Maryland parents may be charged with neglect for allowing their children to walk a mile. Danielle and Alexander Meitiv have attracted the attention of police and Child Protective Services, not because they are bad parents, but because they allowed their ‘free-range’ children to walk one mile home unaccompanied, in their own neighborhood and with parental consent.
The children’s mother said her children have walked around the block together, gone to a nearby 7-Eleven and to a library about three-quarters of a mile away. Of her children, Danielle said, “We wouldn’t have let them do it if we didn’t think they were ready for it they have proven they are responsible,” she said. “They’ve developed these skills.” And, I might add…They are adorable and obviously devoted to one another.
The fateful one-mile walk took place on Saturday afternoon December 20, when the children,10-year-old Rafi and 6-year-old Dvora were allowed to walk from Woodside Park to their home, a distance of one mile, in an area the children know well.
Apparently, someone saw the children, and being unused to seeing children utilizing their legs for locomotion, the neighbor phoned the police. Police intercepted the children halfway home, and picked them up.
The Meitivs say their son told police that he and his sister were not doing anything illegal and are allowed to walk. Usually, their mother said, the children carry a laminated card with parent contact information that says: “I am not lost. I am a free-range kid.” The kids didn’t have the card that day.
Who knew? We were all ‘free-range kids.” Only in this day and age would it be something radically different, with a wacky name that puts you in mind of pricy poultry.
This incident is a small battle in a much larger war. The Meitivs say they believe in “free-range” parenting, a movement that has been a counterpoint to the hyper-vigilance of “helicopter” parenting, with the idea that children learn self-reliance by being allowed to progressively test limits, make choices and venture out in the world. By contrast, the children of many helicopter parents rarely set foot on the ground, so often are they in the family SUV en route to school and other activities.
“The world is actually even safer than when I was a child, and I just want to give them the same freedom and independence that I had — basically an old-fashioned childhood,” she said. “I think it’s absolutely critical for their development — to learn responsibility, to experience the world, to gain confidence and competency.”
What do you think? Is it possible that the world today is as safe as it was twenty or thirty years ago? It is possible that dangers have always lurked, but that we weren’t as aware of them, without the constant media coverage that we have now. On the other hand, do you feel that the world is much more dangerous?