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Title: Free-Range Maryland Family Cleared of Child Neglect Charge
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/blog/2015/05/26/ ... -maryland-family-cleared-of-ch
Published: May 26, 2015
Author: Lenore Skenazy
Post Date: 2015-05-26 21:08:19 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 14239
Comments: 85
Hallelujah! Danielle and Alexander Meitiv have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the Dec. 20 incident when they let their kids walk home from the park in Silver Spring, Maryland. The Washington Post reports: A Maryland couple investigated for neglect after they let their two young children walk home alone from local parks have been cleared in one of two such cases, according to the family’s attorneys and documents. The new Child Protective Services finding, which follows an appeal, comes as the experiences of “free range” parents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv have drawn national attention, sparking debate about parenting choices and how far local officials should go to enforce laws designed to protect children. It overturns a previous CPS decision that held the Meitivs responsible for “unsubstantiated” child neglect, a finding typically made when there is conflicting or insufficient information for a more definitive conclusion. The change came as a welcome surprise to the Meitivs, who were informed in letters they received May 18 that neglect was “ruled out” in the case, which dates to their children’s December walk from Woodside Park. “It was an enormous relief and vindication,” Danielle Meitiv said in a Washington Post interview, the family’s first in six weeks. “Of course there’s no neglect here. There never was. There was never even a hint of it.” The Meitivs aren't in the clear yet, however; there's still a charge against them stemming from that other time they allowed their kids to walk home from a local park (the little recidivists). The kids were held for five hours, and the authorities didn't even notify the parents until about three hours in. “We’re hopeful it will be resolved in the same way,” Danielle Meitiv said. “The facts of the two are the same. They’re the same kids, we’re the same parents. They were walking in the same neighborhood. . . . Neither case is neglect so we’re hopeful that CPS will just see that and move on.” Danielle Meitiv said she stopped giving interviews April 13, both at the advice of lawyers and because the most recent experience became upsetting to talk about. She said she’s speaking out now in hopes the new ruling may assuage the fears of other parents who want to let their children venture outdoors to walk or play, but are worried about CPS involvement. “It’s also really good news,” she said. The Meitivs advocate free-range parenting, which encourages independence and exploration. The term was first coined in 2008 by New York journalist Lenore Skenazy, who developed a following for pushing back against what many saw as a hypervigilant “helicopter parent” culture. That New York journalist would like to clarify that she is not pushing back against helicopter parents—she feels parents can raise their kids however they see fit. She is (I hear) pushing back against an entire culture that sees children only through the lens of danger, trauma, and fragility, which then tends to overreact to any threat, no matter how remote. Just sayin'. But first, a woot of joy for justice, and for kids everywhere. Ye Olde Founding Mother suggests: Why not celebrate by having them walk to school today? Lenore Skenazy is host of the reality show “World’s Worst Mom” on the Discovery Life Channel, starting Jan. 22. She is also a public speaker and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids. 
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#1. To: Deckard, Gatlin (#0)
I was right all along.
Well, it's not as though the parents were worried about them. Right?
Well, it's not as though the parents were worried about them. Right? I'm sure they were. Not surprising that you defend the cops abducting their kids and not notifying the parents for three hours.
It is an incredible journey this nation has taken. The last day of (my) 8th grade, me and my buds said to And we did. No school bus - nothin. We just left. Today, people would probably go to jail over that!
Where is the video? I want to see the video. Post the video. I will not believe this until I see the video...
I will not believe this until I see the video... Guess you'd be happier if the kids had been kept by the CPS. That's your problem - you believe that children belong to the State - not the parents.
I don't believe ANYTHING unless I see the video. Post the video...
Video of what exactly? The court proceedings? The story is in the Washington Post and there is a video here that shows parents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv discussing the conflicts they've faced with Montgomery County Child Protective Services (CPS) over their decision to raise their children according to the so-called "free-range" parenting movement. I doubt that it will get you to stop your incessant whining.
I am not whining, this is whining: All I am asking is, where's the video?
Piss off - I gave you a link.
When I was in 3rd grade, I usually/often walked home from school. Probably 1.5 - 2 miles. One day went to a friend's house instead of home. The next day there was an announcement over the school intercom that all us kids were to go straight home after school. I don't think CPS had been invented yet, but I lived anyway.
The last day of (my) 8th grade, me and my buds said to the teacher - 'Since it's the last day of school, can we leave early - like NOW?' (Lunchtime) Teach said: 'Take Off! ' And we did. No school bus - nothin. We just left. Just walked off of school grounds. Today, people would probably go to jail over that! I won't conform.
Back then, had you'd gone missing or been severely injured, nothing would have happened. Today, an Amber alert would have been issued and hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of man-hours would be spent looking for you. The school would be liable for millions in compensation. Your medical care would be paid for by the state. Given that, isn't it understandable that everyone involved would like to minimize their costs by making it less likely to happen to begin with?
