Maryland parents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv believe in the concept of “free range children,” the idea that children should be afforded a reasonable amount of independence for their age and maturity without so-called “helicopter” parents watching over every move. It’s a concept my own mother and father bought in to, and their children are certainly all the better for it as adults.
However, not everyone believes in allowing children to be independent.
Child Protective Services in Maryland have cited the Meitiv family for “unsubstantiated child neglect” for allowing their 10 and 6 year old children to walk home from the park unsupervised on December 20th, 2014. On that day, someone spotted the Meitiv children alone and phoned in a report. From there, CPS opened an investigation and as a result of their verdict, the Meitiv family will be placed on a watch list for the next five years.
The Meitivs plan to appeal the verdict and refuse to allow CPS to bully them into depriving their children of their independence.
Speaking to the media, Danielle Meitiv stressed that she would never have allowed her children to walk home unsupervised if they were not capable of doing so, adding that she was “horrified” by the verdict.
The Meitiv case is reminiscent of another dating back to 2008, involving a woman by the name of Lenore Skenazy who allowed her 9-year-old to ride the subway alone. The case garnered media attention as one faction lobbed accusations of child neglect while the other argued on the side of independence. As a result of the attention, Skenazy launched Free Range Kids and had her own television show.
Why the spectacle?
Is affording our children their independence a bad thing? Does it scream “neglect” to allow your 10-year-old to walk home alone?
Are parents so incapable of raising their own children without the government breathing down their necks?
At this rate, we may as well sign over our children to the state at birth and be done with it.
