put it into practice.
In some ways this is the worst time and place to raise children (the US from after WWII onward) and getting worse. We feel entitled to comfort and entertainment and to have it NOW.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:34 pm“Squish” describes Marco Rubio’s interview by New York Times Magazine very well, I think. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/if-he-does-run-marco-rubio-wont-let-friendship-get-in-his-way.html?_r=0
nk (dbc370) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:35 pmI guess one solution is for conservative families to have more kids and raise them well, including letting them do some things without supervision.
. . . right up until the busybody adults call the cops and complain that a 9-year old is hanging out at the park unsupervised. Ugh.
JVW (60ca93) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:35 pmYes, JVW, but we’ll outnumber them if we multiply enough!
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 3:57 pmLearning from experience is very important – and if one can learn from the experience of others, that is a very valuable ability to have … kids nowadays are losing out on the opportunities to learn independence …
On a good day in Scotland, I would occasionally walk home from primary school – about 4.5 miles … excellent exercise …
We try to get our kids to try stuff – to start forming their own opinions as to what they like and don’t like …
I do have to agree with mg #20 … ” the young are already revolting.” …
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 1/17/2015 @ 4:08 pmAlastor,
I always love it when you bring Scotland into the convo. “Primary” school…
Dana (8e74ce) — 1/17/2015 @ 4:22 pmWalking home from school was when I became a juvenile delinquent.
mg (31009b) — 1/17/2015 @ 4:28 pmNone of these uses of the word “squish” or double “squish-squish” seems particularly appropriate or descriptive or relevant when talking about politics as far as I can see.
Elissa, although DRJ’s helpful post #27 goes straight to the source — and although I’m sure you’re aware the word in question is a form of slang — the derivation of “squishy” when converted from an adjective into a noun still is applicable:
Sentimentality and mawkishness are more likely to make a person lean left, not right, and the social-political forces all around the non-liberal intelligentsia — such as Peggy Noonan in her perch in New York or all the conservatives (or non-liberals) in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, etc — will definitely make most folks want to be “inexact” or “not clearly definable.”
The reason?
Because, shhh, we don’t want to look mean and rightwing when surrounded by liberals with their big hearts of gold and beautiful, sophisticated, wonderful tolerance and sophistication (“My daughter is engaged to her girlfriend, and their wedding is set for April! Isn’t that lovely! Oh, and I just made big contributions to Green Peace, Act Up, the NAACP, the ACLU, Emily’s List. Isn’t that lovely!?”).
Mark (c160ec) — 1/17/2015 @ 4:57 pmDana #57 – ye didnae expect tae get aff Scot-free, did ye ?
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:02 pmnk@53
“Interview has been condensed and edited. I suspect that means any unsquishy moments were condensed out.
My real distrust of him comes from his time as Speaker of the Florida House…see the section labeled Florida House–Tenure
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Rubio.
Despite much hullabaloo in the press, the financial questions ended in nothingness.
Reading the Wiki, I have to wonder if his grandfather’s story has a major impact on his immigration views.
kishnevi (a5d1b9) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:38 pmHave we moved from the “nanny state” to the “wet nurse state” overnight?
I am not sure I would have let kids that young walk home, but I am pretty sure parents get to make that call and not the local county CPS.
But if you choose to live in “The People’s Republic of Maryland” you have to expect this nonsense.
WarEagle82 (b18ccf) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:41 pmThe rule in Maryland apparently is:
1) No person under 8 years old is allowed to be anywhere without supervision.
2) No person under 13 can supervise a child under 8.
Now just when did they pass this law in Maryland?
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:48 pmWe used to live in a wet paper bag int middle of pond.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:50 pmSeeing as Univision, went on a preemptive sliming attack against him, attacking him through his cousin, who had a minor drug beef, 25 years ago, well you know where this is going,
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:50 pmOur dad used to kill us every day.
Gazzer (c44509) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:50 pmThe only danger to children under 8 is being hit by a car or truck, and even that is not too great. The police didn’t talk about that, but they mentioned kidnapping instead?
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:50 pmThere needs to be an administrative review panel that a person can petition, whose sole purpose is to represent them against government action. In theory this is the courts, but the courts tend to view their role as upholding the law and as such they tend to support government uses of power. Such a panel would be the opposite, they exist to deny uses of power unless a clear and just purpose for its use can be demonstrated. Further to that, individuals can and would be held responsible for their misuse of power by loss of pay, rank, and loss of job, and being prohibited from holding a government position again.
The petty tyrants in government should live in fear of even approaching the line of the law, let alone stepping over it on a whim to display their power. That is what is missing here, any fear of consequences for the misuse of power. If it’s not achieved through legislative action, good citizens will eventually have to shoot them down in the street to make the same point. Either way is fine.
