Anna Hershberger, a mom of six from Massachusetts, said that the police had called her three times as they have been getting calls on her parenting decisions.
The stay-at-home economist mom had to look up Massachusetts' Neglect Law to check if she had infractions to ensure that her six kids could continue their adventures in their neighborhood without police calls.
The series of unfortunate incidences led the mom to hope that revisions on the "Reasonable Childhood Independence" law should be revised to narrow down what the "neglect" of children means.
The first police call
The mom told Reason that a cop knocked on their door last week after someone reported that two of their children, aged five and seven, were walking a few blocks from her home in Reading, a Boston suburb, and were picking up litter.
The kids told their mom that a garbage truck had gone by, inspiring the kids to contribute to the cleanliness of the neighborhood. They asked for a trash bag where they could throw the litter and walked a few blocks from home picking up garbage along the way. So the mom said the two kids were walking down the road with a trash bag on hand and were picking up litter.
Since the boys are homeschooled, the kids were picking up garbage during class hours. The mom thought that must have been the reason for the call.
She said that the cops were not amused. The cop told her that somebody could be texting and not paying attention. He also said that there might also be "creeps" out.
The mom thought that if a texting driver careened on the sidewalk, and she was with the kids, the driver might also even plow them, herself included. The mom also said she grew up in Russia. Hence she understands what dangerous is, Hindustan Times reported.
She said she did not make a scene.
The playground incident
In Summer, Hershberger took her kids to a playground. She remembered seeing only a few families there, but she was surprised that someone called to report her seven-seater van, which had a booster seat in the passenger seat, indicating that a youngish child might sometimes be sitting there.
Someone then called a cop. The mom explained that she has six kids, and the family is on a waiting list for a 12-passenger van. Her oldest, aged eight, had to sit up from.
The cop thought that the whole thing was ridiculous.
The third police encounter
According to Gemmsite, Hershberger was parked in front of Bagel World in town to pick up a coffee. She said she could see the kids through the store's window. However, a nearby businessman also saw them.
When she got home, a cop showed up at her door. The cop said that somebody reported that she left the kids alone in the parking lot of Bagel World. She clarified that she indeed left them to get her cup of coffee. She said that the short wait was not even illegal in Massachusetts. She invited the cop to come into their home and observe how she raised the kids. The cops declined and said everything seemed fine.
Hershberger said that she was getting sick of people second-guessing her parenting.
To avoid the unfortunate incidences, she hopes that more states should narrow their respect law. She hopes there should be a revision to the "Reasonable Childhood Independence"Law defining that neglect only occurs when a parent puts her child in grave danger, not just anytime the kids are unsupervised.
