Mom Charged With Child Endangerment for Letting Kids Go to Mall Alone

[RamboLiberal]

When Bridget Kevane dropped her three children and their two friends off at a Montana mall in June 2007, she never thought that a few hours later she'd have a criminal record.

But that's what happened when Kevane let her daughter Natalie, 12, and her best friend of the same age take three younger children -- including Kevane's 3-year-old daughter -- to the mall without adult supervision.

"I was definitely in shock," Kevane told ABCNews.com of her initial reaction when told that she would be charged with a criminal offense because of her decision to let her kids roam the mall alone.

Under Montana State law, a parent can be charged with child endangerment if he or she "knowingly endangers the child's welfare by violating a duty of care, protection, or support."

When the two 12-year-olds went inside a Macy's dressing room to try shirts on and left the three younger children, ages 8, 7 and 3, unattended, an employee called mall security. Police were called to the scene and they summoned Kevane and her husband to the mall and arrested Bridget Kevane. She was allowed to leave the mall with the children, but given a court date for a few days later.

Further justifying her decision was the fact that the two older girls had both completed a babysitting certification course at a nearby hospital and that the group of five children consistently spent time together and were like "extended family" to one another.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=8113294&page=1

Ok maybe a lecture but arrest - that is stupid IMHO in this case.

[Kdillard]

1. I agree a firm lecture but arrest and criminal record I believe is

a bit over board.

[ejpoeta]

2. i would never let one or two 12 year olds be responsible for younger kids.

though, they could be mature for 12... i still wouldn't do it. I still don't see why she should be charged with anything criminal for it. THis is frustrating. This one size fits all approach to everything infuriates me!!

[BlueMTexpat]

11. OK, I realize that the times were different, but I was a babysitter

for my younger sisters and brother from the time that I was 10 years old on. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew each other, and incidentally, that was also in Montana, LONG before the days of shopping malls. But I was not alone; it was what all my peers did. Frankly, the rural kids grew up even faster. My rural cousins were also baking bread and rolls from scratch and driving heavy farm machinery ... and we townies were all jealous!

By the time I was 12, other parents were paying me to babysit their children. And yes, all my peers were doing this too. No, no one left us overnight without adult supervision and we always knew where to find the parents and had emergency numbers and everything. We also cooked meals and cleaned houses. OK, they weren't necessarily gourmet meals and the house cleaning might have been more of the lick-and-a-promise type, but we did it.

I am not saying that things should be like that today, especially considering most of the 12-year-olds I know, but on the facts as stated, the reaction in this situation does seem to be an over-reaction.

[seabeyond]

15. times were different and i was 11 baby sitting a 8 month old and 4 yr old....

not to mention other kids in neighborhood. also, texas law states cant leave kids with babysitter under 12. gotta be 12 so sounds to me like this should be legal.

not that i did or would EVER allow this with my kids. geeeesh, i had a tough time getting babysitter for kids at all until they were about old enough to take care of themselves

but still

[sutz12]

17. Babysitting is one thing...

sending them off to the mall is out of line IMO.

I agree, though, that criminal charges on a first offense is a bit much.

[seabeyond]

18. that would just be personal preference. at home all kinds of danger and alone. in mall

at least lots of people in aide and no knives, stoves, fires..... ect.

[sutz12]

25. I think the "lots of people around" is not necessarily a good thing

While I'm not paranoid by any means, having young pre-teens in charge of very young kids in that setting is asking for trouble. Having escorted/watched youngsters in crowd settings, I know how easy it is for small children to get separated and lost.

Again, I'm against major criminal charges here. I'd be chastising the 12 year olds for the way they handled the whole dressing room scenario. You can't leave young children alone in the mall like that. I just don't agree with what was done here, by the mother or the girls.

Call it personal preference if you like, and I'm willing to admit that the situation in a mall in Montana is much different than my experiences in more suburban/urban areas. I just wouldn't do it, and I'd look down on someone who did.

[seabeyond]

53. didnt see me doing this with my kids,a s i said in a post above.

i didnt even let adults babysit my kids, lol when really young. just parents, really, lol. but...

i hear ya

[Stephanie]

29. Hello, cousin!

MT here too. At 12 we were riding our bikes to the lake 20 miles along the side of the highway. Baking, sewing our own clothes, babysitting ALL THE TIME, but we knew everyone in the neighborhood (and at the MALL) and everyone knew us. We played outside until dark (9:00 in the summer) and only came home when Mom rang the cowbell for dinner. MT kids grow up like weeds, untended, and flourish.

