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- cross-posted to:
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Not the first time this has happened either, here’s another similar case in Atlanta: https://abcnews.go.com/US/mother-boy-killed-hit-run-driver-probation-community/story?id=14158040
I agree that kids shouldn’t be raising kids.
But these kids were simply walking a few hundred meters from the store to their home in broad daylight, while on the phone with their father, and were old enough to be doing so.
This would be considered completely normal in any other country.
It’s also important to note that I don’t believe any city, state, or country has minimum age laws for kids to walk. Staying at home alone or in a car? Yes, but not walking (or playing outdoors, or riding a bike, etc.)
So for the courts to charge the parents with child neglect and manslaughter seems wildly unbalanced.
A 10 year old is not old enough to be responsible for a 7 year old, so no, they weren’t old enough to walk home together. The 10 year old walking by themselves would have been safe, adding a 7 year old made the situation unsafe.
The dirty secret of the capitalist nuclear family is kids are always raising kids while the parents are busy at work or doing housework or struggling to recover from work. It’s not really the parents’ fault.
We obviously have different perspectives, and experiences, but maybe we can distill this.
Say your property was massive. Would you be OK allowing a 10 and 7 year old play together, or would you want an adult to be there?
I think most people would be OK with that, even in a much smaller front yard, or a cul de sac, or park.
Assuming no predators (humans or animals), the only real concern is cars. And it’s maddening that we won’t allow kids to be kids because of cars in any given community.
Just the other day, there was a story if a teenager getting hit and killed by a car on school property. Cars are the problem. Nearly 100% of the time.
And it’s not the parents or kids’ fault that they want to interact with their community outside of a vehicle. We are punishing the wrong people, in my opinion.
It’s obviously not the kids fault and we are punishing the wrong people. The parents are just doing something their parents probably did.
But parents shouldn’t give 10 year olds responsibility over 7 year olds, and I’m very firm in that belief. Even if it was on their own property. Kids get messed up by being forced to be responsible for other kids, and the other kids get messed up by having kids be responsible for them. It’s a toxic dynamic that’s baked into our society.
Kids shouldn’t raise kids, not even for a small walk to and from the corner store.