I don't want to live here anymore.

Police,child services ,all because,you let your children play outside. Some people can't mind their own business,so they mind everyone else's .
 
Been telling people for years my biggest fear letting my kid free range is her getting spotted by the wrong social worker. And yes we are flucked to live in a country where this happens.
 
6 seems young to be alone in a park.
 
Captain said:
6 seems young to be alone in a park.
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Depends on where you are I suppose, but generally, 6 doesn't seem too young at all to me. It's just part of the "we're pregnant" generation of overly protective parents.
 
Captain said:
6 seems young to be alone in a park.
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This is where the nanny state starts. :mad2:

The park was across the street from their home, and mom was home with the 2 older kids. Let the mom decided and keep the cops out of it! :mad2:
 
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Depends on where you live. In NYC, going out at age 6 alone is a bad idea. Where I live, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
The problem isn't the idiot calling CPS. The problem is that the idiots vested with the power of the state (i.e., CPS) didn't first "Yes, sir/ma'am" him/her to get them off the phone quietly the first time; then if the calls repeated, tell them that letting a kid play outside is neither a crime, nor dangerous.
 
DJTorrente said:
The problem isn't the idiot calling CPS. The problem is that the idiots vested with the power of the state (i.e., CPS) didn't first "Yes, sir/ma'am" him/her to get them off the phone quietly the first time; then if the calls repeated, tell them that letting a kid play outside is neither a crime, nor dangerous.
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Both are problems:

1) Mind your own business
2) CPS should not be investigating such claims

Big difference between that and "My neighbor is a heroin addict with 2 kids."
 
DJTorrente said:
The problem isn't the idiot calling CPS. The problem is that the idiots vested with the power of the state (i.e., CPS) didn't first "Yes, sir/ma'am" him/her to get them off the phone quietly the first time; then if the calls repeated, tell them that letting a kid play outside is neither a crime, nor dangerous.
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As mentioned both are problems. And there is no way in hell CPS believes letting a kid play outside is not a crime and dangerous. CPS is worse then the people that call CPS. Wanna see how far the empire has crumbled? Look here.
 
The problem with CPS is they don't actually go after who they need to sufficiently.

Example: friend calls CPS because sister-in-law is an alcoholic and heroin addict with a daughter. CPS does nothing.

Wait, that's when they're supposed to do something!
 
Yesterday I was in downtown DC and there is a Park on 16th Street called Meridian Hill park; I've always known it as Malcolm X Park.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...2de94c-1e73-11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html

I was about 10 and my mom would let me go anywhere including out of sight while she was there enjoying the festivities. There were seedy people around then, as there are today but she wasn't paranoid (thank you mom) and allowed me to have my boyhood.

I feel slight saddened for today's children, moms and neighbors moms hovering over them wonder about the next child predator.

I worry too, but one day, even I, the overprotective father had to step back and let my daughter at 2 years old climb the stairs in our home unescorted. She's still living.
 
Jaybird180 said:
I worry too, but one day, even I, the overprotective father had to step back and let my daughter at 2 years old climb the stairs in our home unescorted. She's still living.
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My 2 year old's been doing fine with that for quite some time. I don't let him operate the chainsaw, though.
 
Far too little information on this for me to judge from Missouri.

Town or 5,000 or town of 500,000? The article says Austin but was it Austin proper or a small 'burb.

How many registered sex offenders within a 5 mile radius?

What other concerns are there in that neighborhood?

And the kid wasn't "just playing outside" this kid (6 years old) was in the neighborhood park about 150 yards from the house. Mom says she can see that area from the front porch but was she ON the front porch? Or was one of the neighbors watching? If not, the kid might as well have been dropped off at a park in a safe neighborhood 5 miles away. Same difference. A six year old playing in a community park is not the same as playing in the back yard IMO but I don't know the particulars of this park either.

But, it definitely wasn't the "neighborly" thing to do unless the lady saw something else when she returned the child that raised her suspicion.

It's not the 1960s folks. There is no "community parenting" like there was when I was a kid. Not even in most smaller towns much less large communities.

I used to sneak uptown (about 1.5 miles) early in the morning and buy balsa wood gliders at the local five and dime for a nickel a piece when mom would go to 8 am mass . I wasn't even old enough to be in school yet...4 or 5. I'd ride my "buzz bike" uptown, buy them, and then make sure I got home before mom got home from church. I thought I was pulling one over on her...it wasn't until I was about 9, and started flying control line, that she told me she knew what I was doing. The owner of the store kept her informed of course...
 
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CPS is required to follow up on complaints. We don't know what the neighbor said - probably made it sounds bad enough by using trigger words (like "neglect").