[BlueMTexpat]

71. Hi there back!

:hi:

I will admit that things are different today ... even in MT ... especially where cities are large enough to have a mall. But the town where I grew up was at a maximum 1200 people (fewer today as so many of these tiny communities are dying) and everyone literally knew each other. My school class was approximately 20 kids, of whom about 15 never changed, until I finished my sophomore year in high school. After then, my parents sent me to high school in the "city" (just about 100,000 people). Still, I get invited to the local high school reunions (and attend on occasion!) and my former classmates and I feel almost like sisters and brothers even today because we shared so many seminal events and grew up together.
My own children spent most of their elementary school years in Missoula. While they were able to roam around the couple blocks in our immediate neighborhood there, they never had the complete freedom that they had when they got to visit their grandparents in the summers where my home town was literally their oyster. They also got to visit rural friends and cousins there and considered the whole experience paradise. My parents even had a running tab at the nearest local grocery store (even today a mom-and-pop arrangement) so that my kids could just stop in and pick up groceries at will. They thought it was an amazing treat and actually learned to act responsibly, not just to get candy and soda (pop)!
They couldn't understand why I would not want to live in my home town forever! Until they got a bit older ... !
Unfortunately, my parents are no longer with us now and my sisters and I have sold their property in our former home town. My children today have travelled throughout the world and feel comfortable literally everywhere, in part due to those early experiences where everyone accepted them. Their hearts are still very much Montana-bound, as is my own in many ways, and we all head back there to see family and friends ... and to recharge the psychic batteries.
I only wish that ALL young children could have such a nurturing and fulfilling experience. The world would be a far kinder and gentler place.

[blueamy66]

72. So did AZ kids...cept we were on horses.

I'm glad that I do not have any children. Their lives these days seem way too structured and boring, IMHO.

[ejpoeta]

47. i agree. at 12 i had lots of responsibilities. my mom had dialysis

several times a week and i remember my little sister who was in kindergarten coming to my class and riding home on the bus with me. we were alone in the house for a half an hour, i think. not sure.... it's fuzzy. I think there is a difference between being at home watching the kids and being at the mall though.... maybe the eight year old, but not a 3 year old. but no matter, i don't see how this is a criminal offense. i agree this is an over reaction.

[The Hope Mobile]

20. 12 yrs old is legal babysitter age here. I started babysitting at age 11

and it was no problem though that was 30+ years ago. My daughter is 12 now and I would let her and a friend go play at the park across the street with 3 small kids but a mall is not a great idea. Still, arrest is ridiculous.

[ejpoeta]

48. i agree... arresting the mother is ridiculous!! i wonder if any harm came of the

young kids. doesn't sound like it. i don't think leaving them at the mall with the kids was a good idea.... at home maybe.... but a mall is problematic for parents to navigate with kids much less kids with kids. a lot of strangers. but it's ridiculous to arrest the mother.

[Dappleganger]

49. It depends on the child.

But never without instant availability from a responsible adult via a phone and only moments away.

What this woman did was just plain STUPID.

[Xithras]

92. The fact that the girls left the 3 year old unattended proves they were too irresponsible.

When you aren't directly caring for your children, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that the people watching them are doing so. If you hand your kid and $20 to a random stranger while saying "Watch him for a minute", you're gonna be arrested.

In this case, three children, between 3 and 8, were left unattended in a mall while their babysitters tried on clothes. That's endangerment. The mother failed in her responsibility to make sure that the kids were in good hands.

What kind of idiot would let two 12 year olds drag her 3 year old kid to the mall anyway?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. It shouldn't be criminal

to be as stupid as this woman is, but what would the charge be if that 3-year-old had disappeared?

[Stephanie]

24. In Bozeman? I doubt it.

I grew up in MT and did tons of babysitting for my younger sibs in a town nearby to Bozeman of about the same size. My parents had no fear of letting us roam around town or dropping us off at the mall. The "mall" had about 12 stores, btw. We hiked in the woods all day long at that age and came home when the sun went down, took the bus to go skiing in the morning and returned at night unsupervised, MT is a different place and MT kids are self-reliant. We were raised to be independent and fend for ourselves, in the pioneer spirit. A couple of 12 year olds would be deemed perfectly capable of chaperoning some kids at the mall, in Montana. The strangest thing about the story is that someone reported it to cops.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

26. Sounds like where I grew up,

although there was an "uptown," no malls back then.

But how long ago was your growing up? I ask because it seems like there are more creeps out there today, or maybe we're just hearing about more of them.

These 12-year-olds, though, were acting like 12-year-olds - trying on clothes while the younger kids roamed on their own. That's not good. As a parent, I'd be furious..........................

[Stephanie]

30. I'd guess the 12 year olds thought the 8 year old could watch the little kids in the dressing room

Would have made sense to me! My stories are from the 70's, but MT hasn't changed that much.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

31. I guess I'm fussy,

but I would never leave a three-year-old with other kids. That's just too young..................

[Stephanie]

34. They weren't alone

The 12 year olds went in the dressing room and left the 8 year old with the little kids, presumably right outside the dressing room, in the store. The girls were right there, in shouting distance. A MT mall is not swarming with hordes of shoppers. We used to walk a mile to the candy store in third grade. Kids roam in MT.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

36. An eight-year-old responsible for a three-year-old

in a public setting?

No, that's unacceptable to me, regardless of the geography.

But, you have had a different experience.........................

[Stephanie]

41. It makes perfect sense to me

Not here in NYC, of course, but in MT? I would have done the same.

[havocmom]

67. Hate to break it to ya, Steph, but the place is NOT as safe as it used to be

Not by a long shot.

