When Mothers Get Arrested for Mothering | Hacker News Reader

When Mothers Get Arrested for Mothering

theatlantic.com

21 pointsJtsummers11 comments

Something similar happened to someone in my area who was letting her kid play alone at the playground inside the apartment complex. She even had the door open so that she could hear her child playing, but CPS said that she should be able to see her child at all times. I guess it's illegal to have children, if you're blind.

Wanna solve this problem and a dozen more? Make all inbound tips to government public record after a cooling off period.

If you really believe a restaurant needs the health inspector or some family needs CPS or your neighbor needs a visit from the permitting office you oughta be willing to put your reputation to that. When you call the government you are setting in motion a chain of events that can have serious financial consequences and that is both a matter of public interest and something that should not be taken lightly.

I'll entertain an exception for "serious criminal matters".

Edit: Also worth noting that courts bear a lot of responsibility for these sorts of situations where because for a hundred years they've been loathe to apply people's 4th-8th amendment rights to the targets of abuse by any agency short of literal gun toting door kicking law enforcement. Though ironically that's not what happened here CPS has been curtailed by law so the cops just twisted some other statute to get her.

Man, american culture on parenting seems insane coming from an European perspective. It's like everyone is legally required to be an obsessive helicopter parent. But I guess it makes sense given the people there walking around in public.

We should allow kids to roam more. But their specific example of a couple letting their 5 year old go to the pond a couple blocks away without supervision is borderline. My spidey senses go off much more when water or pools are involved.

There are a number of more clear cut examples in the article.

A pond is not as dangerous as a pool unless the child is likely to swim in it.

the thing about "borderline" and "spidey sense" is that in no way should that ever lead to someone being arrested or forced to register as a child abuser, but it did. the entire point of the article is that these sorts of nebulous situations are being treated the exact same as undeniable abuse, and that's the problem.

its a pond in a gated complex. If they can swim its no danger.

When we were kids we, so most of the kids from the neighborhood, would spend all day down at the beach with no adults around. When it was time for dinner the family that owned the house at the top of the hill would draw the curtains in the living room, which was visible from the beach, to tell all the kids to head back home. No-one ever drowned, died, or got swept out to sea in the inflatable boat we had. And none of the parents batted an eyelid at this, it was normal for kids growing up near the ocean.

As a policy person who worked on child welfare issues for two decades, I'd be interested in knowing more about the incidence of child abuse and neglect in the municipalities mentioned in the article. I'd also be interested in hearing about the policy and practice discussions had by elected and appointed officials, advocates, and parents. These practices and approaches come from somewhere.

Sounds like these cops went on a power trip. They weren't listening to anyone or acting with logic or reason - they just wanted to arrest and prosecute someone.

CPS is such a disease. Bunch of power-tripping freaks.

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