Bad parenting or judicial over reach? Karyann Parkinson, Williamsburg, Virginia mom placed on child abuse registry after letting 5-year-old son walk alone as conviction raises questions of child independence and parenting and the threshold for what actually constitutes as child abuse and or neglect.
Have the courts gone too far…? A Virginia mother has been convicted of a misdemeanor and placed on the state’s child abuse and neglect registry for seven years after allowing her 5-year-old son to take a half-mile walk alone through their gated neighborhood.
Karyann Parkinson, 36, is now appealing both her criminal conviction and a finding by the James City County Department of Social Services after what she says was simply an attempt to give her son, Sam, some age-appropriate independence.
The incident happened June 5 in Williamsburg, Virginia, while Parkinson was weeks away from giving birth to her fifth child, CBS News reported.
Bad parenting?
Earlier that day, Parkinson and Sam had gone through their neighborhood together. Sam, who enjoyed collecting goose feathers near the neighborhood ponds, later asked his mother if he could go back out by himself.
Parkinson agreed, allowing the young boy to travel approximately half a mile along a route he already knew. She said Sam had been taught how to cross streets safely, find his way home and ask a neighbor for help if necessary.
About 20 to 30 minutes later, the 5-year-old returned home with a neighborhood security guard after someone reportedly became concerned about seeing the young boy outside without an adult.
Parkinson said she explained that she had intentionally allowed her son to take the walk and believed he was capable of doing so safely.
The security guard in turn contacted police with Child Protective Services also becoming involved. About two weeks later, on June 18, cops returned to Parkinson’s home and arrested the mom.
‘We just expected that as soon as this gets in front of a prosecutor actually looking at it and a judge, this is all gonna go away,’ Parkinson told CBS News.
What is the line for helping a child develop their independence and criminal child neglect?
Parkinson was ultimately convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a first-degree misdemeanor. A judge sentenced her to six months in jail but suspended the sentence.
According to Parkinson’s attorney, Andrew Gordon, the only real ‘evidence’ against the mom was that Sam was 5, and that, hypothetically, a host of horrible things could have happened. Except they didn’t and were very unlikely to happen in the gated community.
Separately, the Department of Social Services substantiated a finding against her, resulting in Parkinson and her son being entered into Virginia’s Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry for seven years. Virginia regulations provide for seven-year retention for certain Level 2 founded abuse or neglect complaints.
The registry placement forbids the mom from volunteering in her son’s classroom until he reaches sixth grade.
What does Virginia state law say?
Virginia is one of 13 states with a reasonable childhood independence law, which is supposed to prevent the state from second-guessing every parental decision. Parkinson said she plans to appeal the conviction, which is expected to come in January.
Virginia law specifically states that a child should not be considered abused or neglected solely for participating in independent activities without adult supervision when those activities are age-appropriate and do not involve gross negligence that endangers the child’s health or safety.
The bill says that neglect is only when you put your child in serious, obvious danger.
The case has ignited a debate over parental judgment, childhood independence and when allowing a child to do something alone crosses the line into neglect.
Define child abuse and negligence?
Parkinson said the ordeal initially left her questioning her parenting and worrying that authorities could take her children away.
Her son was also reportedly shaken by the encounter and began asking whether he was still allowed to independently ride his bike to places such as swim practice or the tennis courts. Parkinson said the family repeatedly reassured him that he had done nothing wrong.
Parkinson is now appealing both her conviction and the substantiated CPS finding, arguing that allowing children reasonable independence should not be treated as child abuse.
‘We need to stop parenting from a place of fear and a place, you know, of obsessing over the unknown or some boogeyman who’s going to jump out from behind a bush,’ Parkinson told FOX News.
The case has since gained national attention and raised a difficult question for parents: At what age should a child be allowed to walk through their own neighborhood alone — and should a parent face criminal consequences for making that decision? Never mind the real likelihood of “bad events” being next to nonexistent.
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