So, there's this cop parked across the street waiting to find out whether to arrest us

[Schifference]

I think it is ridiculous that we start sentences with "The city allows..." or "The state allows..." when the next words are "children."

Fine the point is the city does not provide bus transportation to elementary school children mandating them to walk up to 1 mile during rush hour traffic.

[Todd]

Get out of Northern Virginia. Mostly libtard do gooders transplants Socialists anyhow. We don't call it Southern New Jersey for nothing.

[fisharmor]

Start a FB post, post a vid, fight back!

I deactivated the FB account today. No sense in having that for the world to pick through.

[osan]

RPF, I am looking for a new state to live in.

West Virginia seems to be pretty good this way and real estate is comparatively affordable. Open/concealed carry state. As things go, it is better than most.

Addendum:

From first-grade on, I walked 3/4 mile to school and back every day. In NYC.

When I was 10, my parents saw me to the gate at JFK, put a ticket in my hand, and said "see you in September". I got on a plane, flew to Europe alone, and got back home 3 months later. Today, this would have earned a SWAT response.

Those bastards should all burn for this. Criminal charges... what in hell?

One more thing, and his is for all parents out there: you need to teach your children to tell adults to mind their own business. Because of cases such as this, I am sorely tempted to advise you teach them to tell nosy adults to go $#@! themselves in exactly those words. This is beginning to irritate me.

[fisharmor]

Fine the point is the city does not provide bus transportation to elementary school children mandating them to walk up to 1 mile during rush hour traffic.

The CPS guidelines which the cops quoted as code (yet could not actually cite the code, and which, it turns out, are not actually code) say that a child under 9 cannot be unsupervised for any period of time.
Between 9 and 12 they allow for up to 1.5 hours of unsupervised time.

I'm betting that Arlington county is assuming that only children 9 and older will walk, and that anyone living within 1 mile with children 8 and under can either drive them to school or face felony child neglect charges.

[fisharmor]

Get out of Northern Virginia. Mostly libtard do gooders transplants Socialists anyhow. We don't call it Southern New Jersey for nothing.

At this point, unless I witness a judge reading the riot act in front of the whole court, Virginia is off the list. I don't care where in Virginia.

[Schifference]

The CPS guidelines which the cops quoted as code (yet could not actually cite the code, and which, it turns out, are not actually code) say that a child under 9 cannot be unsupervised for any period of time.
Between 9 and 12 they allow for up to 1.5 hours of unsupervised time.

I'm betting that Arlington county is assuming that only children 9 and older will walk, and that anyone living within 1 mile with children 8 and under can either drive them to school or face felony child neglect charges.

That may be possible but I would think that if that were the case bus transportation should be provided for all students under the age of 9.

[Tod]

That may be possible but I would think that if that were the case bus transportation should be provided for all students under the age of 9.

I expect the school system would have statistics as to what percentage of kids in each level walk to school. Maybe that is something that could be obtained through a records request?

[Schifference]

Where I live they provide transportation for Kindergarten but once in 1st grade the child becomes a walker if less than 1 mile. From a quick glance around Virginia it appears they have the same policy. I think that could be a good point the defense could make. If it is a danger for children under 9 to be unsupervised then they should not be classified as walkers and if they are classified as walkers then that would set precedent that it is okay for children 6-9 to walk unsupervised.

[cjm]

The CPS guidelines which the cops quoted as code (yet could not actually cite the code, and which, it turns out, are not actually code) say that a child under 9 cannot be unsupervised for any period of time.
Between 9 and 12 they allow for up to 1.5 hours of unsupervised time.

I'm betting that Arlington county is assuming that only children 9 and older will walk, and that anyone living within 1 mile with children 8 and under can either drive them to school or face felony child neglect charges.

