A few months after Georgia mother Brittany Patterson was arrested for not knowing that her son, age 10, had walked to the store on his own, the state passed a Reasonable Childhood Independence law. It now goes to the governor for signing.
The bill clarifies that "neglect" is only when you put your child in serious, obvious danger—not anytime you take your eyes off them. This protects against the modern-day helicopter parenting norms that have made passersby—and, sometimes, state officials— insist that children of almost any age need constant adult supervision.
Patterson was arrested and handcuffed in her home, in front of three of her children, after police objected to her decision to let the 10-year-old walk to the nearby town by himself. (Mineral Bluff: population 370.) When she asked the sheriff's deputy why she was under arrest, he replied, "for reckless endangerment."
