More Bad News for the Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting Their Kids Walk to the Park Unsupervised

by Cassy Fiano | March 5, 2015 12:07 pm

There used to be a time when children had some measure of independence, and walking to the park alone wasn’t considered a form of child neglect. The Meitiv family believes in letting their children grow up without being hovered over incessantly due to false fears of inflated crime rates, but unfortunately, that attitude has resulted in some negative attention from CPS — all for letting their children walk by themselves to the park.

[1]

Despite the mother’s efforts to plead their case, the CPS found them responsible for “unsubstantiated” child neglect.

Unsubstantiated child neglect is not a criminal charge, but is in most cases a prelude to them. It usually comes when the CPS has deemed parents to have neglected their children, but has insufficient information or witnesses to press charges or take action. It usually comes when the CPS has deemed parents to have neglected their children, but has insufficient information or witnesses to press charges or take action.

As a result, both Danielle and Alexander Meitiv will have an open file for at least five years.

Both say that they will continue to parent as they see fit, but what Danielle wrote in her Washington Post piece sums it up the best.

We need to refuse to allow ourselves to be ruled by fear or allow our government to overrule decisions that parents make about what is best for their children. Overpolicing parents in this way does not make children safer; it disrupts families and makes our kids fearful, anxious and unhealthy. .And whether through the legislatures or the courts, neglect laws need to be redefined to safeguard parents’ discretion to make reasonable risk-management judgments for their children, including the decision to allow them the freedom and independence that was the norm a generation ago and is still essential to their development and well-being.

The scary thing is that this happens with alarming frequency, often because other parents report their friends and neighbors for not helicopter parenting the same way they do. At this rate, we may as well keep kids tied to parents permanently with a leash, because heaven forbid they ever venture out on their own to do anything and learn some measure of independence.