I found this on the state department for social services web site:

https://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/d...ions/alone.pdf

CHILDREN HOME ALONE
Virginia state statutes do not set a specific age after which a child legally can stay
alone. * Age alone is not a very good indicator of a child's maturity level. Some very
mature 10-year-olds may be ready for self care while some 15-year-olds may not be
ready due to emotional problems or behavioral difficulties.
In determining whether a child is capable of being left alone and whether a parent is
providing adequate supervision in latchkey situations, child protective services (CPS)
will assess several areas. These areas include:
• child's level of maturity. CPS will want to assess whether the child is
physically capable of taking care of himself; is mentally capable of
recognizing and avoiding danger and making sound decisions; is
emotionally ready to be alone; knows what to do and whom to call if an
emergency arises; and has special physical, emotional, or behavioral
problems that make it unwise to leave be left alone. It is important to note
that a child who can take care of him/herself may not be ready to care
for younger children.
• accessibility of those responsible for the child. CPS will want to
determine the location and proximity of the parents, whether they can be
reached by phone and can get home quickly if needed, and whether the
child knows the parents' location and how to reach them.
• the situation. CPS will want to assess the time of day and length of time
the children are left alone; the safety of the home or neighborhood; whether
the parents have arranged for nearby adults to be available in case a
problem arises; and whether there is a family history of child abuse or
neglect.
* Some localities have ordinances concerning the age at which a child may be left without
supervision.

No recommended ages listed. I couldn't find recommended ages for Arlington, but Loudoun says: http://www.loudoun.gov/index.aspx?NID=992

Age 0-9 Should not be left unsupervised
Age 10-12 Should not be left unsupervised for more than 3 hours
Age 13-18 May be left alone for longer than 3 hours
Under 16 Should not be left alone overnight

and Fairfax says:http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/chi...vision_eng.htm

7 years and under:
Should not be left alone for any period of time. This may include leaving children unattended in cars, playgrounds, and backyards. The determining consideration would be the dangers in the environment and the ability of the caretaker to intervene.

8 to 10 years:
Should not be left alone for more than 1½ hours and only during daylight and early evening hours.

11 to 12 years:
May be left alone for up to 3 hours but not late at night or in circumstances requiring inappropriate responsibility.

13 to 15 years:
May be left unsupervised, but not overnight.

16 to 17 years:
May be left unsupervised (in some cases, for up to two consecutive overnight periods).

So it seems that each locality can pass their own ordinances and make their own recommendations on unsupervised children?

[cjm]

Where I live they provide transportation for Kindergarten but once in 1st grade the child becomes a walker if less than 1 mile. From a quick glance around Virginia it appears they have the same policy. I think that could be a good point the defense could make. If it is a danger for children under 9 to be unsupervised then they should not be classified as walkers and if they are classified as walkers then that would set precedent that it is okay for children 6-9 to walk unsupervised.

First and second grade walkers have to have an adult meet them at dismissal before they can walk home. Third graders can leave on their own. A first grade bus rider, however, doesn't need to have anyone meet the bus when it drops him off a block from his house.

[phill4paul]

First and second grade walkers have to have an adult meet them at dismissal before they can walk home. Third graders can leave on their own. A first grade bus rider, however, doesn't need to have anyone meet the bus when it drops him off a block from his house.

A block from the house? Hell, they drop them off at every doorstep around here. Woe be unto you if you ever get behind a bus. Seriously. They will drop a kid off, drive two houses down and stop again.

[Tod]

I had an ancestor who, at age 12, spent a whole winter alone in Ohio. This would have been a couple hundred years ago.

[Tod]

A block from the house? Hell, they drop them off at every doorstep around here. Woe be unto you if you ever get behind a bus. Seriously. They will drop a kid off, drive two houses down and stop again.

Yeah, they do that here too. One morning I had the misfortune of getting behind the bus when the bus not only was stopping every few houses but was stopped in front of a house where the kid was not ready. We sat there for several minutes before the kid showed her face at the door. At some point I beeped my horn at the driver. The driver was doing nothing but teaching the kid that consideration for others is not important.

[phill4paul]

Yeah, they do that here too. One morning I had the misfortune of getting behind the bus when the bus not only was stopping every few houses but was stopped in front of a house where the kid was not ready. We sat there for several minutes before the kid showed her face at the door. At some point I beeped my horn at the driver. The driver was doing nothing but teaching the kid that consideration for others is not important.

Oh yeah. Love those kids. And the ones that get off at the same place everyday but take forever to grab their stuff and walk as slow as humanly possible off the bus. Lol. Yeah. I stay home between 7am to 8am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm during school season if possible.

[dannno]

How old do you have to be to go out unsupervised??

NEIN NEIN NEIN!!