Of course not. Not until your 6-year-old or 10-year-old goes missing or is severely hurt because they were unsupervised. THEN you will go into full conformation mode, expecting everyone to fix your f**k-up. And therein lies the problem. You want the freedom to choose but not the responsibility that goes with that choice. If MY money is to be spent making things right for you, then I want some say-so in what you do. On the other hand, if you accept full responsibility for your decisions, then I don't care what you do.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) analyzed more than 4200 attempted abductions from February 2005 to March 2010 and found that 38% of attempted abductions occur while a child is walking alone. Leiby Kletzky was but one of the children kidnapped in 2011 while walking alone. If the NNMEC ran the numbers on up through 2011, the percentage of “abductions that occur while a child is walking alone” would be higher. There is a time to be stubborn. There is a time to be safe It’s always best to go with being safe. Dontcha think?
MSNBC "Collectivist" Host Melissa Harris-Perry » Your Children Belong To The State
Good grief man - how do you muster up the courage to even drag yourself out of bed each day? These parents know best how to raise their kids - if it were up to you and whitey, you'd cover them from head to toe in bubble wrap, make them get a tracker implant and never let them out of your sight. That must be how you were raised - no wonder you're such a submissive little coward.
Which is EXACTLY what these parents are doing.
THEN you will go into full conformation mode, expecting everyone to fix your f**k-up. Don't be a moron. The kids can go to the park by themselves. Did your mom keep you on a leash? For such a statist as yourself. That was pretty brave of you disagreeing with what the governments verdict was.
On July 11, 2011, Leiby Kletzky, a Hasidic Jewish boy, was kidnapped as he walked home from his school day camp in the mainly Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn in New York City, New York. Hisdismembered body was found in the Kensington apartment of confessed murderer Levi Aron, aged 35, and in a dumpster in another Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenwood Heights, on Wednesday morning July 13. Leiby Kletzky was but one of the children kidnapped in 2011 while walking alone. If the NNMEC ran the numbers on up through 2011, the percentage of “abductions that occur while a child is walking alone” would be higher. There is a time to be stubborn. There is a time to be safe It’s always best to go with being safe. Dontcha think? Since you are such a ninny. I hope you never take your kids, grandkids or anyone including yourself in an automobile. They are dangerous. Even more kids die in car accidents then by weirdos. So if you ever put a kid in a automobile. I hope you are arrested for being so wreckless by endangering their lives by putting them in one of those contraptions. I mean what kind of ca lice monster would put their kid in an automobile? That is something Hitler would be proud of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year
Nope. But neither would she sue the city, the park district or the playground equipment manufacturer if I got seriously hurt. Because of that, no one cared how she raised her kids. "That was pretty brave of you disagreeing with what the governments verdict was." Which verdict? I agreed with their first one -- take care of your kids so we don't have to. I disagreed with their second one, since they caved to public pressure (ironically, the same public that wrote the law). So now let's see if they'll change the law instead of constantly making exceptions based on public pressure. Or do you think we should keep the existing laws, just not enforce them equally?
Did your mom keep you on a leash? I agree parents should have the freedom and liberty to raise their children in this manner. I feel that big daddy gov is way too intrusive to save the world. With that said, if a parent allows their children to "free range" for hours and far away from their home, all while being around SEX OFFENDERS (check your local registries, they are EVERYWHERE)... and their child gets victimized, I'm gonna consider that parent the "moron". It is what it is... today's society isn't as safe as Jeffersons. We should have our liberties preserved... but that doesn't mean it's smart to use them like its 1776.
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
I've got 4 kids and a grandkid. We never had to sue anyone because the fell off the slide. Of course you don't let a 3 year old go to the park by themselves. But when they are say 10. The kids will get together get on their bikes and go to the park, convenience store etc. If they were 5 I wouldn't let them to by themselves and I would watch like a hawk with a machete.
Not the incorrect decision. The one that got overturned is the governments answer. You must conform and Obey the decision. Never disagree with the government.
A 6-year-old and a 10-year-old at a park a mile from home? Forget abduction. What if the 10-year-old severely cut herself? Would the 6-year-old know what to do? How long would it take to get help from an adult? Oops. Too late. The kid bled out. Now what? I know. Sue the city. Sue the park district. Sue the playground equipment manufacturer for "unsafe" equipment.
The park my kids went to is more like 1/4 of a mile away. Them and their friends had a lot of fun at the park. I wish they were still little like that sometimes.
The "decision" was made under pressure from the public as an exception to the law as written. If I conform and obey the decision, I may not be as lucky as this couple. Which is what happens if we live by the rule of man rather than the rule of law. You want to live that way?
That's nice. But the kids in the article went to a park a mile from home. One was six and the other was ten.
You want to live that way? The government can take their stupid laws and stuck them up sneakys ass. The stupid ones. Show me the law that you are claiming is broken. Because I don't think there is one. They didn't conform to public pressure. They just got someone sane to look at itl. Also you should be arrested if you ever put a kid in an automobile. Because statistically speaking it is more dangerous.
If there are some typos above. Forgive me I don't have my reading glasses on and it is a bit of a blur.
Child endangerment, for one. Followed by felony stupidity, felony ignorance and felony lack of responsibility.
Oh 13 football fields further.
