Parents investigated for neglect after letting kids walk home alone

originally posted by: Texas67r
a reply to: Shamrock6
Montgomery County Has A Lot of Rich people in it as the medium house hold income is 100k to 200k Living in silver spring is Not a bad area however some of the super Rich may think so but you still have to dish ok 500,000k to own a single family home in Montgomery County Md... So No CPS in this county is Corrupt .... What I am saying do any of you think these kids deserve to be taken from their parents? For Walking home . We have a friend's that are foster parents my wife went to a meet and greet at McDonald's where the foster moms get together she came home horrified...One fost parent told my wife she only fosters teens locks them in their room after they get home from school and has a lock on her fridge and pantry? We have a large family and Would Never do that ?

Growing up, my best friend in high school, her mother was a correctional guard. Ugh! That woman was a witch through and through. My friend was the oldest of 6 kids. They had a lock on the freezer and fridge. There was also a lock on the pantry door. Every single morning their mother made them oatmeal with no sugar. The lock on the pantry? To prevent them from getting to the sugar to sweeten their oatmeal. No milk from the fridge either to cool it down or flavor it. If they refused to eat their oatmeal? It went into the fridge, to be placed in front of them for dinner, ice cold. Cleaning day, oh even better. She would put her white gloves on from her dress uniform and go through the house and quite literally do a "white glove" routine. And speck of dirt that showed on her gloves, and they would have to start cleaning all over again, even if that section had "passed her inspection". She was just as witchy to inmates. If they were transferring to another prison, she always had baby powder and shampoo handy. As soon as their clothing bag came her way, she would dump the baby powder throughout the bag, shake it up all over, then squirt the shampoo in there. Yeah, she was a real gem! And she was VERY good at hiding it! Is it any wonder her kids were constantly at my house spending the weekend or whatever to get away from her?

originally posted by: texasgirl
I'm of two minds on this. First of all, just like with most posters on here, I had the freedom to play with kids on the block, walk to school, ride bikes to the local ice cream shop, etc...I had the best time as a kid and, to this day, cherish the freedom I was given.

But we had pedophiles, rapists and murderers back in the 70s and 80s, too. Remember Dean Corll? He killed a bunch of kids and rented a shed to bury their bodies. What about Adam Walsh? The boy who was taken from a dept store and murdered. And there was Johnny Gosch. He was taken while delivering morning newspapers (I have a personal experience with this; I babysat for his aunt)

I just wonder that, if we had internet and 24 hour news back then, would our parents have been so trusting? Hearing about so many abductions, rapes and murders these days is a little shocking. Right now, in a suburb of Dallas (Plano) we have a woman whose friend walked her to her car in the early morning and disappeared.

Maybe, just maybe...they would've thought twice about allowing us to walk to school or to the park alone.

For us, this was the most famous case back in the day. We lived on the outskirts of Modesto, CA when this happened. After w heard about this, we were a lot more cautious. I'm sure having local teens from the high school playing pranks on us kids walking home from elementary school did not help to ease our fears. They acted as if they were going to abduct us, then speed off when we take off running down an alley.

a reply to: WCmutant

I am split on this. On the one hand I find the government inserting itself at every turn with regard to people's personal lives and choices is quite excessive. However, on the other hand. There is no way in hell I would allow children of that age to walk alone anywhere. Not when I was a kid or now. The world is a scary place and no matter what you do bad things can happen but when you don't mitigate the possibilities of harm to your child where they are obvious then there is an issue to be addressed.

I would find it much wiser that family members of the parents gave them a what for rather than the State sticking there nose in though.

originally posted by: Flint2011
a reply to: WCmutant

I am split on this. On the one hand I find the government inserting itself at every turn with regard to people's personal lives and choices is quite excessive. However, on the other hand. There is no way in hell I would allow children of that age to walk alone anywhere. Not when I was a kid or now. The world is a scary place and no matter what you do bad things can happen but when you don't mitigate the possibilities of harm to your child where they are obvious then there is an issue to be addressed.

I would find it much wiser that family members of the parents gave them a what for rather than the State sticking there nose in though.

I agree. I have no problem with adults knowingly putting themselves in risky situations but the children have no choice. Essentially, the parents are calculating that the risk is low enough that they're willing to risk their children. Do they have a right to do that? Mixed feelings.

