Is letting kids walk down the street illegal? Apparently...

[draco664]

A few months ago, I posted here about a guy charged with child endangerment for letting his 9- and 6-year old children play alone in a playground.

Another one in the same vein - mother was charged with “risk of injury to a minor and failure to appear after police say she allowed her seven-year and 11-year old children to walk down to Spruce Street to buy pizza unsupervised.”

Here's the route in googlemaps. It's half a mile along a straight, residential street. If the police think that a child is at risk in such a place, I'd suggest that they've failed in their job...

[TheHuckster]

I'm torn between two sides to this. On one hand, when I was 11, I used to do all sorts of things on my own, riding my bike miles from the house to different places. And, yes, "stranger danger" was very much on our minds back then. I feel as though the whole "stranger danger" thing is important to teach kids, but at the same time, each kidnapping incident, to me, is more isolated than the media would have you believe. There are sickos out there who prey on children, for sure, but it seems they'd have you believe they're on every street corner.

On the other hand, it does happen. A street like that is quiet, but in a way it could be just quiet enough for two kids to get snatched up without anyone noticing. So the question becomes: At what age can one be walking down the street unsupervised with a younger child?

I would certainly agree 100% with the police action if the oldest child were 7 or 8, 9 or 10 is pushing it... and 11 to me is still borderline. Certainly an 11 year old is more than old enough to know to keep their distance from strangers, but they're still light enough to be easily forcibly picked up and carried away.

That said, I really sympathize with the parents. Regardless of the situation, I don't think they were horribly negligent or bad parents. I'm sure they taught them how to deal with strangers and to be safe. I do hope the police recognize that and don't punish them harshly.

[ExRetailDrone]

Stranger danger has blown up to such bullshit proportions. The media would have you believe that there is some guy in a windowless van on every street. In reality, most abductions of children happen by someone the child or family knows. Do kids get snatched by wackjobs who are not known by them or their family? Of course. But it doesn't happen nearly as much as some parents or police fear.

And I think that 11 years old is plenty old enough to walk a half mile to a pizza place with a younger sibling, depending on the child. I would like to think that the parents know their children's maturity levels and capabilities and made an informed decision to let them go by themselves.

[bara]

Its a case by case basis Id say. In my neighborhood it should be no trouble for an 11 year old to go to the corner market.
There was a guy taking pictures of little girls where my sister lives, and very rarely does anything happen in that area. They caught the sicko and he is in prison now. But the second his van showed up everywhere it took about .2 seconds for the parents to notice something was up and alert the police. He was nabbed in less than a week.

[bex1218]

I have a regular thats been coming in alone since he was 7 or 8. Granted its a busier road. I don't know his situation at home, he is always alone or with friends.

[Aethian]

There is a home on one of my routes I cover that has teenagers as the kids. The youngest is 13. They are allowed to open the door to relatives or friends ONLY. I was told that I'm a stranger danger...

[Andara Bledin]

So... How many kids walk to school in the morning?

My first elementary school was nearly 2 miles from my house. The bus picked up about 3 blocks away. My second elementary was about half a mile from my house and was the first school I insisted on walking to (I was 6 at the time). My third elementary school (moved 2 times while in 3rd grade) was also about half a mile, and I walked there and back the whole time we lived there. I was also sent to the grocery store semi-regularly, and it was on the same street, but the opposite direction from the house, and the same distance from home. I started middle school when I was 10; and it was across the street from the elementary school, and thus, further away (and across a semi-busy street) than the grocery.

Are we going to start arresting parents who don't drive their kids to school and back every day, now?

^-.-^

[telecom_goddess]

I once had the cops called on me because I was letting my middle daughter, who was about 8 or so at the time, play directly in front of our windows on the sidewalk outside, but I wasn't directly out there with her. I could see her fine, she's always been mature for her age, but a cop brought her back to the front door. He thought it was stupid but he had to do it.

People don't want to think that kids can handle anything on their own.

[s_stabeler]

Risk of Injury to Minor means you can't willfully put a minor in a position where they could be in danger of losing life or limb, or endangering the health of said minor. it ha s a couple of further provisions, but those essentially add "or be sexually assaulted" to the main provisions. I suspect in the case in the OP, what was specifically the reason for the charge is the fact the kid had to cross two roads. It's ridiculous, of coruse, but that's how they probably justified it.

As for telecom_goddess, I suspect the justification was much the same, (the kid could get hit by a car!!) and is equally ridiculous ( I'm glad the cop recognized it was ridiculous, though) ultimately, it's the over-obsession some parents have with their kid's safety that's the problem ( the kind of parents that would wrap the kid up in bubblewrap if they could)

[crashhelmet]

2 of the 3 elementary schools I went to were about 2 miles away from where we lived. My mom would drop us off in the morning, but we had to walk home every day. In addition, my friends and I used to ride our bikes or our skateboards to the mall about 5 miles away or even out to Disneyland which, according to Google Maps, is 9.2 miles from the house I lived in.