[jllundqu]

Sheesh! I'm only 34 and I walked over a mile to my bus stop for school from a very early age... I'm thinking like 6 or 7... then again, I live in the wild west where people are still expected to have some respect for the outdoors and independence

[jtap]

First thing I was thinking was lawyer up...then I thought




Is your lawyer's name Saul, by chance? j/k I hope your guy is cutthroat though!

[angelatc]

I had an ancestor who, at age 12, spent a whole winter alone in Ohio. This would have been a couple hundred years ago.

Yeah, I have an internet friend who is a couple decades older than I am. When he was 8, his Dad turned the maintenance on the fences over to him. Their ranch was so big it required him to spend a night or two out in the fields alone when he made his rounds.


I will say that the bus drivers around here are very courteous. They will load / unload, then every few stops they pull over to the berm and let the traffic pass.

[fisharmor]

Sheesh! I'm only 34 and I walked over a mile to my bus stop for school from a very early age... I'm thinking like 6 or 7... then again, I live in the wild west where people are still expected to have some respect for the outdoors and independence

Until recently I carpooled with a Peruvian guy who, at age 6, had to take public transit to school.
But it gets better.... there was apparently some discrepancy in the fare for kids, with the result being that buses never stopped for kids.
So at age 6, he had to go up and ask complete strangers to hail the bus for him so he could bait-and-switch his way on.

[osan]

I deactivated the FB account today. No sense in having that for the world to pick through.

I seriously, and I mean SERIOUSLY recommend you sanitize ALL you electronic data devices - phones, tablets, laptops, servers, and so forth. Make sure everything is on a pass-phrase. Note, I did not say password. Change your passwords to a longish phrase such as "copsarethemostdangerouspeopleintheworld". A well chosen passphrase of at least 30 or 40 characters in length will keep them out effectively. If they decide to go snooping and discover $#@! like RPF, you stand at least an even chance of running lips-first into a $#@!storm nobody needs.

If you don't want to go through the hassle, then at least get them out of the house with family or friends.

The line has been drawn and they are looking for blood. Do not make things easier for them. Make them impossible. I would very seriously consider taking them out of state to grandparents or trusted friends. They would be welcome at our home - and I make this offer seriously. They will be safe, sound, occupied, and very well fed. I would so very much hate to see those lunatic bastards decide to take your children. After some of the cases I've seen across this land, I put no criminal depravity beyond Theire will.

You be careful, good luck, and let me know if I can be of service.

[KCIndy]

I seriously, and I mean SERIOUSLY recommend you sanitize ALL you electronic data devices - phones, tablets, laptops, servers, and so forth. Make sure everything is on a pass-phrase. Note, I did not say password. Change your passwords to a longish phrase such as "copsarethemostdangerouspeopleintheworld". A well chosen passphrase of at least 30 or 40 characters in length will keep them out effectively. If they decide to go snooping and discover $#@! like RPF, you stand at least an even chance of running lips-first into a $#@!storm nobody needs.

The line has been drawn and they are looking for blood. Do not make things easier for them. Make them impossible. I would very seriously consider taking them out of state to grandparents or trusted friends. They would be welcome at our home - and I make this offer seriously. They will be safe, sound, occupied, and very well fed. I would so very much hate to see those lunatic bastards decide to take your children. After some of the cases I've seen across this land, I put no criminal depravity beyond Theire will.

You be careful, good luck, and let me know if I can be of service.

Osan, every single word of that post is fantastic advice. All I can do is say I second it.

When it comes to kids, all the imaginary boogey-men in the world aren't as scary as those very real and very sadistic, sociopathic sh*ts from "Family Protection" or whatever the hell they call themselves. This is very, VERY dangerous ground.

[oyarde]

So only my wife got charged. I'm not going into why right now.
We're lawyered up, appointment on Tuesday. Found a guy who called on his cell on his off day, who has 37 years experience. It was a really good idea, since he started coaching me immediately.

I don't want to talk much more about it until after we talk to him...

There is, however, a silver lining.

I am going to have a really, really, really, really, really seriously vindicating conversation about this with several family members who think I'm some kind of crackpot.

My best wishes fisharmor.

[milgram]

I wonder if these Sesame Street segments will eventually be pulled out of rotation for promoting child endangerment.

[Carson]

When I was in kindergarten, I walked, depending upon the route I took, over a half-mile one way to school, with about half of that through a large park.

