Liberal Leave: Maryland 'Free Range' Kids Taken Into Custody Again
 

Maryland 'Free Range' Kids Taken Into Custody Again

Apr 13, 2015, 12:21 PM ET

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Two children in Silver Spring, Maryland, Sunday were taken into custody again after they were found at a park alone; their parents are proponents of what's known as "free-range parenting," a philosophy that encourages kids to explore their independence.

Officers responded to a report of children without an adult at a park Sunday afternoon, according to The Associated Press, and took the 10-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl to Maryland Child Protective Services.

The children have since been released to their parents, Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, Montgomery County police told ABC News today.

Danielle Meitiv did not immediately respond today to an ABC News request for comment, but she posted on Facebook Sunday night she and her husband were allowed to bring their kids home after signing a "safety plan."

No charges were filed but the incident is being investigated, the AP reported.

Danielle Meitiv posted on Facebook this morning that the "police coerced our children into the back of a patrol car, telling them they would drive them home. They kept the kids trapped there for three hours, without notifying us, before dropping them at the Crisis Center, and holding them there without dinner for another two and a half hours."

"We finally got home at 11 p.m. and the kids slept in our room because we were all exhausted and terrified," she wrote.

Maryland law says that children younger than 8 must be under the care of a person who is at least 13, according to Child Protective Services.

Earlier this year, the Meitivs were "found responsible for unsubstantiated child neglect" by state Child Protective Services after they were investigated for allowing the children to walk home alone from a neighborhood park about one mile from their home, authorities said.

"We are shocked and outraged that we have been deemed negligent for granting our children the simple freedom to play outdoors. We fully intend to appeal," Danielle Meitiv told "Nightline" via email at the time. "We also have no intention of changing our parenting approach."

It all began in December when police stopped the kids as they were walking home from a park without an adult, and gave them a stern warning. Child Protective Services then accused the Meitivs of neglect, saying unless they committed to a safety plan, the kids would have to go into foster homes.

No criminal charges were filed and a Maryland State Department of Human Resources spokeswoman would only say at the time that the case would serve as "a point of reference that will be used in any future decision."

In a previously aired "Nightline" interview, Danielle Meitiv said, "Frankly I think that raising independent children and responsible children and giving them the freedom that I enjoyed is a risk worth taking."

"In the end, it's our decision as parents," she added.

What a bunch of woosies running the .gov up there, but then again, what with all the criminals/child molesters running the streets these daze....

We used to ride our bikes all the way to Georgetown from Bethesda/Silver Spring....it's about a dozen miles....one way....easy ride down, but tough pedaling on way home....uphill....

:issues::rofl:

And yet when one of them is kidnapped the first thing the parents will do is scream at the police for not doing their job.

I read in a related article that MD law requires a child under 10 to be supervised by someone over 13, so the law is being violated here. Now, the question is, who passed that law and who has not repealed that law? Those are the folks to be upset with.

In any event, the whole thing is sad.

I wonder what time the state thinks is an acceptable bedtime.. :island14:

And what TV shows are allowed to be watched? :island14:

I sure hope PB & Jelly is still ok for lunch now and then? :island14:

:iagree:

What about the mom who dangled her child over the Cleveland Zoo cheetah exhibit and accidentally dropped him into the exhibit? Is CPS involved with that one?

Apparently cheetahs are safer than walking home.

I disagree. These parents know the risks of allowing their kids to have a childhood that they had, that I had, and perhaps you had too, and are willing to accept them. Having said that, the lesson the kids have learned here seems to be that "stranger danger" is a lot less likely than "police danger."

This is no different than seat belt laws. I grew up without seat belts, car seats, etc., yet if I was growing up today my parents would have been charged with child abuse. At some point, we need to stand up and say the nanny state is wrong and return to the time when America WAS great, where personal freedom and personal responsibility were the order of the day.

Maybe next time the kids will run from the cops. Hopefully, the police won't shoot children in the back. The kids already found out the police lied to them and are NOT their friends.

Having said that, those officers were just doing their jobs. I just disagree with the law. We do need a metric to determine if parents are neglecting their kids, but catching the kids walking home from a park shouldn't be de facto proof of neglect.

These kids were in a park by themselves??!?!!??!?!?! :willy: :willy:

At 10, my friends and I were running all over town. Look at me. I'm still here.


Are there actually people here who DIDN'T go outside by themselves at 10 years old?



Hell, I was only a year or so older than that when I started driving dad's truck up the road to the store for groceries. :leaving:

Oh, the horror...


Nice world we're living in.

If not they need to be..

That stupid woman needs a brain check...

I remember at 5 walking home from kinder school..

It was only a few blocks away but Mom wanted me to actually learn things, like.. the way home, our address, and phone number ax9-2938

I do know for awhile she would be off in the distance watching to make sure I was ok cause I busted her.. but made me feel like a big kid doing it all by myself.

:cert:

It's Maryland, AKA Cali East. They tax rain fer crissakes! The only surprise is they haven't yet passed a law approving what direction we wipe our asses.

Whoa. Channeled Gene for a minute there...

Brake cleaner. It's the only thing that will wash that off.

...and not that green weenie ecotard friendly crap.

Root Cause: we have child molesters roaming the streets.
Solution: terminate child molesters.

sadly true. :(

Apparently, Cheetah mom is an executive at a company called Kinder Care...

My son lasted 2 weeks there, cried every day until we took him out...

That is a very dangerous thing for impressionable children to learn, MHO. That being said, my point that I was trying to get across would be that if the kids were kidnapped while "free-ranging", a parental condemnation of the job performance or lack thereof by the police would be far more likely than calm acceptance of the fact that they exposed their kids to increased risks and got bitten.