Well, this sounds familiar. Remember Danielle and Alexander Meitiv: the two free-range parents who made national headlines after their kids were picked up by Child Protective Services as a result of a call someone placed to the police after seeing them (10 and 6 at the time) walking somewhere alone?
Their kids were picked up by CPS. Again.
FOX News reports Dvora and Rafi were scooped up by the police around 5 p.m. Sunday and brought to their county’s CPS branch after a neighbor saw them walking alone roughly 1/3 mile away from home and called the police.
Here’s the really crazy thing though: the police and CPS waited TWO HOURS before letting the Meitiv’s know they had their children in custody. TWO. HOURS. OF NOT. KNOWING. WHERE. YOUR. KIDS. ARE.
The Meitivs’ 10-year-old son told reporters they sat in the police car for about two hours before they were told they would be dropped off at home, but instead, they went to CPS in Rockville.
The Meitiv’s were able to get their children back around, oh, roughly 10 p.m. with a safety plan in tow, mandating they not leave their children unattended.
I’m sorry. I can completely respect different opinions about free-range parenting, i.e. whether it is safe or truly beneficial for children. What I can’t respect is sending parents into needless panic under the assumption that, just because they were walking in their neighborhood unattended, their parents don’t care about their safety.
It seems, from the looks of it, that the Meitiv’s will have to put an end to their free-range parenting for now, if not forever–lest they risk getting their kids taken away.
What do you think? Do they deserve it? Comment below.
