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

reason.com

491–500 of 763 posts

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

#491
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its funny, because I see young-ish kids alone or in small groups walking around all the time in Brooklyn. Between 2:30 and 4:00 PM the sidewalks around my apartment are choked with unaccompanied kids.

I live in Manhattan and my wife and I just had our first kid a few weeks ago. We've been talking about it for months now, but we want our kid to have that kind of independence and familiarity with the city. On one hand it's good for their development and on another hand it just seems practical that they be able to navigate the city on their own for safety reasons. I've offended a lot of suburban friends and family th…

IMO it's exactly the other way around. Raising a child who can't do basic things like run errands or get to school on their own until they are well into young adulthood is a wildly insane way to raise a child.

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

#492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same.. but who knows, in all serious, maybe the woman feared someone would accuse her of attempted kidnapping.

And that is the another "modern" problem. I live in a semi-rural village, with 5km to the nearest town. If a teenage child was walking in between them (say they're bike was broken down) and I drive past: 1. I'd think if I stop and offer to pick them up, they might think I'm a potential pedophile/kidnapper. So I'm reticent. 2. They would think, as they likely have been trained, if they put out a hand and ask for a lif…

I loathe and despise how accurate this is.

I’ve been preaching for years that “stranger danger” has done massive harm to society, far far more harm than the bad actors they’re trying to save us from would have done.

Teaching children that all people are inherently bad and you should be afraid of anyone you don’t know sets the tone for how they are going to relate to other people for the rest of their lives.

In my experience most people are good and helpful, I’ve had far far more people be kind to me than harmful or malicious.

Mr. Rogers taught me to “look for the helpers” and that also told me that there are always good people out there who are trustworthy. We need to go back to that.

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

#493
It's puzzling that there don't appear to be any other likely-neutral accounts of this case. Nothing in a local paper or local TV news. No essays or posts. Zip. The case is a year old.

The only thing is the gofundme page linked in the article.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/restore-money-lost-after-wrongful...

An that plea links back to the Reason article.

There's a big overlap between the plea on that page and the Reason article.

It's possible there's more going on here than meets the eye.

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

#494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, but what's their incentive to do so? Not only that, they have a reverse incentive: Say something bad happens to that kid, now the cops will be on the hook for letting them alone. The real problem is that the fabric of society is mostly gone. In years past, those cops would be chewed out by the old ladies at church the next Sunday. No wonder there is such a backlash building up in conservative areas of the coun…

False. Police have zero duty to protect anyone, per the Supreme Court.

In fact, I’d argue that is part of the problem here: there is no liability for police, CPS agents, prosecutors, or judges for overreach and absurd enforcement actions.

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

#495
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.

Lol nice one. I had to read the whole thing to figure out you were being sarcastic.

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

#496
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Switzerland you'd get called by the teacher if you don't let your kid walk by itself to kindergarten, because independence and learning and all.

We just moved to Sweden from Missouri; yesterday I picked up our 3yo from daycare and had this exchange: Kid: Teacher: Oh, by the way, he fell out of a small tree today, he was climbing and fell, so he may have a small bruise, just so you are aware Me: Oh ok. What tree? Teacher: Oh we took them to and grilled hot dogs today! Kid: I found a snail!

Have you seen the open recess space ? ( kids playing in a non enclosed area, just delimited with poles )

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

#497
post #476

I am not going to let my 8 year old walking alone, even in a safe neighborhood. You never know what is going to happen. If the bad 0.0001% happens, you will only live the rest of your life in regret and pain.

Can't tell if you're joking. I hope you are

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

#498
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, with rugged individualism the consumer needs to be on the watch for the brands that might kill them and just vote with their wallet. Why would we regulate something when the free market will do the regulating? This parent was not exercising their responsibility as an individual to watch out for anything and everything that might hurt their child, in the US that is illegal because the free market ideology rules a…

What on earth are you going on about? Please elaborate.

It's commentary about attacking symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem based around the flawed "choice of the individual" and "rugged American individualism" ideologies present in the US.

Cops think the neighborhood is dangerous for kids because of sex trafficking? Arrest parents for allowing kids outside instead of stopping the sex trafficking.

Consumers get harmed and workers get taken advantage of by corporations? Vote with your wallet instead of actually regulating companies.

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

#499

>A woman one block away had called the cops to report a boy walking outside alone. That lady had actually asked Aiden where he lived, verified that it was just down the street, and proceeded to call nonetheless. The cops picked up Aiden on his own block. this is the real problem here. who in their right mind calls the cops on a kid walking around his own neighborhood?

No, the real problem is that we continue to elevate low stakes local issues into high stakes national / international news because it advances our own preferred narratives.

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

#500
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.

I used to walk around 1 mile to school every day along a very busy road when I was 8 years old and nobody batted an eye. I lived in Texas at the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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