Mr Black (dd0b88) — 1/17/2015 @ 5:53 pmyou see why I’m not sanguine:
http://shark-tank.com/2015/01/17/florida-house-speaker-supports-jeb-bush-2016-comfortable-common-core/
narciso (ee1f88) — 1/17/2015 @ 6:27 pmNarciso…maybe you should be..
kishnevi (294553) — 1/17/2015 @ 6:41 pmhttp://shark-tank.com/2015/01/17/disunited-florida-gop-picks-new-chairman-republican-establishment-not-happy/
Actually I know nothing about him beyond his website, which has been dormant for two years.
DRJ- When I was growing up (in the ’50s), “it took a village” actually worked. Any adult in the neighborhood (particularly parents of friends) had the moral authority to tell you not to do something (and then immediately got on the phone and told your parents about it, too). The big differences were that 1) most of the houses in the neighborhood seemed to have children (Baby Boom years); 2) most of the families had a male breadwinner and the wife stayed home, particularly if they had children; 3) the neighborhood seemed pretty homogeneous (similar ethnicity, income and the only diversity was that there were a few older and now childless couples); and 4) no one was worried about being sued for scolding a neighbor’s child.
Roy in Nipomo (8c3b61) — 1/17/2015 @ 8:32 pmThat’s how it was when I grew up, too. If that was what Hillary meant, then I wouldn’t have a problem with it but her original DNC speech shows she wants laws, regulations, and enforcement to make her village work.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/17/2015 @ 8:39 pmSome background: I am in my 30s. I grew up in nyc.
At 6 years old i walked myself to and from school which was about 8 blocks each way. At 7 years old i rode my bike for hours unsupervised. I would hang out at the pizzeria a half mile from my house with no problem. I’d go to a park a mile away without issue. At 12 years old, I’d take an hour and 20 minute train ride (3 rrains) to get to school in the city.
If some busy body neighbor or cop wants to threaten me or my family for raising them to be self-sufficient, I will sue them into poverty. How dare they.
njrob (c94106) — 1/17/2015 @ 8:41 pmAt six I walked MILES in the woods without escort or with pals. Ran around the neighborhood as I pleased.
Other than frequent loss of my new box turtles carefully placed in the bathtub (no explanation was ever given) no harm came to anyone.
SarahW (267b14) — 1/18/2015 @ 5:33 pmone time i was walking through the woods with my basket of lil debbie snack cakes i was taking to my grandma and guess what happened?
i ate em all up!
happyfeet (831175) — 1/18/2015 @ 5:34 pmLet’s see. There was the 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping, the 2013 Alabama Bunker Hostage Crisis, and a google search will come up with all kinds of stories of school bus drivers arrested for DUI and worse, such as sexual assaults against children.
Shouldn’t CPS be investigating these abusive parents who are so careless and negligent as to let their kids ride the school bus?
Steve57 (2baf2d) — 1/18/2015 @ 8:28 pmWhen I let Pluto out in the morning, I always tell her to look both ways before she runs across the street. She doesn’t always listen.
The Dana owned by a cat (f6a568) — 1/19/2015 @ 6:50 am76. Steve57 (2baf2d) — 1/18/2015 @ 8:28 pm
School bus drivers are government employees, or vetted by governments or contractors who have been hored by government, and so they don’t need to meet the same standards as everybody else.
Just like public schools are OK, and it’s not educational neglect to send children there, no matter how bad they are, but it might be to home school and other schools have to prove their competence.
Even charter schools often have to meet standards, while public schools, being the reference group, do not.
Sammy Finkelman (e806a6) — 1/19/2015 @ 7:12 amI see I’m not the only person who can’t spot sarcasm online.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/19/2015 @ 7:54 amthis sort of freedom-trampling jack-booted oppression will continue to be a problem for as long as we live in a country where fascist cps government trash feel free to walk around without security details is my guess, and maybe even after that
happyfeet (831175) — 1/19/2015 @ 7:59 amMy question to the Socialist Worker would be, “Do you want me walking my kids while wearing my .45 and a loaded Belgian Browning shotgun over my shoulder??”
Socialist Workers need to be locked up until they show evidence of intelligence. In Iowa, just keep repeating the names, Shelby Duis and Jetsetta Gage, in their faces also asking them where they were in not pulling these kids out of a home before they were murdered.
PCD (39058b) — 1/19/2015 @ 11:56 am78. 79. My answer was kind of sarcastic.
Sammy Finkelman (e806a6) — 1/19/2015 @ 12:06 pmThe Discovery Life Channel will start a 13-week series on Thursday, hosted by Lenore Skenazy called “World’s Worst Mom” in which she intervenes with families to allow their children more free range.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/20/2015 @ 10:20 am