Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

This is a direct result of the same government-think that allows
"gender affirming" care for kids without parental consent.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-02-22 11:44 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

I remember reading about a case where a woman was arrested because her
kids were playing in a park literally across her street while she was
doing household chores and watching them through the window. In another
case, the parents were arrested because their kids were playing in their
own back yard but unsupervised.

If today's "standards" had been applied when I was a kid, every parent
in town would have been arrested. I don't know of a single kid in our neighbourhood that was ever supervised in their own backyard. We were definitely "free range" kids. We were free to wander pretty much where
we wanted subject to our own whims. We were warned to be careful
crossing streets and we had to be home before the streetlights came on.

I was probably about 10 when my (younger) brother and I took the bus to
a movie downtown. We had enough for bus fare and the movie but we had
some kind of a mishap with the bus schedule and got to the movie after
it had started. We wanted to see the whole movie so we decided to wait
until the next showing, which got us home later than my mother expected.
I don't recall her being particularly freaked out, just baffled about
why we were so late. (I would have called her from downtown but the cost
of the phone call would have meant we didn't have enough money for the
bus home.)

A couple of years earlier, our parents had gone out to a movie and left
us home alone, with no babysitter. (I don't remember *ever* having a babysitter.) While they were out, all the power went out. It turned out
this was the great blackout tnhat hit the entire Northeast, including
large swathes of Ontario. The movie was cancelled but my parents had a
major challenge driving back because all the traffic lights were dead,
causing traffic chaos, so it took a while. I found a flashlight and kept
an eye on my brother while we waited for our parents to get home. If
anyone was genuinely freaked out, I don't recall it. I suppose we all
just went to bed eventually. I don't recall when the power was finally restored.

Nowadays, kids under a certain age HAVE to have babysitters when their
parents are away and not just anyone but a *certified* babysitter who is
a minimum age of 14 and has taken courses to prove they know what they
need to do if a child in their charge has a medical emergency or
whatever. I imagine that has helped save a life or two, especially as
kids these days seem to be much more sickly in terms of diagnoses like
ADHD and allergies, so that's obviously good. But what is all this
incessant supervision doing to the sense of independence and exploration
among kids? I fear it is putting them all in a frame of mind that
doesn't challenge themselves or explore things because they're all
waiting to be told what to do and what they can't do.

--
Rhino

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

On 2025-02-22 11:44 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the >>doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

I remember reading about a case where a woman was arrested because her
kids were playing in a park literally across her street while she was
doing household chores and watching them through the window. In another
case, the parents were arrested because their kids were playing in their
own back yard but unsupervised.

I had posted about a similar case. It was in a suburb of Chicago near me.
But the mother was defending herself against repeated, intrusive child
welfare investigations for over a year. She wasn't fighting criminal
charges.

. . .

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the
morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be (absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much *safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the
"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. When I was 10 years old, I had some weirdo pull up beside me in a black van while I was out riding my bike
and ask if I wanted a ride and kept trying to convince me to come with him. I told him to get lost and when he kept following me, rode toward the police station. Once he realized where I was going, he sped away.

The difference is that thanks to 24-hour cable news, now you hear about cases you never would have heard about back then. During those times, there were essentially only three channels on TV-- ABC, CBS, and NBC-- and they had only 30 minutes per day to bring you the news from the whole world. So the story about a little girl that got abducted in Idaho was pushed aside for a story about the latest incursion by the Soviet Union or the political battles in Congress. Then came CNN and 24-hour news and rather than have to cut stories, they were struggling to fill the schedule all day, every single day, and suddenly you started hearing about crimes you never knew had been occurring
the entire time and the perception was that suddenly there was an explosion of child molesters out there, hiding behind every shrub and tree trunk.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com>:

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the >>>doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for >>>the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless >>>endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>>to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the >morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd >end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for >dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our >parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away >riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be >(absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

Yeah. My mother just expected us to return "eventually", but don't be
late for dinner. I rode my bike all over the place. I once rode all the
north on Sheridan Road, which makes it through Kenosha but ends at the
south boundary of Racine.

I crossed the Cheddar Curtain and lived to tell about it!

