'Free-Range' Mom Being Investigated by Child Services For Letting Her Children Walk to School [View all]
A mother under investigation for letting her two young children walk a mile home from the park by themselves has spoken out to publicly defend 'free-range parenting'. Danielle Meitiv appeared on the Today show Monday morning with her children Rafi, 10, and Dvora, six. Just before Christmas, the two children were walking about a mile home from a park near their Maryland home when police officers stopped them and asked why they were alone.
The officers escorted the Meitiv children home, launching a Child Protective Services investigation into Danielle and her husband Alexander's competence as parents. But Mrs Meitiv doesn't think she they did anything wrong in giving her children a little independence. The Meitivs describe themselves as 'free-range parents' who encourage their two children to take journeys without supervision in order to build confidence and teach them about the outside world.
Usually they have the kids carry around a card that reads 'I'm not lost. I'm a free range kid' but they left them behind that day when they went to the park that was a bit further away from their house. Someone saw the two kids walking alone and called 911, and about three police officers stopped the children as they were about halfway home. While Mrs Meitiv says her children assured the officers that they knew where they were going, the police escorted them home to talk to her husband, Alexander Meitiv.
Mrs Meitiv wasn't home at the time, but says the officers were aggressive to her husband, and that her son called her crying, fearing that he would be arrested. When Child Protective Services later showed up at the house, she says they threatened her husband if he didn't sign a form, promising to supervise his children at all times until a follow up appointment. 'He said I don't want to sign this without talking to a lawyer or talking to my wife. And she said if you don't sign this we're going to take the children right now and she called the police,' she said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2916878/We-just-doing-parents-did-Mother-investigated-letting-10-year-old-son-6-year-old-daughter-walk-home-defends-herself.html#ixzz3PJSCHxyj
= new reply since forum marked as read