Mom jailed for letting 10-year-old walk alone to town

Dunno how I'd have gotten home from school or to soccer practice if I needed an adult, ffs I was staying alone overnight and cooking dinner for myself by 5th grade. How do you acquire independence and skills with someone hovering all the fucking time?
- we have infantalized children all the way through high school. no more open campuses, nothing. we live in a world where an 18 year old high school senior has to ask to use the restroom during the day, but could go to her night job as a porn star.
  the main issue is parents suing school districts over any little thing, requiring them now to lock everyone down or else
  
  Nah the real issue is that people will cave in to those helicopter parents making everyone else deal with whatever insanity they force onto their children's
  
  And depending on the porn genre, she might be denied bathroom rights in the shoot too!
- Fuck that county and DA. I hope she wins. Bullshit. My 15 year old is out right now with his friends. My kids walk to and from school. Double fuck the old cunt who called the cops to begin with.
- You don't.
  Source: raised by a single parent who yelled and chased me out of the kitchen anytime I tried asking questions of what he was doing.
  Now 41, and have NO CLUE how to cook.
  
  at 41 its now your job to train yourself, if you care to. if that is your excuse on a blind date, its a red flag.
  
  That sucks.
  If you want to try learning, start with some pasta. Put water on the stove, boil it, add salt and pasta, stir, drain when the box says (don't cook it too long or it'll suck), put whatever you want on it. You can start by just pouring a jar of sauce on top and upgrade to something tougher when you're more comfortable with it.
  
  Similar experience growing up here.
  I taught myself every single adult skill in my early 20s. I couldn't have done it without the internet.
  I'm a great cook though. I'll figure out how to wash clothes without ruining them next.
- I remember when I was maybe 14, 2001 or so, and my mom forgot to pick me up from wrestling practice after school.
  We lived about 6 miles outside of town, and wrestling is a winter sport, so it was well dark.
  I walked home along the side of the highway (in all black because that’s what I had that day…) after waiting well over an hour and calling several times (no cell phones). My options were to continue to sit in the glass entryway indefinitely or just leave and go home. It took me 3 hours, and when I walked in my parents were shocked that they forgot.. not that I made it home safely or that I felt feelings.. they were shocked at themselves that they forgot about me. (I wasn’t at that point)
  I mean hell when I was 5-7 I was walking home from school daily, going around suburb town on my bike, and one time around age 6 I got lost for several hours (only a few streets from home, but so windy and confusing I was just lost..) it ended in trauma and an ER visit, but did not actually cause my parents to restrict my movement, when it absolutely should have. It was normal routine stuff back then.
  I’m into parents caring more now, but man if someone had arrested my mother for allowing me freedom I’d.. have felt really bad for causing it.. that’s also intensely traumatic.

"You're guilty of leaving your child alone, therefore we're taking you away from your child."
- Or schools expeling you for truancy...
- “Your kid could have been traumatized walking home alone, now get the fuck on the ground while we arrest you in front of them and haul you off to prison while they’re left at home”

Based on the safety plan including “installing a location tracking app on the child’s phone”, the kid has a phone and could easily call for help or be called if there was a concern.
Children used to ride bikes much farther then a mile without even a quarter in their pocket to pay for a phone call.
- Never needed money when you could call collect and when prompted for a name you gave a speedy, "mom pick me up at the mall!!" And of course she'd decline the call.
  
  Bob Wehadababyitsaboy
- Remember the Duracell ad?
  https://youtu.be/hGCv7RzEwR8

I started walking to school when I was eight. My parents made sure I knew the way and that was that. And on our bikes we went wayyy farther than a mile unsupervised
- Do you visit them in jail?
- A lot of us walked/biked to our grade school as well. I can't remember which grade I started walking, but I was definitely doing it in 4. I'd wager even grade 3 but can't be 100% sure.
- On the weekends, it was routine for me to hop on my bike once my chores were done and just take off. The rule was just had to be home by dinner time, or call from whichever friends house I was at if I couldn't make it back in time. No cell phones.
- Here we have 3 year old kids walking to kindergarten unsupervised.
- My oldest (8) bikes to school nearly every day.
  His younger brother is allowed to walk to school next year when he is 6.
  It is fairly normal here for kids, that are above 6/7, to walk to and from school if it isn't too far.

Americans have degenerated so fast.
- We BEGAN our existence with slave holding white men who created documents to rule the country which stated "All men are created equally". Then went home, treated the women in their lives like shit for the next 142 years AT LEAST, while also owning slaves.
  Today slavery is mostly abolished, and women have equal rights.
  Believe it or not, this IS progress......really really slow progress.
  
  I mean, California just voted to KEEP prison labor slavery so....
  
  Well we're kinda on track to undo start both of those things so...
  
