Maryland family under investigation for letting their kids walk home alone

The latest case? A Silver Spring, Maryland, couple is facing a neglect investigation for letting their 10-year-old son and 6-1/2-year-old daughter walk home from a playground, about a mile from their house, by themselves on a Saturday afternoon in late December.

The story immediately brought to mind the South Carolina mom arrested for letting her 9-year-old daughter play at the park alone while she worked at a McDonald’s and a Florida mom arrested after letting her 7-year-old walk to the park alone.

Is it just me or have things suddenly gotten way out of hand when parents are being arrested — or investigated — for doing what was considered totally normal and appropriate just a few decades ago?

‘I’m a free-range parent’

I asked Danielle Meitiv, the mother at the center of this latest national story, about her parenting philosophy.

“The funny thing is, it’s so funny to call it a philosophy,” said Meitiv during a phone interview.

‘Brutally Honest’: When is it OK to leave your teen home alone overnight?

“In terms of crime, I lived in a more dangerous time period and my parents lived in a more dangerous time period … so it just never occurred to me that this has to be a philosophy.”

“My thought is if those of us who care for others would simply ‘keep an eye on’ children as we drive to and fro, they would be safe nonetheless,” said Beyer. “If you see a child walking and he or she is being approached by what seems to be a stranger, pull to the side of the road and ask if he or she is OK.”

But some parents are asking questions about how young is too young to leave kids alone, and how much one’s community should play in that decision.

Terry Greenwald, a father of three in Alaska, said, “In a small town where the parent feels their children are safe I’d understand a parent allowing some freedom, at least more so than someone living in a larger city.”

“The world is a dangerous place, though, and we all need to protect ourselves and our children, especially our children,” said Greenwald.

The Meitivs hope their story helps get the message out that parents today may too often overestimate the danger and underestimate their kids.

“Our children need the freedom to grow into the happy, healthy, confident adults we want them to be, so we should trust our kids more,” Meitiv said.

Do you think it’s OK to let children walk home alone at a certain age? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook.

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