Mom Jailed for Letting Kid Play at the Park

Here are the facts: Debra Harrell works at McDonald's in North Augusta, South Carolina. For most of the summer, her daughter had stayed there with her, playing on a laptop that Harrell had scrounged up the money to purchase. (McDonald's has free WiFi.) Sadly, the Harrell home was robbed and the laptop stolen, so the girl asked her mother if she could be dropped off at the park to play instead.

Harrell said yes. She gave her daughter a cell phone. The girl went to the park—a place so popular that at any given time there are about 40 kids frolicking—two days in a row. There were swings, a "splash pad," and shade. On her third day at the park, an adult asked the girl where her mother was. At work, the daughter replied.

The shocked adult called the cops. Authorities declared the girl "abandoned" and proceeded to arrest the mother.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/14/mom-jailed-because-she-let-her-9-year-ol

What do you expect from a govt that can search and spy and arbitrarily control at will?

Lol... you leftists crack me up.

As kids we spent our summers at the local park summer rec program. The city provided counselors (college kids) that organized softball teams, and field and track events. We took a sack lunch and a drink.....I remember being in line to play tether ball.....spent hours playing it.

The parks didn't have all the fancy climbing equipment....we had swings, a slide, monkey bars, several concrete picnic tables with benches, and a ball field. Once a week we boarded buses to swim at Bayview park.

Good, safe, and fun.

PkrBum wrote:What do you expect from a govt that can search and spy and arbitrarily control at will?

Lol... you leftists crack me up.

What in the hell does that comment even have to do with the subject? Did you even read the article?

There's not enough information here. Where was the park in relation to the child's home and the mother's work? How many other children did the child know at the park, and how many adults were present? This sounds like a nosy woman sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Why in the world would she call police if the child had a cell phone handy to contact her mother? The only reason I can think of for another mother to take such drastic action is an incident at the park...maybe an argument over whose turn it was or something equally sinister. Good grief. The woman had any number of other options than calling the cops.

Either times have changed or there were as many problems 60-70 years ago and we just didn't have the 24/7 news cycle from all around the world.

I, and all my friends, were 6 and 7 years old on the streets of Chicago. We walked to school alone and had to check in when school was out. Then we all went outside and played until either my dad whistled or the street lights came on. We were fine, no one got lost, strayed or stolen. We did get a bunch of scrapes and bruises. The school playground had dangerous swings, monkey bars, slides, one made of just two slick galvanized pipes over which you draped your arms and legs. Teeter-totters and gravel ground. They flooded the giant field behind the school in winter and we learned to ice skate by ourselves. We all survived.

Mr. Markle and I agree. Pk and I disagree. Government is not perfect. It often needs to be corrected when it over steps common sense. A nine year old playing in a public park is not abandonment. Like Joani, I played in organized park programs, and getting there and back, like Mr. Markle was the joy of being a kid.....unsupervised free movement. We need to just use common sense and fight boneheaded over broad enforcement of child protection laws.