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but >that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much >*safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the >"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Is this specific to being kidnapped by strangers or all child
abductions? I thought abductions by non-custodial parents were steady.
As far as adults in position of authority over the child, or a relative
or adult known to the family, I have no idea.

But one aspect of times are more dangerous today, well, if parents drive children to and from school at a school that was intended to have child
walk, the few children who walk are in danger of being struck by the
SUVs of the parents driving their kids.

When I was 10 years old, I had
some weirdo pull up beside me in a black van while I was out riding my bike >and ask if I wanted a ride and kept trying to convince me to come with him. I >told him to get lost and when he kept following me, rode toward the police >station. Once he realized where I was going, he sped away.

The difference is that thanks to 24-hour cable news, now you hear about cases >you never would have heard about back then. During those times, there were >essentially only three channels on TV-- ABC, CBS, and NBC-- and they had only >30 minutes per day to bring you the news from the whole world. So the story >about a little girl that got abducted in Idaho was pushed aside for a story >about the latest incursion by the Soviet Union or the political battles in >Congress. Then came CNN and 24-hour news and rather than have to cut stories, >they were struggling to fill the schedule all day, every single day, and >suddenly you started hearing about crimes you never knew had been occurring >the entire time and the perception was that suddenly there was an explosion of >child molesters out there, hiding behind every shrub and tree trunk.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped >>>WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/23/2025 1:02 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

On Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>> to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be (absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much *safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the "good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. When I was 10 years old, I had some weirdo pull up beside me in a black van while I was out riding my bike and ask if I wanted a ride and kept trying to convince me to come with him. I told him to get lost and when he kept following me, rode toward the police station. Once he realized where I was going, he sped away.

The difference is that thanks to 24-hour cable news, now you hear about cases you never would have heard about back then. During those times, there were essentially only three channels on TV-- ABC, CBS, and NBC-- and they had only 30 minutes per day to bring you the news from the whole world. So the story about a little girl that got abducted in Idaho was pushed aside for a story about the latest incursion by the Soviet Union or the political battles in Congress. Then came CNN and 24-hour news and rather than have to cut stories, they were struggling to fill the schedule all day, every single day, and suddenly you started hearing about crimes you never knew had been occurring the entire time and the perception was that suddenly there was an explosion of
child molesters out there, hiding behind every shrub and tree trunk.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

I don't like that Google now leads with its AI's response.
Nevertheless, here's what it said:

"Whether children are safer today is complex and depends on many
factors, including location, socioeconomic conditions, and individual circumstances. However, there are some signs that children are safer
today than in the past."

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2/23/2025 10:02 AM, BTR1701 wrote:

On Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>> to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

My grandmother would give me a note and send me to the corner store to
buy her a pack of cigarettes and they'd sale them to me too. I was 10
in 87 and don't recall where I was going then, but I do distinctly
remember in 89, when I would have been 12 hopping on the bus and
traveling all over the city to catch a movie.

And now that I think about it, when I was 10 I was in Elementary school.
I'm pretty sure I was dropped off every morning, but at some point I
know I would get myself home from school and that was over a mile trip
on the bus. The bell rang, school let out, and all of us Elementary
school kids hopped on the public bus and went about our business.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 18:02:50 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:

On Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> >wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>> to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

Oh I know.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the >morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd >end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for >dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our >parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away >riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be >(absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

I used to do the same. Around 9-10 years old and I would ride off down
the road for miles. Helped that we lived in a small town so being in
the country only took a few minutes ride on a bicycle. Hell, I can
even recall walking to the store when I must have been around six
years old. It was a common thing for all kids to do back then. No
helicoptering parents to be found anywhere.

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but >that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much >*safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the >"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. When I was 10 years old, I had >some weirdo pull up beside me in a black van while I was out riding my bike >and ask if I wanted a ride and kept trying to convince me to come with him. I >told him to get lost and when he kept following me, rode toward the police >station. Once he realized where I was going, he sped away.