  I used to believe this, I truly did think that overall there was progress. But I'm worried now because it looks like we're going backwards, I just hope we don't slide too far that we legitimately undo it all.
  
  There are more slaves nowadays than ever before, we just outsourced them to the south with some middleman that way pay so nobody can say, that we are slave holders anymore.

All of Gen-X would like a word...
- 'be home for supper' and/or 'call if you're gonna be late'.
  those were mom's rules back then. she only got worried and upset if i was late and did not call.
  
  Come in when the street lights turn on.
  Don't go too far.
  
  Locking the door and forcing a kid to ring the doorbell and beg to be let in after dark was just a thing back then. I hope the lack of any consequences and independence doesn't hurt American kids' development when, say, Romanian kids are still afforded freedom.
- I love this comment!
- Really? They're generally pretty quiet and forgetable.
  
  Because we're independent AF. We don't need looking after. We're hardened by years of raw neglect 😅

Lol. When I was 10 me and a friend would take a bus TO ANOTHER COUNTRY and hang out at the arena to wait for the teams so we could get our hockey cards autographed.
I still have that niklas lidstrom rookie card.

A few days later, DFCS presented Patterson with a "safety plan" for her to sign. It would require her to delegate a "safety person" to be a "knowing participant and guardian" and watch over the children whenever she leaves home. The plan would also require Patterson to download an app onto her son's phone allowing for his location to be monitored. (The day when it will be illegal not to track one's kids is rapidly approaching.)
Of course there's a grift train. I'd be very curious to know more about that company, its owners, and its financials.
Also tagging @abucci@buc.ci (can someone tell me how to do that right?). Seems like something that might interest you, re: our recent conversation.
- /u/abucci@buc.ci: check the comment above this
  I assume this creates a notification, idk.
  ~~test: /u/spacesatan@leminal.space~~ well it should work, there's an inbox tab for mentions. doesnt seem to trigger if it's in an edit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Adam_Walsh
This is what started this panic. A TV movie dramatization from 1983. At this point current parents largely weren't born yet so they don't even know how it started, they've just been raised into believing this is normal. It's not normal.
- It’s also because most suburbs don’t have sidewalks and cycle paths and often lack safe crossings. Residential roads are so wide that drivers speed all the time. So kids have to be chauffeured around. Since they can’t even walk or cycle to school or soccer practice safely. That’s how it became the norm for kids to never go out alone. And people wonder why kids stay indoors all the time and play videogames or doom scroll on social media.
- I think the real origins come from "do you know where you're children are?" PSA campaign during the Atlanta Child Murders in the 70s. My parents said they remember the whole country started locking their doors and were crazy about keeping their kids inside.
  
  So the PSA wasn't intended for that. It actually kind of only shows up late at night after most cities curfew and is supposed to be an anti-deliquency message, lol. The Atlanta Child murders are the other high profile case that happened right around Walsh's murder though. Both popped in the national news in around '81.
  What's important about the Atlanta Child murders is they were ALSO dramatized in 1985 after the success of the Walsh dramatization( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlanta_Child_Murders_(miniseries)). It was even more sensationalized and was specifically designed to fuel the panic. That's why I consider the Walsh precursor really the watershed point. It was, however, gradual from the '60s as the news media really found out how to exploit it.
  See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_children_panic for a more complete overview. You'll see this is also intimately linked to Reagan, the satanic panic, homophobia, and the political right.
- I mean, kid really did get killed... Weird to call it A TV dramatization.
  
  a show made up of real life events recreated in dramatic format for the TV is called a TV dramatization.
  settle down.
  
  It was the dramatization that did it though. That and John Walsh testifying to Congress with way off base figures about the dangers to children. The moral panic was media driven for ratings.

What in the sweet ever loving fuck is this shit?
State mandated helicopter parenting?
- The app they have to agree to use is “donating” to the police department… maybe, I dunno, but I wouldn’t be surprised if…

But I thought red states were bastions of freedom?
- What better way to oppress women than by making it illegal to not have your child with you.
  Women better get ready to be accosted by police asking where their child is - and if you don't have one you'll be entered into the police lottery where everyone at the station gets a chance bestow a child upon you before you can leave.
  
  Was a woman officer who initiated this.
- If you bury your head deep enough into propaganda to not see reality, they are!
- Once I moved to a blue city in a blue state, I realized how much freedom I actually have now. Being able to walk to bars/breweries and not be car dependent, but still have the option if I need it, being able to take my dog into restaurants as long as she’s well behaved, being able to lay in the park in the summer while drinking a beer or being high, hiking on substances… the list goes on.
- Blue Ridge Georgia is posh AF

From a very red state.
- Nothing says small government like the police demanding you install spy software on your kids phone.

From a boring dystopia to a holy fuck that's scary dystopia.