When I was a child we did wander around quite freely during daylight hours, but that was a time when all the parents in the neighborhood knew each other and all the children and looked out for all of us (and reprimanded us when necessary). We packed lunches and spent the day in the woods, too, but our parents had a general idea where we were. We did learn practical things but not so much about the dangers some adults posed. It's pretty hards for kids to learn that until it's too late. Despite our freedom, we also did incredibly stupid, high risk things at the age of ten and older.

a reply to: shaneslaughta

Are you a sissy?? Just asking, because 25% of the kids at Finger lake elementry school in Wasilla Ak walked to school or rode their bikes. Up to, or more thana mile...that was well over 20 years ago. It still happens here. But shhhhh. Don't need city morons coming up here to change our culture


You city folk are such a funny breed of human specie.

I'm surprised you don't walk you kids on a leash and scoop their poop... Oh wait... You guys do do that with your animals and children. Strange and more reasons I live like a real man in the woods

originally posted by: AK907ICECOLD
a reply to: shaneslaughta

Are you a sissy?? Just asking, because 25% of the kids at Finger lake elementry school in Wasilla Ak walked to school or rode their bikes. Up to, or more thana mile...that was well over 20 years ago. It still happens here. But shhhhh. Don't need city morons coming up here to change our culture


You city folk are such a funny breed of human specie.

I'm surprised you don't walk you kids on a leash and scoop their poop... Oh wait... You guys do do that with your animals and children. Strange and more reasons I live like a real man in the woods

With a computer.

a reply to: Tangerine

Im not a dirty hippie.

Just because I have a computer. Does not mean I can't live out of the city. See my avatar? That's my back yard. On the other side of that ocean is Ft. Richardson Air Force Base. And if my kids had to take a boat there to school.... At 12 they would do it them self, lol

If a city folk was to stay at my house... They would be scared out of there mind.
If you have never been in my neck of the woods, and saw how far children walked..... Someone like you would try to jail half the community I live in.

Again, you city folk are a joke

Although I did walk everywhere as a child many moons ago, I personally wouldn't feel good about letting children do it this day and age, don't think it is a crime though.

my two cents

"Many children are going missing from Child Protective Custody supervision, all across this country, with no record of what has happened to the thousands of missing children."

State Sponsored Child Sex Trafficking

If I were these parents, I would investigate every aspect of this wacko's cps workers life and set out to destroy the busy body..

Those of you saying "That was back when the adults in the neighborhood knew everyone else...", why don't you know your neighbors? Get off your butts and go walk around. Meet the people you live next to. Have block picnics and get togethers. Come on people! Introduce your kids. Let the neighbors know you would appreciate them watching out for them and that you will be happy to hear any news they might have.

Why haven't you already done this? How can you live somewhere and not take the time to know the people you are rubbing shoulders with? To me this is totally asinine!

originally posted by: AK907ICECOLD
a reply to: Tangerine

Im not a dirty hippie.

Just because I have a computer. Does not mean I can't live out of the city. See my avatar? That's my back yard. On the other side of that ocean is Ft. Richardson Air Force Base. And if my kids had to take a boat there to school.... At 12 they would do it them self, lol

If a city folk was to stay at my house... They would be scared out of there mind.
If you have never been in my neck of the woods, and saw how far children walked..... Someone like you would try to jail half the community I live in.

Again, you city folk are a joke

I didn't call you a dirty hippy or any other name. You have made huge assumptions about me. You have no idea where I live or where I have lived in the past. You have no idea about what scares me or doesn't. You have no idea what I would want done if I lived where you live. You said you lived in the woods. I simply pointed out that you were living there with a computer. You seem to have confirmed that and be somewhat sensitive about it.

a reply to: Montana

This is something that we ourselves do over time as we get to know a new area. In our last 2 residences, we knew all of our neighbors. One neighbor even used to carpool with my husband from time to time when the weather was bad (he was a pretty awesome guy anyway, very nice person) Our previous next-door neighbor, we knew her & her son very well, my husband used to do all kinds of little home repairs & upgrades for them when they needed something fixed or replaced. We had one neighbor that used to bring home excess milks from her school cafeteria job & gave them to our kids, another even helped us move in way back in the day (I was due with our first any day at that time) and he chatted nearly daily with us coming & going for all the years we lived there. It's always a huge plus to know your neighbors, you end up making some good friends that way.

a reply to: Tangerine
I was generalizing the majority of the kitty soft paws here... I did not mean to direct my comment to you. Sorry for that.lol

And I have a phone too lol

Sorry friend.... I can be ICECOLD sometimes, lol

originally posted by: WCmutant

I've said it before and I will say it again, change will come when it's painful and the two things that you don't mess with of someone's are 1. their kids and 2. their money.

