• LetsRun.com
      your benevolent dictator
      • This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 12:58PM
      • LetsRun.com
        your benevolent dictator
      • Two Maryland kids, ages 10 and 6, were picked up by cops on their walk from home and their parents investigated by CPS because they let them walk the one mile home. Here is the article:
        http://www.washingtonpost.com/...story.html

        The kids often carry cards saying "I am not lost. I am a free-range kid." but didn't have them on them this day. Their mother said, "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"

        What do other US parents think?

        For a little international perspective, in Kenya there are likely hundreds of thousands if not millions of kids this age running/walking to school.

        In Switzerland at age 4 and 5 kids are encouraged to walk to school by themselves and teachers give kids saws to play on the playground with according to this article: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wh...ilds-boss/
    • SWAZ
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 10:13PM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • SWAZ
      • CPS needs to re-evaluate their priorities. They investigated my parents because they let me walk up and down the block when I was eight.
    • Bad Wigins
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 10:28PM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • Bad Wigins
      • Where are these cops when parents let their kids roam around on a track, which really is dangerous?
    • ain't no thang gurl
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 10:45PM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • ain't no thang gurl
      • I went a bit over a mile to and from school in middle school, usually on bike though. Never any problems and don't see the big deal as long as there are sidewalks
    • another hs coach
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 10:47PM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • another hs coach
      • i'd be more encouraged to hear about CPS investigating parents who don't let their kids walk to/from school.

        it's ridiculous that CPS is doing this. if your kids can't walk home from school, it's time to move to a new neighborhood.
    • Free range upbringing
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 11:02PM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • Free range upbringing
      • Ah yes, I walked to school uphill, one way about a mile, probably .75 mile each way - way home was downhill. I started in 1st grade! I was accompanied by my two older siblings. By the time I was in 3rd grade I was walking with the bad boys. I'd leave my house extra early and head off to meet my friends and we would go ballistic on the way to school. Somehow I feel like the bullies always picked on us after school on the way home. So, we went the long way to another kids house then home. I remember leaving the house in the am before it was light out and not returning home until after dark! A year or two later we got the NES and never left the couch after school.
    • nesnesnes
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 11:12PM - in reply to Free range upbringing
      • nesnesnes
      • Ah, those were the days, walked to school, played friend's sega master system during lunch time, walked home, played duckhunt/super mario on the NES, went out around neighbourhood after tea and found my friends trespassing on the school's roof. No one gave a hoot! :)
    • social media
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/15/2015 11:26PM - in reply to nesnesnes
      • social media
      • It only takes X amount of outrage on social media for a firm or government to change its policies or stance on an issue. If we gather all of the letsrun community to say this is bullsh*t, the police dept and CPS will issue an apology and dismiss any and all charges. With that being said, post away.
    • rojo
      co-founder
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 12:01AM - in reply to social media
      • rojo
        co-founder
      • A family member was recently robbed at knifepoint in Maryland by a 12 year old. I think a 10 year old is clearly capable of walking a mile to get home.
    • European
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 12:57AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • European
      • Ok, we all agree that these people are obviously totally nuts.

        But what I don't understand is how this works with the whole outdoor community.

        I'm very fascinated with this whole bushcraft/hunting/survival/tactical thing, and this is VERY big in the US, which seems to contradict each other.

        Can anybody explain to me how these two things fit together?
    • snoop buys a nail gun
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 1:34AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • snoop buys a nail gun
      • Bodymore, Murdaland
    • fadafsdfasf
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 2:42AM - in reply to European
      • fadafsdfasf
      • European wrote:
        Ok, we all agree that these people are obviously totally nuts.

        But what I don't understand is how this works with the whole outdoor community.

        I'm very fascinated with this whole bushcraft/hunting/survival/tactical thing, and this is VERY big in the US, which seems to contradict each other.

        Can anybody explain to me how these two things fit together?
        The US is a big country. Bushcraft/survival stuff is big in rural areas. Urban areas are namby-pamby wimps, as a rule. This CPS nonsense shows it.
    • European
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 3:13AM - in reply to fadafsdfasf
      • European
      • Ok, my first one was honest, but my second question is just for trolling:

        You americans are always complaining about the "communist/socialist" european countries, yet you have a government that tells you how you have to raise your kids?!
        Makes perfect sense to me...
    • Critical Thinking
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 4:31AM - in reply to European
      • Critical Thinking
      • European wrote:
        Ok, my first one was honest, but my second question is just for trolling:

        You americans are always complaining about the "communist/socialist" european countries, yet you have a government that tells you how you have to raise your kids?!
        Makes perfect sense to me...
        Here's a thought - maybe the people complaining about European countries would also disapprove of this behavior.
    • walk a mile
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 5:21AM - in reply to SWAZ
      • walk a mile
      • SWAZ wrote:
        CPS needs to re-evaluate their priorities.
        This. CPS is a government-funded entity with carte blanche to investigate (aka harass) whomever they wish with no hard evidence in hand. The organization has a vested interest in initiating investigations, warranted or not, as a way to drum up business and keep themselves employed. They complain that the system is overwhelmed and that more money is needed to hire more people, etc. It's a farce especially considering that the organization can't even adequately protect children who have been seriously abused from falling through the cracks. The organization needs a serious overhaul, but too many people/employees are profiting from the current system.
    • more to the story
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 5:47AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • more to the story
      • You have to understand that online newspapers make their money by getting people worked up over things so that they'll click links. As such, the reporting often isn't complete/objective. There's almost always way more to a story than is reported.

        Does it really make sense that two kids were picked up just for walking home from school before they'd even walked a half mile? Kids walk home from school pretty much everywhere, but you rarely hear about CPS being brought in.

        Something else was going on. Maybe the kids were doing something dangerous that isn't reported in the article.
    • Must Be
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 6:22AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • Must Be
      • These kids must be white as the cops apparently did not fear for their lives and then shoot them claiming the kids made furtive moves toward their waistbands.
    • 162430
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 6:30AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • 162430
      • This is ridiculous. Has the world really changed that much? By age 10, this is what my summer days looked like: wake up at 9:30, out the door by 10am, ride around all over town on my bike with my buddies, home at 5:30 for dinner, back out the door at 6:15, home by "dark". I never had any problems...
    • CPS engenders obesity
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 7:03AM - in reply to 162430
      • CPS engenders obesity
      • CPS to the rescue! Because, as we all know, allowing your kid to sit in front of the TV playing video games before/after school is FAR more healthy than walking outside in the fresh air.
    • runningart2004
      • RE: This Isn't Kenya: Maryland Parents Investigated by CPS for Letting 10 and 6 Year Olds Walk Home One Mile from School 1/16/2015 7:15AM - in reply to LetsRun.com
      • runningart2004
      • The problem is with the 6 yr old. 10 yrs old is too young to watch a 6 yr old for that distance. Also depends on the traffic on the road as well. I wouldn't let my daughter walk a mile home with just a 10yr old....would have to be at least a teenager.

        We let our 6yr old walk with other 6yr olds and 10yr olds down to the bus stop. But its only about a 1/4 mile and other parents are at the bus stop and its in the neighborhood not crossing roads for a mile.

        I would have to agree with CPS. Unless you have or have had a 6 yr old your opinion on this doesn't mean much.

        Alan