The difference is that thanks to 24-hour cable news, now you hear about cases >you never would have heard about back then. During those times, there were >essentially only three channels on TV-- ABC, CBS, and NBC-- and they had only >30 minutes per day to bring you the news from the whole world. So the story >about a little girl that got abducted in Idaho was pushed aside for a story >about the latest incursion by the Soviet Union or the political battles in >Congress. Then came CNN and 24-hour news and rather than have to cut stories, >they were struggling to fill the schedule all day, every single day, and >suddenly you started hearing about crimes you never knew had been occurring >the entire time and the perception was that suddenly there was an explosion of >child molesters out there, hiding behind every shrub and tree trunk.

True as it really doesn't matter how many criminal cases occur. Only
what people think is happening. With the 24 news cycle and social
media knowing that what draws attention is bad news, its only natural
that is what they focus on. So at times it can feel like you will be
killed the moment you make the mistake of stepping outside.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:58:23 -0500, moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com>
wrote:

On 2/23/2025 1:02 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

On Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> >> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for >>>> the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>>> to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the
morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd >> end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for >> dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our
parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away >> riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be >> (absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but >> that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much
*safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the
"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. When I was 10 years old, I had
some weirdo pull up beside me in a black van while I was out riding my bike >> and ask if I wanted a ride and kept trying to convince me to come with him. I
told him to get lost and when he kept following me, rode toward the police >> station. Once he realized where I was going, he sped away.

The difference is that thanks to 24-hour cable news, now you hear about cases
you never would have heard about back then. During those times, there were >> essentially only three channels on TV-- ABC, CBS, and NBC-- and they had only
30 minutes per day to bring you the news from the whole world. So the story >> about a little girl that got abducted in Idaho was pushed aside for a story >> about the latest incursion by the Soviet Union or the political battles in >> Congress. Then came CNN and 24-hour news and rather than have to cut stories,
they were struggling to fill the schedule all day, every single day, and
suddenly you started hearing about crimes you never knew had been occurring >> the entire time and the perception was that suddenly there was an explosion of
child molesters out there, hiding behind every shrub and tree trunk.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

I don't like that Google now leads with its AI's response.
Nevertheless, here's what it said:

"Whether children are safer today is complex and depends on many
factors, including location, socioeconomic conditions, and individual >circumstances. However, there are some signs that children are safer
today than in the past."

I always read past the AI, Seinfeld responses that Google generates.
They literally say nothing.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

Which is bizarre since in my student days long ago I routinely walked
the mile to school in my grades 1-3 years. (For grades 4-7 I took the
bus as I was switched to a special 'gifted' enrichment program that is
today out of fashion even though dropout rates amongst the top 2% of
kids is considerably higher than the average school population)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 19:04:59 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

But one aspect of times are more dangerous today, well, if parents drive >children to and from school at a school that was intended to have child
walk, the few children who walk are in danger of being struck by the
SUVs of the parents driving their kids.

Yup - our municipality about 3 weeks ago allocated $ 1/4 million for
paid adult crossing guards SPECIFICALLY for that reason.

In our area much of the neighborhood was designed with main streets
(and clearly marked crosswalks) with cul de sacs with parks and trails
to allow kids to walk to school without having to cross arterial roads
except at those crosswalks.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 2025-02-28 04:49:48 +0000, The Horny Goat said:

On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

Finally, prosecutors decide not to proceed but charges are dropped
WITHOUT prejudice, which allows them to be refiled again within two
years of the incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0CKus1J1DU

Which is bizarre since in my student days long ago I routinely walked
the mile to school in my grades 1-3 years. (For grades 4-7 I took the
bus as I was switched to a special 'gifted' enrichment program that is
today out of fashion even though dropout rates amongst the top 2% of
kids is considerably higher than the average school population)

It's not really that he walked to the store alone, but that his mother,
nor the grandfather who was supposedly looking after him, didn't know
he had walked to the store alone.

Of course, most parents never know what their kids are doing most of
the time, unless they are "helicopter parents" who always keep their
kids within sight.

There are some sub-teen kids in New Zealand that are involved in ram
raids of stores at 1:00*am*. For example: <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sandringham-burglary-11-yr-old-the-alleged-driver-in-early-morning-ram-raid/XOEXFUWMRE6WO2GPWSQGAFZ7OA/>

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On Feb 23, 2025 at 11:04:59 AM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com>
wrote:

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com>:

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for >>>> the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old >>>> to walk alone.

