photo credit: juliet_earth
Do you remember playing outside as a kid? We had a huge backyard with this old playhouse that was honestly not in very good shape. There was a creek running behind the house which was a fun place for us kids as you can imagine. We would spend hours exploring that creek. If we weren’t getting dirty in the creek, you could find us roller skating or racing each other in the driveway. I remember going down to a friends house and being gone for hours watching our favorite shows or playing video games. We had a pretty safe neighborhood.
I came across an article a couple days ago at Parenting about a Tennessee mom who was arrested for letting her children play outside unsupervised. She spent the night in jail and now faces class D felony charges for child abuse and neglect for letting her children play outside. She walked them to a park that was a block and a half away and then went back home. After they didn’t come home later that evening she got worried and had a friend go search for them and called 911. They turned up at a friends home nearby and were picked up by the Department of Children Services.
This really hits home for me right now because my daughter, who is 5, has just discovered the fun of playing outside this spring. We have been very watchful of her anytime she is outside. One of us has to be outside watching her and we don’t let her go inside anyone’s home. Even her going 2 houses down concerns me. I prefer to see her at all times. We’re still figuring out the boundaries and rules.
This playing outside stuff is so new to me and I’m curious about what you think. So here’s the questions that I have for you:
At what age did you allow your child to play outside by themselves?
What were the rules that you set?
Do you think the charges against this mom are fair?
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I think they are fair. What mom in her right mind would take her two little kids to a park and go home and leave them there! We have a park not far from our house and one just down the street from my moms and I would never leave them there alone! I really thought this was going to say that she left them in her backyard playing by themselves. I just now will let my almost 6 year old play outside ( in our backyard w/ an 8 foot fence and dog) alone. And even still I usually keep the back door open. Especially if my 3 year old is out there playing with her. But they know the rules – no climbing in the playhouse to do the tall slide or doing the monkey bars.
You would not leave a 5 and 8 year old home alone without a baby-sitter (at least I wouldn’t) so you definitely shouldn’t leave them at a public park alone! I agree with the mom being arrested. And there is a definite difference in playing outside where Mom can glance out the window and see you or hear you if you cry and being a block away.
I grew up playing all over the neighborhood. We would spend hours skating on the smooth driveway at the fire department.Climb in our neighbors most awesome tree, Play at my friends etc. But the truth of the matter is this. When I was groing up my parents knew everyone in ourto neighborhood by their first names. Do any of us even know our neighbors two houses down? And unfortunately times have changed, people have changed. Respect has gone out the window…for parents, teachers,elders, police…everyone. We live in a constant state of fear and panic that someone is out to harm or take our children from us. Including our neighbors. Gone are the days…
All that rambling leads to this…in this day and age you have to be crazy to let them be so far out of sight. I am not surprised by the charges.Did she really not think the police would be called?