Wasn't my kids, and wasn't my money. *Turn off news* /sarcasm

Until that attitude changes, there will be no change.

originally posted by: Montana
Those of you saying "That was back when the adults in the neighborhood knew everyone else...", why don't you know your neighbors? Get off your butts and go walk around. Meet the people you live next to. Have block picnics and get togethers. Come on people! Introduce your kids. Let the neighbors know you would appreciate them watching out for them and that you will be happy to hear any news they might have.

Why haven't you already done this? How can you live somewhere and not take the time to know the people you are rubbing shoulders with? To me this is totally asinine!

Can't do that right now... The Bachelor is on.

originally posted by: EternalSolace

originally posted by: WCmutant

I've said it before and I will say it again, change will come when it's painful and the two things that you don't mess with of someone's are 1. their kids and 2. their money.

Wasn't my kids, and wasn't my money. *Turn off news* /sarcasm

Until that attitude changes, there will be no change.

This raises the fundamental question of whether children have rights that can supersede the rights of their parents to have authority over them. Do parents have absolute authority to raise their children as they wish? If so, this implies that children are property. Are children property? Should they be property?

a reply to: Montana

LOL...

I remember one time coming up and my mom started balling me out saying that she knew I crossed the bridge (we had two bridges that crossed the river over to the other side of town and they were a few miles away! There was no way I crossed them and I told her that I hadn't but well she kept on insisting griped more about me lying to her and grounded me.
Well it ended up that she apologized to me a few days ago. I wasn't seen crossing those bridges but rather the on that was closer to my house that I had to cross to go to the store or school or even to alot of my friends houses and it was her who asked me to go to the store for her that day.

When I say that everyone knew each other I didn't mean just everyone in my neighborhood but rather everyone in the danged town and beyond! At least enough for her to know where I was no matter where I went!

originally posted by: dawnstar
a reply to: Montana

LOL...

I remember one time coming up and my mom started balling me out saying that she knew I crossed the bridge (we had two bridges that crossed the river over to the other side of town and they were a few miles away! There was no way I crossed them and I told her that I hadn't but well she kept on insisting griped more about me lying to her and grounded me.
Well it ended up that she apologized to me a few days ago. I wasn't seen crossing those bridges but rather the on that was closer to my house that I had to cross to go to the store or school or even to alot of my friends houses and it was her who asked me to go to the store for her that day.

When I say that everyone knew each other I didn't mean just everyone in my neighborhood but rather everyone in the danged town and beyond! At least enough for her to know where I was no matter where I went!

I follow the gist of your post but am at a loss as to understand what "I remember one time coming up and..." means. What does one time coming up mean? I've never heard that expression before. Just curious.

Yes, I remember when everyone in town knew everyone else. There may still be some places like that but those who suggest that everyone should know all their neighbors for miles around today are forgetting how highly mobile society is. Very few people still live in the communities where their parents and grandparents spent their whole lives.

originally posted by: Tangerine

Yes, I remember when everyone in town knew everyone else. There may still be some places like that but those who suggest that everyone should know all their neighbors for miles around today are forgetting how highly mobile society is. Very few people still live in the communities where their parents and grandparents spent their whole lives.

No one is talking "miles around" but certainly you should seek out, meet, and get to know those people who live in the area your children would be allowed access to. This seems only common sense to me, and I haven't heard a good reason not to do this yet.

I don't understand why it matters if a person lives in the same place as their grandparent? Does it take fifty years to go and meet someone? It just sounds to me as an excuse to remain uninvolved. Too much effort to interact with those around us. Not me, I want to know who lives across the street, down the block, and on the street over.

Kinda like I live in a community or some such.

a reply to: shaneslaughta

yeah, because the state really knows best on how to care for a child..

"We don't know if they're alive or lost or how many are at risk of other kinds of injuries," said David Bazerman, an attorney who represents foster children for Legal Aid Services of Broward County. "We don't know what's going on with them. That's not acceptable."

articles.latimes.com...