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the
morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd >> end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for >> dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our
parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away >> riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be >> (absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

Yeah. My mother just expected us to return "eventually", but don't be
late for dinner. I rode my bike all over the place. I once rode all the
north on Sheridan Road, which makes it through Kenosha but ends at the
south boundary of Racine.

I crossed the Cheddar Curtain and lived to tell about it!

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but >> that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much
*safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the
"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Is this specific to being kidnapped by strangers or all child
abductions? I thought abductions by non-custodial parents were steady.
As far as adults in position of authority over the child, or a relative
or adult known to the family, I have no idea.

But one aspect of times are more dangerous today, well, if parents drive children to and from school at a school that was intended to have child
walk, the few children who walk are in danger of being struck by the
SUVs of the parents driving their kids.

Kids in my city aren't allowed to walk or bike or skateboard to school
anymore. The safety lunatics have eliminated that option from childhood in our town. The kids either have to ride the school bus or they have to be dropped off in a car. No walking, bike riding or skateboarding, because there's a pedophile lurking behind every bush. Since several of the schools in town are either in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods, this has resulted in the absurd situation where kids who literally live across the street from school have to be driven 50 feet from their driveway to the school driveway. If the kid walks out his front door and runs across the street to school, s/he gets detention.

Government: always making things better.

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On Sun, 23 Feb 2025 17:42:41 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

I remember reading about a case where a woman was arrested because her
kids were playing in a park literally across her street while she was
doing household chores and watching them through the window. In another >>case, the parents were arrested because their kids were playing in their >>own back yard but unsupervised.

I had posted about a similar case. It was in a suburb of Chicago near me.
But the mother was defending herself against repeated, intrusive child >welfare investigations for over a year. She wasn't fighting criminal
charges.

By those standards my Mom should have been locked up - the kids in our neighborhood were given free rein to play together in the neighborhood
from as soon as we got home to school and we all headed home after the
first mother in the neighborhood called them for supper.
(The system seemed to work well since SOMEBODY always heard the call -
even though we lived on the edge of a forest where there were known to
be 'critters' and there was one area of the forest we never went since
that area was used as a firing range during WW2 - the neighborhood
wasn't developed till the late 50s - and was considered an "UXO"
unexploed ordnance risk - and still is today)

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On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:43:52 +1300, Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com>
wrote:

It's not really that he walked to the store alone, but that his mother,
nor the grandfather who was supposedly looking after him, didn't know
he had walked to the store alone.

Of course, most parents never know what their kids are doing most of
the time, unless they are "helicopter parents" who always keep their
kids within sight.

When I was 10 I routinely was given money and sent to the grocery
store. Now to be fair the store was across the street - but it was a 6
lane street (now reduced to 4 but with 2 dedicated bus lanes) and I
was threatened with the fear of God if I tried to cross anywhere but
at the traffic light at the corner.

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On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:23:47 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:

Kids in my city aren't allowed to walk or bike or skateboard to school >anymore. The safety lunatics have eliminated that option from childhood in our >town. The kids either have to ride the school bus or they have to be dropped >off in a car. No walking, bike riding or skateboarding, because there's a >pedophile lurking behind every bush. Since several of the schools in town are >either in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods, this has resulted in the >absurd situation where kids who literally live across the street from school >have to be driven 50 feet from their driveway to the school driveway. If the >kid walks out his front door and runs across the street to school, s/he gets >detention.

In our area that's not legislated but the majority of parents are
doing so - which is a problem since MOST of the schools in our area
were built in the late 50s early 60s and about 2/3 of our elementary
schools were built on cul de sacs (often with short trails on the
opposite side of playing fields leading to adjacent streets many of
which were also cul de sacs) - with the result that when MY children
walked to school they walked on the sidewalk to the corner then down
the cul de sac (no sidewalks there) through the park at the foot of
the cul de sac then across the upper field to school.

(Now the kids are grown I often walk the dog along that route)

These days they have special drop off zones in front of the school and routinely ticket parents who get out of thei cars when dropping off
their kids at the curb to shorten drop off time.

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