My Parents Were Criminals

I have a terrible confession to make: My now deceased parents were criminals. That’s right, criminals. Their crime: When I was a child they let me go outside to play (gasp) all by myself, completely unsupervised. Yes, I was allowed to walk to school, ride my bike, go to the park and explore the neighborhood – alone.

Thankfully all of that wasn’t exactly considered a crime back then so mom and dad escaped responsibility for their “wrongdoing.” All my friend’s parents were criminals then. They might not have been so lucky had they committed their “crimes” today.”

You see, today the statists who have taken over and trashed our fundamental liberties take a very dim view of any parents that let their kids do what I and all my friends were allowed to do as children. Now it’s considered a crime to let the kids go outside to play.

Danielle and Alexander Metiv of Montgomery County Maryland found this out the hard way recently when, after a two month investigation, the statist authorities found them responsible, i.e. guilty of what they deem as “unsubstantiated” child neglect for allowing their two kids to walk home from a park on their own.

The next time the CPS gets a similar report about the Metiv’s they’ll likely get the book thrown at them for their “crimes.” The finding of unsubstantiated child neglect means that a file will be kept on the suspects for at least the next five years. Yes, the authorities are watching them for letting their kids walk outside without adult supervision.

“We don’t feel it was appropriate for an investigation to start, much less conclude that we are responsible for some form of child neglect,” said Danielle. She and her husband plan to appeal and worry about being investigated again by CPS. “What will happen next time?” she wonders. “We don’t know if we will get caught in this Kafkaesque loop again.”

When CPS started its investigation, on the day the kids were picked up by the police for walking home from the park by themselves, Alexander Meitiv was asked to sign a form saying he would not leave them unsupervised again until CPS followed up. When he resisted, saying he wanted to talk to a lawyer, he was told that if he did not sign, the children would be immediately removed from the home.

He and his wife are considered by the statist authorities as criminal suspects for exercising their liberty in the United States of America. 

And I’m ashamed to admit that my own parents were criminals too.