When I was in first grade I missed a school picnic at my teacher's house on a Saturday because I forgot and instead spent the day playing around a swamp and railroad tracks over a mile away.

Kindergarten for me was only around the corner and about a block away. The thing I remember about it was not knowing enough about time to figure out when to go. Sometimes I would walk down to the corner and sit and watch for kids in my class to walk by.

My teacher was beautiful and name Miss Parlerpiano. She married some other guy. I went to their wedding. ?Maybe it was Parlipiano?

[Carson]

I deactivated the FB account today. No sense in having that for the world to pick through.

I just saw something about a website that tells you how to go a little further than just deactivate. I'm not sure if it is necessary but you may want to check it out. It was on a list of thirty three other websites.

It's number ten.

33 Amazingly Useful Websites You Never Knew Existed

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicaprobu...r-knew-existed


I'm really sorry to hear about this happening to your family. I just can't believe what is happening and where we are headed if we can't stop it.

People often talk about remaining silent on upcoming cases. On the most part I suppose that is good advice. This though is a case that if it ever ended up in court will be Everyone, All of us, against you and your family.

I see how the ALL OF US here on the forums have expressed themselves. I can't help if the people in your community are with you or against you. If no one ever speaks out they will continue to sneak this sort of thing right past everyone's hearts. Maybe the papers in court may spell out all of us against you. It would be nice if someday some of the all of uses out there showed up for some of these cases and set behind you.

[69360]

I walked to and from school from first grade on and walked to the store for my mom in NJ growing up. When my kids were that age, they walked to and from school and to the the store in PA. Now living here in ME, I swear more kids are unsupervised at that age than helicoptered.

You should move up here to ME or NH, nobody would bother you at all about something like this. I suspect that in NJ now, you would be in jail and your kids taken away for it.

[fr33]

We went out with slingshots and bb guns at that age chasing after wild animals. We'd carry our fishing poles well over a mile to the nearest pond. We didn't have cell phones or anything.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Wow.

Are you really considering moving? Whatever you do, don't move up to Maryland.

I second this. CPS WILL steal your kids here.

A block from the house? Hell, they drop them off at every doorstep around here. Woe be unto you if you ever get behind a bus. Seriously. They will drop a kid off, drive two houses down and stop again.

Every block around here. It's funny, but in the early morn parents wil be standing out at the corner with their kids (elementary) but many walk home when school lets out.

As to buses, I was pretty pissed off to find out that driving by a school bus on the OPPOSITE side of the street letting kids off and having their sign out is a $150 fine. I'm pretty sure it's not in the drivers manual.

We went out with slingshots and bb guns at that age chasing after wild animals. We'd carry our fishing poles well over a mile to the nearest pond. We didn't have cell phones or anything.

At that age I was entrusted with a .177 pellet gun and a bow&arrow... Supervision. Real young - stay in this block. These 5 blocks, no farther than the grocery store a mile away, no more than 5 miles away at the mall... What are we up to yet age 12... and supervision... try my mom would holler at lunch time and I was expected t be in for dinner. What supervision - well, after I learned to walk...

yeah, walked to school too.

F*CK THE NANNY STATE!!!!

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

Wow.

Are you really considering moving? Whatever you do, don't move up to Maryland.

I second this. CPS WILL steal your kids here.

A block from the house? Hell, they drop them off at every doorstep around here. Woe be unto you if you ever get behind a bus. Seriously. They will drop a kid off, drive two houses down and stop again.

Every block around here. It's funny, but in the early morn parents wil be standing out at the corner with their kids (elementary) but many walk home when school lets out.

As to buses, I was pretty pissed off to find out that driving by a school bus on the OPPOSITE side of the street letting kids off and having their sign out is a $150 fine. I'm pretty sure it's not in the drivers manual.

We went out with slingshots and bb guns at that age chasing after wild animals. We'd carry our fishing poles well over a mile to the nearest pond. We didn't have cell phones or anything.

At that age I was entrusted with a .177 pellet gun and a bow&arrow... Supervision. Real young - stay in this block. These 5 blocks, no farther than the grocery store a mile away, no more than 5 miles away at the mall... What are we up to yet age 12... and supervision... try my mom would holler at lunch time and I was expected t be in for dinner. What supervision - well, after I learned to walk...

yeah, walked to school too.

F*CK THE NANNY STATE!!!!

-t