When I read this, I really thought it had to be a joke.
A soccer player walking to soccer practice resulted in numerous 911 calls. From BoingBoing:
From the Free Range Kids blog, the story of Lori from a small town in Mississippi, who sent her 10-year-old on foot to soccer practice, only to have him picked up by the cops, who reported “hundreds” of 911 calls by curtain-twitchers who were horrified at the thought of a 10-year-old walking a third of a mile to a local school. The cops told her she could be charged with child endangerment! After she complained to the cops, the local police chief called her to apologize and to reassure her that she lived in a safe neighborhood. The moral of the story: stand your ground when crazy people tell you that your kid needs to be swaddled in bubblewrap until she’s 22.
Click over to Free Range Kids to see the complete story. I also live in a fairly small town. Kids walk to practice here a fair amount, since our field are located near a number of neighborhoods. Especially the field rats who have been playing soccer since they were 4. Everybody knows them and often parents will give coaches or other parents a heads up that their child is coming and to watch out for them to arrive. In this case, the mother was already at the fields waiting for her son to come from home where Grandma was. We all raise our children differently, so not everyone will agree that what this mother did was right. But what shocked me was how many people, seeing a kid, presumably in soccer attire and with a ball, walking toward fields, would arouse so much concern. At least the police chief had some sense and handled the situation quite well.
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March 18th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
when I was a kid, I waked everywhere…even to soccer practice.
Would I let my kids? Probably not. first. I’m their coach and can drive them. Second, if you look on the local “registered Sex Offender” maps, there are about 10 between our house and the school where they practice. A few years ago, a R.S.O lived 2 doors down, when we found out, we wouldn’t let them out front without a watchful eye.
I’m alarmed by the fact that I need to watch over them so closely. If the situation were different, I would love to let them leave in the morning, and come back at bed time. This would give their friend’s parents a chance to feed them, and give us some cash flow relief. It’s the life that I grew up knowing, and society has taken that away from out kids.
Is it the cops duty to come calling? No! to serve and protect, that is the motto. If they are concerned about a kid walking to the field, they should load him into the squad car, and give him a lift…maybe turn the lights and sirens on for effect. It seems to me like they may be a little board in a sleepy little town.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
And see – that I get. I wouldn’t let my kids out either in that situation and would probably have bars on the windows. But if you as a parent have judged that it’s safe and you live in a small town, walking down to the local school for practice shouldn’t be cause to call the police. All very strange. Strange times!
March 19th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Wow, these must be the same neighbors who call 911 when they see me walking in a subdivision, never more than 10 feet away from my owner, without a leash. Either people need to start getting jobs or finding hobbies.
Sorry, I walk everywhere. I wouldn’t let the puppies walk around in a neighborhood with sex offenders, but I think this is just a case of nosey neighbors who probably just need to mind more of their own business and quit telling parents how to raise their kids.
Sometimes, it takes a village to butt the heck out!
March 24th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
LOL love that last line 🙂