State seizes 11-year-old, arrests his mother after marijuana school presentation | Hacker News Reader

State seizes 11-year-old, arrests his mother after marijuana school presentation

washingtonpost.com

68 pointsadamnemecek26 comments

You really do have to be careful what you educate your child about in the US it seems. If they know too much about sex ed' or drugs, you might get social services call on you (or worse they might make baseless accusations of sexual abuse or drug use).

But then again this is a country where letting your kids walk to the local park is grounds for social services and children being removed from their household. So the bar is obviously set extremely low and common sense plays little to no part.

PS - I wonder how long until letting your children play outside (rather than them watching TV/playing video games) is grounds for social services? A lot of people cite "kidnapping" as a justification for the park thing, so by that logic letting them outside out of sight is equally as dangerous...

I've had my kid brought home by the cops twice. Both times he was playing on the sidewalk less than 50 feet from our front door. What do you even say to a cop that thinks allowing your child to play in their own front yard unsupervised is dangerous? It's insane. You risk getting a visit from CPS if your child goes unsupervised at any point in time. In practice, it's rare, but not so rare that parent's like me and my wife don't worry about every time our kids run outside to play.

Things appear to have become so weird that letting your kids out to play has now gained its own label - "Free range parenting".

Which is really sad. I grew up outdoors, climbing trees, riding my bike wherever I wanted, going to the local park or woods with other kids, etc. I would really hate to see kids being denied the same opportunities due to unwarranted fear being driven into their parents or their communities.

It's not something I've encountered in Europe, where I spent most of my life, kids seem to be living pretty much the same as ever there, but reading about this stuff happening in the US is very sad.

It seems you guys forgot about "home of the brave" part.

It looks like the US nation is out of tune with its foundations.

It went missing right along with "Land of the Free".

I grew up only having to be home by dark, too, but putting a label on what used to be normal but is being lost is actually a GOOD thing! It's not sad. It lets you track the concept's popularity, and makes for catchy slogans like "Free range parenting is not a crime".

Without a catchy label, even those who believe in it (like me) have a hard time finding words to speak up whenever a helicopter parent is around.

Because it was so natural in my own childhood, it seems self-evident that children don't need constant 24/7 supervision (and it may actually be harmful) and so I find myself grasping when I encounter someone who believes the opposite (and there are plenty). A nice sound bite like "free range parenting" just might be the tool needed to combat this trend.

I'm surprised the women didn't use the three hours she had before the warrant was issued to dispose of the cannabis oil. It should have been clear that she was in a ver high-stakes situation. In modern America and throughout all of human history, it is shown time and time again that the state (little 's') can be a real motherfucker. Never let your guard down.

Yeah, that is a darn shame. Let's hope she manages to win this despite her mistake. :-)

What mistake? She has not done anything wrong according to this report. With only hearsay by a minor in a school setting, I'd be surprised (or maybe not ugh) if the warrant stood up.

s/mistake/slip-up/ perhaps, it's too strong a word.

Cannabis oil is seemingly illegal in her state, and as GP mentioned, she had three hours of warning to dispose of it, and failed to do so.

I too suspect the warrant will be discredited, that said.

True, and while it bit her in the butt, I suspect she was trying to stand for the principles that she believed in, and those that her son had just defended. For her to dispose of the cannabis oil would have been to admit it was wrong to have, and thus render her child's argument invalid. In effect, it would have been an act of betrayal.

A. Two ounces of cannabis oil is... not cheap. B. She may believe she has the moral high-ground (I do) and that attempting to destroy 'the evidence' would negate that.

That is bad advice. Hiding or destroying the oil would be prosecuted as obstruction of justice, regardless of the legality of the cannabis, and it would be futile because of evidence from receipts or discarded packaging.

Land of the free.

Seriously, America scares me and I would never visit it. It's a shame, really, the place looks amazing. I hope it will get fixed up in my lifetime...

Haven't visited America since the Patriot Act. A shame, really.

Good point. Stuff like this never happens outside of America!

Don't let the media scare you, the US is still a fine place to visit.

I've visited the US many times. You've little to fear as a visitor. There are a great many reasons to visit the USA.

With that being said, I haven't been back since the Snowden news broke and everything else that has followed. I'm not American, I can't vote there, I can't effect influence there, so my only way to protest the national and international actions of the USA is to not bring my tourist dollars there anymore.

Which is a shame because I've spent a lot of money on personal trips there, have enjoyed my times there, have met some really great people there, etc. but as it's my only form of protest that I can engage in, it's what I feel I have to do.

Please dont believe the hype you hear on the internet. The reality for 90% of people here is not what you read on HN, Reddit, or whatever news site.

May I ask what crime and problem free country you hail from?

It's the people that makes me afraid. Criminals I can deal with. Crime I can deal with. I think the American people are amazing. It's the police and government that I fear. I guess if I visit I would have to be careful in choosing what state I go to.

That being said, I'm from Canada and if Harper has his way, I won't have to worry about the lack of freedom and the excess of police power in the USA since it will be the same at home anyway.

You are much more likely to have an accident with a moose in Canada than be shot by our Police or targeted by our Government.[1]

In the past 10 years I have had exactly two encounters with the police in a negative fashion. One for going over the speed limit and once for an illegal turn. Most of them can be jerks but they are not out to get anyone.

Please dont believe the hype.

[1]http://www.nleomf.org/facts/research-bulletins/

That source only talks about cases where officers were shot, not cases where officers were the ones doing the shooting.

That first sentence should read "It's not the people that makes me afraid."

(Can't edit anymore)

Any 1st or 2nd world country with gun permits and police using their guns so rarely that when somebody gets shot by the police it makes national news.

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