Parents Found ‘Neglectful’ By CPS For Letting Their 6-Year-Old Scooter 4 Minutes Home Alone
Maria Sbytova | Shutterstock Mallerie Shirley and her husband, Christopher Pleasants, were shocked when a child welfare worker showed up at their door after a stranger had complained because they let their 6-year-old son ride his scooter home from the park by himself one day.
Parenting is a journey that comes with enough second-guessing. The last thing good parents need is to be judged for having a parenting style that differs from what others might prescribe. What's normal and reasonable to one family might not be to another, but that doesn't mean parents should be subjected to criticism and judgment.
However, that seemed to be the boat that two Georgia parents found themselves in. Apparently, CPS found the parents "neglectful," even though the park their son scootered home from was only 4 minutes from their house.
Parents were found 'neglectful' by CPS after letting their 6-year-old scooter 4 minutes home alone.
According to Business Insider, on November 4, Shirley and Pleasants' son had been off from school because of Election Day. The parents, who live in Atlanta, thought it would be best for him to get some fresh air and meet some friends and their families at a fundraiser for animals being held at the park.
They were both working from home that day, but their son was usually an independent and responsible child anyway, plus their neighborhood was more than safe. Shirley and Pleasants agreed that their son could ride to and from the park by himself. The little boy spent an hour at the park, then made the 4-minute journey back home.
However, Shirley and Pleasants learned that, on his way home, he had been stopped by a stranger in a car. The first grader later told his parents that the person in the car asked his name, age, and whether he lived nearby. He did the right thing, didn't tell her anything, and sped home.
Two days later, the parents received a visit from a welfare worker.
"We were told that this was an official investigation," Shirley told ABC News. "I remember thinking, 'Well, you know, this has to be a mistake. It has to be a mistake.'"
Shirley said she and her husband cooperated with the investigation and signed a safety plan that same month, stating they would "ensure [their] children are supervised at all times." Shirley and her husband were told by the Fulton County Division of Family and Children Services that the agency had substantiated allegations of neglect.
Ksuha Romaniv @ksuha.romaniv from Helgy | Canva
Shirley told the outlet that she could see the trail her son had used to ride home from the park, which was only 0.3 miles long. The two of them also trusted their son and were fine with him being on a path that was already full of people anyway.
The parents prohibited their son from playing outside for a while afterward, out of fear it might happen again.
According to reports, the parents were terrified that someone else would file a complaint against them. "He got stir-crazy, but we didn't tell him what was going on in case it worried him," Shirley told Business Insider.
She said she and her husband are "data-driven people" who learned that child kidnapping by strangers was extremely rare, compared to abductions by people whom a child knows. According to the Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center, the majority of abduction cases are committed by family members. Only 28% of kidnappings are committed by strangers.
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Georgia law SB110 also clarifies that parents should not be investigated for allowing a child to "engage in one or more independent activities," unless the child is in obvious, imminent danger. Under the law, parents are legally permitted to let their children walk, play, or go to and from school alone, among other examples of "independent activity."
While the couple initially thought DCFS would have no grounds to label them as being neglectful, they were wrong. They received a letter from the agency saying authorities had substantiated the finding of neglect "based on the preponderance of evidence." Their report will not be expunged from the DCFS system either.
"It's an ongoing concern that is stopping us from raising our children the way we intended, in giving them freedom and self-reliance," Shirley admitted.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