I worry more about this particular concept of the nanny state than the regulations of what foods and drinks we can buy. Kids are more pampered and undisciplined today and we wonder why there are more problems with them as they grow older.

[HYHYBT]

Exactly. Never let kids do anything on their own or give them any responsibility, then expect the adults they inevitably become to be able to take care of themselves.

[Jester]

Manure.

How can I put this diplomatically, politely, and respectfully? Oh yes, I know:

This is a steaming load of horseshit.

Seriously? Seriously? Fuckers, please! These are not infants, they are not toddlers. They are kids doing what kids at that age do, which is explore, and maybe go get a bite of pizza and a soda.

I was born in 1970, which admittedly makes me older than Moses. However, by the time I was 6, I was exploring everywhere, on foot and on my bike. I often would ride MILES from my house. Did my parents know exactly where I was going? Well, no. Would they have been surprised? Not a bit.

Now, when I say "miles," I am not exaggerating. When I was 12 and we had just moved from Town A to Town B, one day that summer, on a whim, I rode my bike back to Town A. 25 miles. I called my mom from Town A, told her where I was, and stayed the night at my friend's house. Were his parents surprised to see me? Sure! I technically lived in another state. Were they shocked to the point of worrying about my health and safety, or the competence of my parents? Nope. Not even slightly. Why? Because I was a smart little 12 year old.

And by the way, back then, when I was riding all over creation my bike, you know what I didn't wear? A bike helmet. Ever. Why? Because the only kids back then who wore bike helmets were, rightly or wrongly, considered absolute pansies by the other kids, and you would sooner be caught dead than wearing one of those things. And I'm not exaggerating. It would be the equivalent of a child of today wearing knee and elbow pads to walk to school. (Which, of course, they are apparently no longer allowed to do.)

George Carlin said it best when he wisely pointed out that we are pussifying our children by all this coddling bullshit. I learned most of my most poingnant lessons from the crap I got into while doing something I shouldn't, or from bike crashes while exploring, or from misbehaving in general. But these were lessons I would NOT have learned if my parents had been helicoptering coddling overprotective assholes like what the parents in the OP were apparently expected to be.

These people were arrested, while so many truly negligent and abusive parents are allowed to slide through the system that doesn't want to bother with dealing with actual parenting problems?

A great big steaming pile of grade A horseshit.

The media would have you believe that there is some guy in a windowless van on every street.

But there is. He's called the cable guy. And the only real danger he poses is to your schedule, if you are waiting for him in that four hour window they promise and never deliver on.

[telecom_goddess]

We need to install a like button on here I agree with everything Jester said. Well put.

[protege]

And by the way, back then, when I was riding all over creation my bike, you know what I didn't wear? A bike helmet. Ever. Why? Because the only kids back then who wore bike helmets were, rightly or wrongly, considered absolute pansies by the other kids, and you would sooner be caught dead than wearing one of those things. And I'm not exaggerating. It would be the equivalent of a child of today wearing knee and elbow pads to walk to school. (Which, of course, they are apparently no longer allowed to do.)

Yep, things were different then. I too remember riding a bike without a helmet. It just wasn't something thought about much. Same with roller skating--no pads or helmets either. Bikes and roller skates weren't the only vehicles in the Protege household either. There were wagons, big wheels, Tonka trucks, and other riding toys. Speaking of those, a favorite game was to ride one down the 'ramp' behind the elementary school...and swerve *just* in time as to not plow into the pillar by the back door of Room 101!

Speaking of that school, I spent much time in the playground back there. It's only a couple of blocks from my parents' house. I'm sure safety-minded people would flip their shit about how it was back in 1980! We're talking a huge paved lot...complete with swing sets, jungle gyms, slides, etc. No wood chips or astroturf here! Oh, and all of the play items were *metal.* Did we get hurt? Of course we did. We shrugged it off and continued playing.

George Carlin said it best when he wisely pointed out that we are pussifying our children by all this coddling bullshit. I learned most of my most poingnant lessons from the crap I got into while doing something I shouldn't, or from bike crashes while exploring, or from misbehaving in general. But these were lessons I would NOT have learned if my parents had been helicoptering coddling overprotective assholes like what the parents in the OP were apparently expected to be.

I see this all the time too. My boss is one of the helicopter parents. Up until now, his kids really didn't do anything--he'd do it for them. Then he whines about how "busy" he is, and how he "doesn't get enough done." Seriously?

These people were arrested, while so many truly negligent and abusive parents are allowed to slide through the system that doesn't want to bother with dealing with actual parenting problems?

...and I'm sure that it was some busybody with nothing better to do that called the cops.