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Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

reason.com

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Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#71

Post by trynewideas »

helen___keller wrote: post #22

Interesting, isn’t Texas a state with laws to protect “free range parenting”? https://www.treehugger.com/children-protected-reasonable-ind...

It's in the story, which is written by a co-founder of one of the NPOs that supported the Texas law:

> "Wallace believes this could be due to the Reasonable Childhood Independence law that Texas passed in 2021 with the help of Let Grow, the non-profit I co-founded. It's part of HB567, a larger child welfare reform bill, and clarifies that parents are allowed to let their kids engage in independent activities as long as they aren't putting them in serious, likely danger."

But as the story notes, that bill did not affect criminal law, so the cops can still do this.

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#72

Post by 1123581321 »

mlindner wrote: post #31
pavon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There will always be people who overreact and call the police for inappropriate reasons. That isn't the problem. The problem is that the police, and then the DA, chose to make this a criminal matter. Either of them could and should have dismissed the issue after verifying that the child was not being put into a harmful environment.

Correct! There's a lot of crazy people out in the world who'll call the cops for all manner of things. The correct response would have been to ignore the call following a couple questions by the 911 operator. "Is the child in danger in any way?" the response would be "No." and then hang up on them.

The problem is the person calling will lie or exaggerate instead of saying no. If questioned later, they can fall back on claiming they were just trying to help and avoid getting in trouble.

Angry or nosy neighbors, police and social services can get each other caught up in a cycle of escalation that lasts years for some unfortunate families.

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#73

Post by stardenburden »

surfsvammel wrote: post #16

What kind of neighbourhood isn’t safe for an 8 year old to walk 800m? This makes me sad.

The neighborhood was safe, but the cop made the strawman argument that the kid could've been kidnapped for a sex trafficking Ring Downtown

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#74

Post by SighMagi »

Maximus9000 wrote: post #6

> Waco, Texas What? If this draconian policy is happening in Texas, the land of the free, can I assume it's even worse in the rest of North America? I hope Texans are up-in-arms about this government overreach.

I read it as probably sarcasm, but no, in practice conservative state governments like the one in Texas like to micromanage your life (who to love, what you do with your body etc.)

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#75

Post by [deleted] »

rlkf wrote: post #25

In my twice-the-size European city, kids walk twice that distance to school and back home again, alone. Every. Single. Day. If this place isn't safe enough for kids to walk by themselves, maybe the question should be raised whether the police and municipal government really is doing their job the way they're supposed to.

[deleted]

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#77

Post by hutzlibu »

spoils19 wrote: post #54
rlkf wrote: post #25

In my twice-the-size European city, kids walk twice that distance to school and back home again, alone. Every. Single. Day. If this place isn't safe enough for kids to walk by themselves, maybe the question should be raised whether the police and municipal government really is doing their job the way they're supposed to.

The thing is that the US has much greater freedoms than Europe, after all, we did fight for them. It's every US citizens understanding that with greater freedoms come greater responsibilities to raise children to be future leaders. This can't happen if a child is mowed down in a driveby or if they accidentally trip over while walking.

So you have much greater freedom than we in Europe, but you do not have the freedom to have you 8 year olds walk outside?

edit: yeah, it was sarcarsm.

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#78

Post by laputan_machine »

hutzlibu wrote: post #77
spoils19 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is that the US has much greater freedoms than Europe, after all, we did fight for them. It's every US citizens understanding that with greater freedoms come greater responsibilities to raise children to be future leaders. This can't happen if a child is mowed down in a driveby or if they accidentally trip over while walking.

So you have much greater freedom than we in Europe, but you do not have the freedom to have you 8 year olds walk outside? edit: yeah, it was sarcarsm.

> ... or if they accidentally trip over while walking.

It's (probably) sarcasm.

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#79

Post by V__ »

spoils19 wrote: post #54
rlkf wrote: post #25

In my twice-the-size European city, kids walk twice that distance to school and back home again, alone. Every. Single. Day. If this place isn't safe enough for kids to walk by themselves, maybe the question should be raised whether the police and municipal government really is doing their job the way they're supposed to.

The thing is that the US has much greater freedoms than Europe, after all, we did fight for them. It's every US citizens understanding that with greater freedoms come greater responsibilities to raise children to be future leaders. This can't happen if a child is mowed down in a driveby or if they accidentally trip over while walking.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or an actual opinion. Well done.

Re: Mom handcuffed, jailed for 8-year-old son walking half a mile

#80

Post by richliss »

monological wrote: post #24

Japan has entered the chat... In Japan, children are encouraged from early age to be independent. They even take the subway and bus by themselves, albeit it's significantly safer there than in other parts of the world. Still though, I think people in America have gone off the deep end.

They've even made an adorable Netflix show out of the concept - "Old Enough".
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