Parenting
Atlanta mom let her son ride to the park alone. Georgia called it neglect.
With schools closed for Election Day 2025, Mallerie Shirley's 6-year-old son was riding his electric scooter to and from the local playground—about a third of a mile away—on the bike trail just outside their Atlanta…
10 times that 2025 tried to stop kids from growing up
Free-range parents may remember 2025 as the year that proved just how hard it still is to give kids any independence. There were arrests, investigations, panics, and new rules that seemed designed to keep childhood on…
An Indiana mom left her kids home for an hour. Her husband’s ex-wife called CPS.
Since this summer, Indiana mom of three and stepmom of two Hannah Bright has had three calls made to child protective services about her by her husband's ex-wife—all for activities that posed no danger to the kids.…
Michigan school says 7-year-old boy can’t walk home from the bus stop
Last year, Tali Smith's son Emmett walked himself home the four houses he lives from the school bus stop. He was six. The walk takes 3.5 minutes. But this year, his suburban Michigan school will not let him do that—too…
Pennsylvania mom placed on child abuse registry for letting 13-year-old babysit
When single mom of two and home health aide Alice (a pseudonym) needed to run a brief errand, she tasked her 13-year-old brother (whom she is also the caretaker for) with babysitting her nearly 1-year-old child. For this, she…
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