I don't have a problem with that, per se. If this WAS a real case of neglect (remember, CPS doesn't know what's actually happening when the complaint is made, so it can be a lot of things, not just "she let her child play in the park", and I think it's certain that was not the sole nature of the complaint).

But the neighbor should be charged with making a false claim.
 
onwards said:
CPS is required to follow up on complaints. We don't know what the neighbor said - probably made it sounds bad enough by using trigger words (like "neglect").

I don't have a problem with that, per se. If this WAS a real case of neglect (remember, CPS doesn't know what's actually happening when the complaint is made, so it can be a lot of things, not just "she let her child play in the park", and I think it's certain that was not the sole nature of the complaint).

But the neighbor should be charged with making a false claim.
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Problem is that the claim wasn't false, just interpretive as overzealous.
 
The woman who called the cops is the one who isn't mature enough to be outside unsupervised.
 
I would have no problem letting a 6 year old play by himself in the park a short distance from home.

Not all six year olds are created equally. Some are scared to be out of mom's sight, while others yearn for adventure and independence. Back when my son was 6 and my daughter was 9 the three of us were riding bikes on a nature trail that has an entrance a mile or so from our house. We were about five miles out when my daughter's bike got a flat tire. I told them to head home and put her on my bike and gave her a push to get started. My son rode off with her, while I walked her bike back home. By the time I got home my son was playing video games but my daughter was nowhere in sight. She rode off and left her little brother behind - except even at age 6 he had no trouble finding his way home. She is 3 years older and had no trouble getting lost.

Ask me which kid I feel more comfortable about giving leeway when it comes to independence.
 
Reminds of the social workers in Tenn that wanted to criminalize a women because...

She let her eleven year old son ride his bike to school, and they thought he should be riding the school bus, instead.

Social work, way too often, is a career for losers who can't get a real job.
 
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Am I the only one who sees something like terrorism or stranger danger or school shootings on TV, looks it up, and decides based on the statistics that it's not something I need to be concerned about?


If I was that kid's parents my defense would be to challenges CPS to come up with empirical data proving what I was letting my child do was dangerous. I don't believe there is any. It's an emotionally based response and that simply isn't an acceptable reason to deprive anyone of their rights.
 
cowman said:
Am I the only one who sees something like terrorism or stranger danger or school shootings on TV, looks it up, and decides based on the statistics that it's not something I need to be concerned about?


If I was that kid's parents my defense would be to challenges CPS to come up with empirical data proving what I was letting my child do was dangerous. I don't believe there is any. It's an emotionally based response and that simply isn't an acceptable reason to deprive anyone of their rights.
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+1.

I think I'd call the cops on that neighbor, asking why she is stalking kids in the park across the street from my house. She seems like the one who is the "stranger danger".

According to the article "the woman brought the boy home". My 5-year old would have probably laid a fair amount of physical hurt on her if she (a stranger) touched him. He knows karate and is as big as most 7 year olds.
 
I think it is the parent's to determine if their kid is ready. The neighbor is right to be curious but probably not call CPS.

I would have walked to the park and asked the kid "Where do you live? Do your parents know you are here?" and left it at that.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Problem is that the claim wasn't false, just interpretive as overzealous.
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No, the claim is false. The claim is that some "crime" was being committed. Allowing your child to be outside unsupervised is NOT a "crime."

Further, the neighbor used State officials to harass the parent(s) of the child. Which IS a "crime."

Finally, the State Dept of child welfare investigator speaking to the children ALONE is illegal. The child has rights. The parents have rights. Those rights include that the child have a parent or official guardian present during ANY questioning or investigation by the State. Questioning the child without a parent or guardian present is a violation of due process AND harassment.

Someone needs to sue her neighbor and a State agency. Allowing this behavior to continue without suing means that the next guy has even less of a chance of raising his kids in a "normal" fashion.
 
Rob P. said:
No, the claim is false. The claim is that some "crime" was being committed. Allowing your child to be outside unsupervised is NOT a "crime."

Further, the neighbor used State officials to harass the parent(s) of the child. Which IS a "crime."
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Precisely. I would also argue that the neighbor was acting as a stalker.

As the parent, I most certainly would sue both the neighbor and the state.
 
Captain said:
6 seems young to be alone in a park.
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They were with an older sibling who took the dog inside. In that time the neighbor saw and decided that they were going to intervene
 
DJTorrente said:
The problem isn't the idiot calling CPS. The problem is that the idiots vested with the power of the state (i.e., CPS) didn't first "Yes, sir/ma'am" him/her to get them off the phone quietly the first time; then if the calls repeated, tell them that letting a kid play outside is neither a crime, nor dangerous.
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As the woman in the story said, CPS was "just doing their jobs".

