Dad gets probation for making kid walk home

[cindylou]

No child in kindergarden should walk home without an older child or adult with them. Period. It's borderline neglect. Would you leave a kindergarden child at home alone while you ran to the grocery store? No? Then you don't let them walk to and from school alone. That's insane.

8 years old is too young too. Its borderline. It depends on the kid, the community and the roads.

 

[cindylou]

I think there must be more to this story because while I think he was wrong for letting his kid walk home from school alone...probation and a fine seem like a harsh sentence. Punishments like these ought to be left up to the parents. I'm not sure it was worthy of something outside of a lecture from a family law judge.

Plus it undermined the authority of the father in front of his son. This is a strange story and I'm sure there are pieces that we don't know.

 

[nangiggles]

I will say that state funded daycare stops at age 8, so if you're old enough to be able to stay home you should be old enough to walk home.
In fact I have an 8 year old kid/case in Orlando who lives a mile from school so the bus won't transport her despite it being in a high traffic area.

I will of course side with Cindy in the fact that the condition of the road, traffic, neighborhood and sidewalk matters a lot.

 

[sexyMFer]

state funded daycare? wtf is that

in August we'll be shelling out $800/month in daycare. wrong for my oldest to pull his brother there in a wagon? He's 15 months

 

[nangiggles]

state funded daycare? wtf is that

in August we'll be shelling out $800/month in daycare. wrong for my oldest to pull his brother there in a wagon? He's 15 months

We call it protective measures, when a child is involved in dependency they have to go to daycare so there can be more "eyes" on them

 

[WoodyO]

This conversation is for parents only.

 

[caligirl85]

Dependency? On the state? Curious what that means?

 

[cindylou]

I will say that state funded daycare stops at age 8, so if you're old enough to be able to stay home you should be old enough to walk home.
In fact I have an 8 year old kid/case in Orlando who lives a mile from school so the bus won't transport her despite it being in a high traffic area.

I will of course side with Cindy in the fact that the condition of the road, traffic, neighborhood and sidewalk matters a lot.

Yeah, I agree that 8 years old is borderline. I personally think it's too young to be walking home from school alone but I wouldn't just assume that kid was neglected I suppose. Possibly okay if they are with an older kid.

As far as after school care funded by the state, I could see them stopping daycare funding at that age because because a lot of families will let their younger children stay at home after school (just a couple of hours) with parents, older siblings, grandparents, or babysitters which IMO is appropriate so many families may not utilize those programs unless they are families with just one child and no non-working family members. I could see not having the money or budgeting for it. I'm not sure that we can assume just because the state doesn't fund after school care that they are endorsing all 8 year olds as responsible enough to stay home/walk home from school alone. That could be just a numbers deal.

I was actually curious about this a couple months ago and looked up the recommended age for kids to stay home alone or walk home from school alone for another reason and I found it recommended starting at age 10-12 alone or younger kids with an older, responsible child. All of that depends on the maturity of the kid though. This isn't about how old a kid can be walking home from school. It's about the appropriate age for a child to walk home from school alone. I think it makes a difference. Especially for the first time. Is punishment really the way to introduce a kid to walking home from school by themselves? I don't think so.

I think it's a responsibility to give a kid, not a punishment to hand out.

 

[caligirl85]

state funded daycare? wtf is that

in August we'll be shelling out $800/month in daycare. wrong for my oldest to pull his brother there in a wagon? He's 15 months

It'll help him get jacked pulling that wagon!

 

[caligirl85]

I think there must be more to this story because while I think he was wrong for letting his kid walk home from school alone...probation and a fine seem like a harsh sentence. Punishments like these ought to be left up to the parents. I'm not sure it was worthy of something outside of a lecture from a family law judge.

Plus it undermined the authority of the father in front of his son. This is a strange story and I'm sure there are pieces that we don't know.

I was wondering about this too. Who reported it in the first place for it to even get to the stage of dad being charged and ending up in court. It was interesting the judge's comment was that it was "old fashioned" punishment too. So is she trying to set a precedent and make a point since it got to that stage?

You wonder, too, if the dad just dropped him off and left him or did he follow along behind. For me, 8 is really borderline too. A lot would depend on the neighborhood and the maturity of the child but it's iffy. I can't help but wonder if there's a history with the family and authorities are using this to send a message.