By Jack Day

Free Range Kids. That is the name of a group started by Lenore Skenazy, self proclaimed, World’s Worst Mom. It all began in 2009 when her then 9 year old son wanted to find his way home from a department store in New York City. After much preparing Lenore left him there one day with maps, money, and train passes, plus the kid had been dreaming of this moment for a while. Long story short, he made it home and since then Lenore has gone gone on to become an advocate for essentially letting your kid be a kid without worrying every second of the day.

Now to the video at hand. Parents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv are also believers of letting their children have more independence at a younger age, except where they live it is against the law. In the state of Maryland a child under 8 must be accompanied by someone 13 years of age or older at all times. The Meitiv’s children, Rafi and Dvora are only 10 and 6. This puts their beliefs as parents at odds with the state.

Like when they recently dropped the kids off at the park one mile from their home and let them play unaccompanied. The first time this happened, CPS let Alexander off with a warning, but the second time they took the kids for several hours and threatened to send them to foster homes. To comply the parents had to sign a safety commitment plan in which they were legally bound to uphold if they wanted to remain in custody of their children.

However, if you watch the video and listen to the Meitiv’s 10 year old son it is clear that this young boy is fairly mature for his age. So much so that he seems quite capable of looking after his 6 year old sister when the two are playing at the park. Of course, now I am assuming to know the boy’s personality from a video clip, so I won’t continue with that line of reasoning. There are certain factors though that one must take into account, like the ever intruding government with the broad definition of “doing the right thing” and of course that little thing about your personal rights as a parent.

It just seems to me that the battle between parents and the state is one that becomes more and more muddled. I don’t have kids, but I had two amazing parents. All I know is that by ten I was cruising ten miles into the city on my bike to pick up the latest comics and hit up Micky D’s for those Batman Forever Collectable cups I still proudly have to this day. What do you think about this issue? Please share your thoughts and stories, I’m sure you you have a lot to say.