Remember we're in an era of "see something, say something".
 
Sad state of matters

I'm would have more concern over CPS seeing my kid than a "predator"

I'm also more concerned about being shot by a cop than a criminal.

What makes this scary is I'm a law abiding guy, I don't hurt anyone, but the system is still more likely to try hurt me than the criminals it's supposed to protect against.
 
Shoot, you can get arrested for shouting at your kid and banging on the wall these days.
 
When I was six the year was 1993. Crime wasnt a lot different then. I rode my bicycle all over hell, miles from home, and that was fine. My 7 year old friend and myself would go hike in the woods miles from home. That was fine too.

We would often pack lunches, grab our compasses, and just head off into a journey in corn fields. Every rode we crossed meant we travelled another mile. We would track our course and knew how to get home with our compass. We couldn't see out of the corn at all.

Let a kid do that today and...
 
jesse said:
When I was six the year was 1993. Crime wasnt a lot different then. I rode my bicycle all over hell, miles from home, and that was fine. My 7 year old friend and myself would go hike in the woods miles from home. That was fine too.

We would often pack lunches, grab our compasses, and just head off into a journey in corn fields. Every rode we crossed meant we travelled another mile. We would track our course and knew how to get home with our compass. We couldn't see out of the corn at all.

Let a kid do that today and...
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They are fine till the battery dies on their phone.
 
"Back in my day..."

Even Jesse has his stories and he's half my age.

I wonder what the US will be like when today's 6 year olds get to say, "Back in my day..."
 
jesse said:
When I was six the year was 1993. Crime wasnt a lot different then. I rode my bicycle all over hell, miles from home, and that was fine. My 7 year old friend and myself would go hike in the woods miles from home. That was fine too.

We would often pack lunches, grab our compasses, and just head off into a journey in corn fields. Every rode we crossed meant we travelled another mile. We would track our course and knew how to get home with our compass. We couldn't see out of the corn at all.

Let a kid do that today and...
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And just so you know, this exact same conversation happened in 1993, too. And 1983 and 1973.

Some things never change.
 
MAKG1 said:
And just so you know, this exact same conversation happened in 1993, too. And 1983 and 1973.

Some things never change.
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Oh it has changed, just the rate was different throughout the country is all.
 
Catalo said:
They were with an older sibling who took the dog inside. In that time the neighbor saw and decided that they were going to intervene
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So says mom after the fact...she may have been just covering her ass also. No one knows for sure, do we? And even if the older sibling was previously in the park, how long had it been?

I think this thread is a great example of why men should be excluded from the child rearing process...or at least be minimally involved! :goofy:

And, by saying that, I'm not in any way defending what the neighbor did...just saying that some of the stuff stated here is ludicrous IMO.
 
timwinters said:
I think this thread is a great example of why men should be excluded from the child rearing process...or at least be minimally involved! :goofy:
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This thread is a good example of why men should be *more* involved in the child-rearing process.

"Dad, I'm bored." Dad: "Go outside and play."

...

"Mom, I'm bored." Mom: "Fine, you can have the iPad."

Not saying this is always how it happens, but I think the national trends speak to this.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
This thread is a good example of why men should be *more* involved in the child-rearing process.

"Dad, I'm bored." Dad: "Go outside and play."

...

"Mom, I'm bored." Mom: "Fine, you can have the iPad."

Not saying this is always how it happens, but I think the national trends speak to this.
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In our house it went:
Them: I'm bored.
Mom: Go outside and play.
Me: Get your xxx outside and play.

The big difference was - we each had very different ideas on what it meant to "keep an eye on the kids".
 
ClimbnSink said:
Oh it has changed, just the rate was different throughout the country is all.
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I think the only thing that was different was that you were younger.

People are, as a rule, excruciatingly bad at distinguishing patterns from randomness or various biases.
 
Yes because this nation of fat slutty single moms are doing such a dear job raising the empire's younger generations.
timwinters said:
So says mom after the fact...she may have been just covering her ass also. No one knows for sure, do we? And even if the older sibling was previously in the park, how long had it been?

I think this thread is a great example of why men should be excluded from the child rearing process...or at least be minimally involved! :goofy:

And, by saying that, I'm not in any way defending what the neighbor did...just saying that some of the stuff stated here is ludicrous IMO.
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If by 6 your child isn't able to drive into town and pick you up some beer and a prostitute, you have failed as a parent.
 
At the rate the nanny state liberals are encroaching n parent's rights, no one in the next generation will be capable of dressing themselves, driving a car, deciding what to eat, feeding themselves, or wiping their own butts.

At some point intelligent adult behavior has to overcome the ignorance Of the nanny state.
 
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