Imagine getting jailed unless you ground your kids 24/7. Pretty sure that used to be a punishment for kids, not a requirement.
I know this is probably not possible if I still wish to use English online, but does anybody know how to filter out news specifically form America? It's becoming less and less relevant to my life as America is becoming more and more like Russia. It's like yea, I know, the people are literal fascists, any additional details are just depressing.
- I had filtered loads of buzz words before I left reddit. Now going on without being signed in is nausea inducing. Block Trump & Elon for sure.
  I always felt reddit needed a grouping mechanism. I never in my life want to see anything related to baseball on my feed but I would have to block every one of their teams to make it work. Same goes for anime or manga or hentai or whatever all those drawings are.
  
  For anime I just used to block all communities that stumble across my feed(those were like 10 or so).

That would be admitting this country ain't safe enough for a child. Doomer world

When I was a kid I got kicked out of the house at 9am on the weekends with no cell phone; now walking less than a mile is grounds for parents to get arrested?

Jeez...assuming this is a true story and not embellished..
Early 90's. Latchkey kid. Come home from school to our Acreage out of town. Get on bike and ride to the nearest corner-store, which was a highway rest-stop a couple of kilometres away. I'd have to (SHOCK) cross the highway AND a railroad track of all things to get there!
My god why weren't my parents imprisoned!!!!
Do I need to add the /s tag, or is it clear enough?
- I was a latchkey kid starting at 8 years old. It was awesome, I could eat cereal and watch old episodes of Batman and Gilligan's Island

When I was 10, I was riding a bicycle to school 4 miles one way. When I got home, I unlocked the empty house with my own key, took the lunch money my mom had left for me, and rode 12 tramway stops into the inner city to buy lunch at McDonalds.
I'm not saying that's what it should be like, but I loved it, and I enjoyed my autonomy.
- I'm only 22 and even when I was a teen in Los Angeles I was allowed to pretty much go wherever I wanted, whenever, as long as I was back by 8. Went to Fry's Electronics a lot and that was 8 miles by bike! 16 for a round trip
- What's interesting, is what will the new kids talk about 'back in the days'
  "Back in my day I got arrested for going outside my doorstep".
  
  "My parents were taken away by the state to work in the mines and that's how I got put to work in these here mines."

By this logic, the movie 'Stand By Me' is kiddie porn.
- The Sandlot and the Little Rascals are every neighborhood's worst nightmare.
  
  I remember a kids' book written around 1965. The 12 year old hero travels from his home in Harlem to Penn Station by subway, buys a train ticket to Washington, and goes to the Lincoln Memorial unaccompanied.

He should have driven an F350 there what was she thinking!

My kids of 7 and 10 ride to school through the city (it's about a mile away, but my daughter went to another school 3 miles away before.
When we got to this new school, I rode with them for a month using different routes and shouting "look left", "stop here", as they weren't looking. Once they were able to lead me to school and back without complaints from mybside for a few times, I let them do it themselves. We just take turns kicking them out in the morning to ensure they're on time. It works, and they will grow into independent people.
I was cycling wherever the fuck I wanted when I was a kid. I'm fine.
For the context, we're in Denmark, and I'm originally from Russia

When I was 10 i was told to be home when the street lights came on. Otherwise my parents rarely knew where I was. Kids these days aren’t going to be able to function independently when they grow up if they can’t even take a walk on their own.
- Safety Warning - You just said "Kids these days." The next step down that slippery slope is "Get off my lawn!"
  This has been a public service from the Internet Safety Association.

Yeah like as if God forbids any kids run around without being continuously tracked by Life360.

I'm all for protecting kids, but this goes beyond the reasonable boundaries of the nanny state.
- The nanny state was the one we were warned about. This is much worse.

Reported to police for walking less than a mile into town on a road that was 25 - 35 mph speed limit...

Damn, I used to walk home from the bus stop that was 1/2 mile away when I was in kindergarten. These people need to calm down.
- Some of these same people will complain about how kids these days don't play outside.

I'm not saying this didn't happen, but I'm skeptical that it happened how it's being reported. It seems the only details are coming from the mother and her attorney, which is a red flag to me. It also sounds a lot like the self reported "discrimination" that some fundamentalist Christian influencer families have claimed, when they were indeed neglecting/abusing their children. In particular the Lott family (AmericanFamilyRoadTrip on socials) who live in a bus with their 8 children, don't get them medical attention unless forced, and recently got a "parents rights" attorney who sounded a lot like the attorney in this article.
I also find it odd that the sheriff of a town of less than 400 people would cause waves like this over an unfounded claim from a stranger. I'm curious to know what all this safety plan entails, because it could be a very reasonable plan and it's likely that DCFS just has to meet certain criteria before they can close the case.
Again, not saying it didn't happen, but the story seems like a good candidate for "missing reasons."
- the story seems like a good candidate for “missing reasons.”
  Which is interesting as it's coming from reason.com
  
