In Utah, allowed to leave children unattended: what governors are guided by

8 May Utah will be the first in the United States to simplify the law on parental responsibilities and the freedom of movement of children.

Фото: Depositphotos

Edition with the BBC found out what guided the lawmakers when making this decision.

The essence of the law

The document revises the concept of “neglect of parental responsibilities” and establishes that upon reaching “sufficient age and maturity” a child can be considered independent in some actions - for example, going to school without adult accompaniment.

One of the bill's sponsors, Senator Lincoln Fillmore, says he pushed for the bill in hopes that his own children would "grow up learning to be self-reliant."

At the same time, Filmore admits that he himself has not yet decided what degree of freedom of movement he is ready to give his own children, because they all have not even turned four, but this, in his opinion, is not important yet.

“The law I have proposed is not an attempt to say that there is some model for raising better others. The law does not make any assessments on this matter. We're simply telling parents who want to give their children some freedom that they have the right to do so,” the senator says.

Fillmore says it's unfair that parents can now be punished for allowing their children to "do all the things we did as children."

“Although Utah's laws are essentially the same as other states in that failure to exercise parental responsibility is a crime, there is no clear definition of those responsibilities. We leave this interpretation to the discretion of government agencies,” Fillmore explains.

Lenore Skanazi was one of the first mothers who spoke in favor of giving children freedom of movement. She believes that in some situations it is simply necessary to leave the child unattended, as this will help him in his adult life.

She says the first time she realized there was a gap between what parents want and what they do was when she was invited on a popular television program to discuss her blog post, which was widely shared on social media, in which she mentioned that she was allowing her my nine-year-old son can ride the metro on his own.

The program staff admitted that they were given such freedom in childhood, but now they would not risk letting their children like that.

“We are acting like hypocrites because we have the mistaken belief that any time a child is not supervised, he or she is in danger. But this is not so,” the woman noted.

What is the reason for the changes?

“Parents' perceptions of how dangerous the world can be have changed over the years,” says NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital psychologist Gail Saltz.

Parental alarms, according to Salt, are amplified by the incessant stream of news and reports on social networks, which again and again speak of abductions of children, rape and other terrible cases.

Although in fact the level of violent crime in the United States has drastically decreased over the past 25 years, most Americans still believe that the crime rate continues to rise, all because they have access to more sources of information, and just more often hear about crimes.

From what it all began

The debate about children's freedom of movement began in 2014, when Maryland resident Alexander Meitiv took his two children, ages 10 and 6, to play at a local park. A passerby, seeing the children returning home unaccompanied by adults, immediately called 911. The police stopped the children and took them home.

Soon after, representatives of the child care service visited Meytiv. According to Daniela Meytiv, they threatened to arrest both parents and take away their children if this happens again.

A few months later, the Meitivs sent the children to play in another park - where they said they had played dozens of times - but they did not return home when they were supposed to. It was only after calling emergency services that they learned that the children had been taken by the police, who had handed them over to the child welfare service.

After this, Daniela Meitiv decided to talk about this incident. In both cases, charges against the Meitivs were eventually dropped and police regulations in their area were changed. After this story, Daniela Meitiv decided to take part in local elections. In her election program, she called herself a mother who “gives children freedom of movement.”

At the same time, she believes that there is no such separate concept as “a parent who gives children freedom of movement,” because this is precisely the behavior that is normal.

Cases like those that occurred with the Meitivs caused a public debate about the degree of freedom of movement that can be given to children.

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