That is the extent of the law. "child endangerment". So they just say child endangerment and you're busted. I sure hope you don't put any kids into an automobile. Because there is certainly some inherent danger in that act. More so then letting the kids play. Felony ignorance. I think you made that up. Felony lack of responsibility. You made that one up too. Seems to me that you want the law of misterwhite and not law. I mean since you couldn't come up with any laws that they were violating.
Pfffft! You would if they broke their neck or were severely injured. Don't give me your self-righteous "We never sued" bullcrap. You never sued because you never had to.
What do you think a jury of her peers (other mothers) would say?
You mean other than child endangerment. Well, there's child neglect. Child abuse. Child abandonment. Child cruelty. I don't know if the parents were guilty, but they could have been charged with those violations.
Don't give me your self-righteous "We never sued" bullcrap. You never sued because you never had to.
You just said child endangerment. You never showed the text of the law how it applied to this case. I say arrest you because of child endangerment. You put a kid in a car before. You endagered a child. See how that works
Not guilty. Then they would say what morons the prosecution was.
Comments (41 - 85) not displayed.
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#2. To: Deckard (#0)
"The kids were held for five hours, and the authorities didn't even notify the parents until about three hours in."
#3. To: misterwhite (#2)
(Edited)
"The kids were held for five hours, and the authorities didn't even notify the parents until about three hours in."
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#4. To: Deckard, A K A Stone, misterwhite (#3)
(Edited)
"Free Range"
the teacher - 'Since it's the last day of school,
can we leave early - like NOW?' (Lunchtime)
Teach said: 'Take Off! '
Just walked off of school grounds.
#5. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
Free-Range Maryland Family Cleared of Child Neglect Charge
#6. To: Gatlin (#5)
Post the video.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#7. To: Deckard (#6)
you believe that...
#8. To: Gatlin (#7)
I don't believe ANYTHING unless I see the video.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#9. To: Deckard (#8)
...stop your incessant whining.
#10. To: Gatlin (#9)
All I am asking is, where's the video?
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#11. To: Chuck_Wagon (#4)
The last day of (my) 8th grade, me and my buds said to the teacher -
#12. To: Chuck_Wagon (#4)
It is an incredible journey this nation has taken.
#13. To: Chuck_Wagon (#4)
"Today, people would probably go to jail over that!"
#14. To: A K A Stone (#12)
"I won't conform."
#15. To: misterwhite, A K A Stone (#14)
"I won't conform."
On July 11, 2011, Leiby Kletzky, a Hasidic Jewish boy, was kidnapped as he walked home from his school day camp in the mainly Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn in New York City, New York. Hisdismembered body was found in the Kensington apartment of confessed murderer Levi Aron, aged 35, and in a dumpster in another Brooklyn neighborhood, Greenwood Heights, on Wednesday morning July 13.
#16. To: Gatlin, misterwhite (#15)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#17. To: Gatlin (#15)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#18. To: misterwhite, A K A Stone (#14)
On the other hand, if you accept full responsibility for your decisions,
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#19. To: misterwhite (#14)
Of course not. Not until your 6-year-old or 10-year-old goes missing or is severely hurt because they were unsupervised.
#20. To: Gatlin (#15)
#21. To: Gatlin, misterwhite (#15)
"I won't conform." The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) analyzed more than 4200 attempted abductions from February 2005 to March 2010 and found that 38% of attempted abductions occur while a child is walking alone.
#22. To: A K A Stone (#19)
"Did your mom keep you on a leash?"
#23. To: A K A Stone (#19)
(Edited)
Don't be a moron. The kids can go to the park by themselves.
#24. To: misterwhite (#22)
Nope. But neither would she sue the city, the park district or the playground equipment manufacturer if I got seriously hurt. Because of that, no one cared how she raised her kids.
#25. To: misterwhite (#22)
Which verdict? I agreed with their first one
#26. To: A K A Stone (#19)
"The kids can go to the park by themselves."
#27. To: misterwhite (#26)
A 6-year-old and a 10-year-old at a park a mile from home?
#28. To: A K A Stone (#25)
"You must conform and Obey the decision."
#29. To: A K A Stone (#27)
"The park my kids went to is more like 1/4 of a mile away."
#30. To: misterwhite (#28)
Which is what happens if we live by the rule of man rather than the rule of law.
#31. To: All (#30)
#32. To: A K A Stone (#30)
"Show me the law that you are claiming is broken."
#33. To: misterwhite (#29)
But the kids in the article went to a park a mile from home. One was six and the other was ten.
#34. To: misterwhite (#32)
Child endangerment,
#35. To: A K A Stone (#24)
"We never had to sue anyone because the fell off the slide."
#36. To: A K A Stone (#34)
"So they just say child endangerment and you're busted."
#37. To: A K A Stone (#34)
"I mean since you couldn't come up with any laws that they were violating."
#38. To: misterwhite (#22)
Nope. But neither would she sue the city, the park district or the playground equipment manufacturer if I got seriously hurt. Because of that, no one cared how she raised her kids.
#39. To: misterwhite (#37)
You mean other than child endangerment.
#40. To: misterwhite (#36)
What do you think a jury of her peers (other mothers) would say?
.
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