  There's another fundamentalist influencer family, a conservative wannabe Eminem and his disturbingly meek wife. They also have a gaggle of children and have been investigated by DCFS. Oh and then there's the family that Shaq buys stuff for all the time, and the one whose oldest son is in prison for possession of CSAM, and the family whose grandparents were literal Nazis.
  These people all know each other, have all kinds of cronies, and spread all kinds of misinformation. I wouldn't put it past any of them to make a fake "news" website to back up their own claims, and name it something dumb like reason.com 😂

Meanwhile in Japan
- Honestly such a cute and fun show. It also does a good job of highlighting the culture difference. Not that the Japanese parents expect their kids to get across town on their own, but they do expect their infrastructure to be pedestrian-friendly and safe.
  
  Note that while there are certain things that young children can do in Japan because it's a generally safe society, that show is almost completely contrived. There's no cultural ethos of "the first errand" that your ~5 year old is tasked with doing as a mark of a stage of life.
  Cute show but the concept itself is as real as most reality TV in the states.

I want jail to not be the default setting in this country.
Maybe she's a shitty parent, but that's something that can be worked on. She can be taught. It's not like she's some kind of soulless paycopath going from house to house traumatizing all the kids. There is absolutely no need to lock his person up.
And now that she's locked up, the kid has no parent at all. Does anyone really think this is the best solution?
I wish my people weren't so fucking lazy. Do the work. Figure something else out. Find out how to address this individual's needs without just waving your hand and saying, put her in jail and move on.
- For what it's worth, she was "quickly" released on bail (the article doesn't say how quickly), and the prosecution is not seeking further jail time but rather for the mom to sign a "safety plan" (although not signing could indeed lead to a year of jail time).
  Your point is correct, but "the kid has no parent at all" isn't (currently) true.
  Edit: just saw the body-cam footage of the arrest, and wow, they really didn't seem to care at all about the fact that taking the mom to jail would leave the kids with no one to watch them, despite that ostensibly being the entire reason for the arrest.

Damn...

I rode my bike all around town when I was 10. No fone. Just friends when I got to the spot.

More and more 70s-90s SNL skits are coming to life for real.
First one I remember was when the Gillette Track 2 twin-bladed razor came out. The ads showed an animation of how the first blade pulls the whisker out slightly, then the second blade cuts it off, allowing what's left to snap back below the skin for a super-close shave. SNL made a parody ad for a triple-bladed razor where the second blade pulls it out even more and the third one cuts it. The slogan was: "the new Track 3 - because you'll believe ANYTHING!" Within a year there were actual triple-bladed razors.

Now the 10 year old can do everything alone

reason #947,632 not to have children.

Volunteered at a hospital in 10th grade for community service. Walked home 2.5 miles each time, partially along an expressway. I wasn’t allowed to have a cell phone because of the evils of screens (the Nokias had just switched to color, god forbid). It would’ve been weird not to walk home and wait hours until a parent was free when I lived that close. Shoutout to the eternally on-duty 7-11 employee Ray who sold me Gatorades.

Frack that Sheriff. Should lose her job, and they should investigate who called ?

This post and posts like this should be taken with a big grain of salt.
There's not enough information supplied.
- There’s not enough information supplied.
  Business Insider has a substantial paywall version. It's an essay from Brittany Patterson read to a Jane Ridley, verified by Business Insider.
  It's much more detailed and less flowery than Reason.
  Mother of 4
  Soren (tween in question) is homeschooled
  Had to take another 1/4 to the doctor
  Soren could not be found so they left him, they have 16 acres, she assumed he was outside
  She took 1/4 to the doctor
  Soren got bored and went to talk to a friend's grandmother that worked at a gas station, she wasn't there, he went to the Dollar Store, police brought him home.
  Was stopped by a concerned neighbor, he ignored her and kept walking. She called the cops.
  Deputy hauled her off, booked her and locked her up under arrest on a charge of wreckless conduct. Out on bail.
  wreckless conduct: Daring or bold, but also irresponsible Willfully disregarding rules, norms, or social conventions Showing a lack of concern for consequences or potential harm to others
  The deputy said it wasn't safe because it was a dangerous road. She said all kinds of things could have happened, including being kidnapped.
  30 MPH road
  Maybe he was doing something he REALLY shouldn't have been doing.
  Maybe they had it out for her for truancy vs homeschooling
  Maybe she REALLY pissed in the deputy's Wheaties,
  Maybe it's not the first time?
  Smalltown shenanigans, police overreach, nanny state neighbors are friends with the cops.
  Take your pick; it might make a nice bingo card.
  
  Thanks!

This is reason.com, famously a libertarian propaganda mill. Safe to completely ignore.