And the real problem is that too many older kids do not take the job of watching the little ones seriously.

I spent two weeks dealing with a 13 year old who thought she could use the little siblings as cover for hanging out with 'friends' at the library. She expected she could just put on the headphones, play on the computer, email and call friends and I would baby sit. I have work to do. The little siblings kept racing in and out, out being the site of some rattlesnakes AND lots of travelers from other states who stop by to email home on the public computers.

You know my location, how remote, how small the population is; now consider, there are five registered sex offenders here. Think on that.

Some adolescents are using the cover of taking younger siblings for an outing to get away from parental supervision while not supervising the little ones at all. Travelers in and out of an area where the kids just don't consider strangers as potential dangers because they are sheltered and think they know everyone. Even among the people they know and take for granted as part of the landscape, some are registered sex offenders.

Now, extrapolate the increased threats likely in a population the size of Bozeman.

Steph, this place is NOT the same. There were gang bangers HERE, where I live, just last week.

The pre-teens are too often not interested in anyone but themselves and peers, so little brothers and sisters get ignored and/or resented. I see it too often, even here. And since bad people have mobility, no place is as safe as we remember.

Fact. Sad, miserable fact. It breaks my heart, but fact is, kids are not being supervised by people who are really doing the job and the 'hood ain't 100%safe anymore.

Hell, one of my daughter's 10 year old school mates in Helena back in '82 was picked up two blocks from school in the morning, taken out toward Park Lake and raped.

We would like to think it's all Mayberry still, but it isn't.

[Luminous Animal]

28. That 3 year old will have a far greater chance

of dying in a car accident than being abducted by a stranger.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

32. That's not the point -

a responsible adult does not put a child that young in such a perilous position........................

[Stephanie]

35. You overestimate the peril

Sure in NY I wouldn't do it, but in Bozeman? Pfft.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

37. I don't "overestimate"

anything, and it's not within your purview to measure the risks as perceived by another.

Geography isn't determinative for me.

Age is, and a twelve-year-old in MT is just as incompetent, as far as I'm concerned, as a twelve-year-old anywhere.

Just my preference......................

[Luminous Animal]

42. So-called responsible adults put their children

in cars nearly every day.

[LisaL]

59. Probability doesn't mean much if it happens to your kid.

[SidDithers]

4. Didn't the babysitting course include a section about leaving kids unattended?...nt

Sid

[The Hope Mobile]

21. Agreed. They shouldn't have both been trying clothes at the same time.

But that was their poor judgment. And the mom should've realized they weren't capable of being that responsible OR she should've been clear with them herself that that kind of thing wouldn't be allowed. Still this is not arrest-worthy.

[KittyWampus]

33. That's the thing about being 12- no matter how mature pre-teens are, their brains still haven't

fully developed and their judgment can be expected to occasionally skip a beat or two.

I hope the judge gives a stern warning.

[havocmom]

68. And tho many are mature & responsible at home, in a group of peers wanting to do their own thing...

well, stupid gets amplified and responsibility gets made light of as being unimportant. Hell, just reading responses here proves that point.

[madaboutharry]

5. Prosecuting her was probably a bit

of an overreaction. But I think she is stupid. The very fact that the two 12 year olds went into a dressing room to try clothes on and left the little kids unattended is proof that they were too immature to go to the mall in charge of the younger children.

I wouldn't allow my children to go to the mall alone at 12 years old and neither did any other mother that I know.

[Hello_Kitty]

6. When I was 12 I went to the mall with friends unsupervised all the time.

We even *gasp!* walked there. Across major streets and everything! Oh noes! Of course, this was back in the early 80s, sometime before American parents lost their damn minds and became ridiculously overprotective and coddling.

[eilen]

12. When I was in 6th grade we would (me and my friends)

take the bus downtown, shop at the department stores and go out to lunch. Frequently I was in charge of my brother (3 years younger) and my sister (7 years younger) In fact, my parents would send us on a Greyhound bus to Pittsburgh from Syracuse to visit my father. Greyhounds stop often and my sister was a spoiled brat.

[Hello_Kitty]

63. Similar experience here

My sister, two years older, and I took buses, trains, and planes unescorted to see relatives.

[Luminous Animal]

14. There was no mall where I grew up....

But the neighborhood kids from toddlers to pre-teens would wander the small town, woods, graveyards, and playgrounds with no adult supervision for hours on end.

My own daughter, who lives in the city, could wander the streets and parks with her friends with (gasp) no adult supervision.

We are a nation of fearful pant-wetting idiots.

[The Hope Mobile]

22. My daughter goes to the mall with her friends and she's 12.

I think the issue is the 3 younger children being unattended. The girls should've been smart/responsible enough to take turns when they were trying on clothes.

[LynneSin]

78. I'm sorry, those 12 year olds are not old enough to watch 3 young kids at the mall

Perhaps if all the children were at home it would be a different story. It's not the 12 years going to the mall that's child endangerment, it's allow them to take 3 kids with them ages 3-8 with them.

[zanne]

85. Some parents can't seem to let go.

I know 17 year-old kids who still have babysitters. I think it's ridiculous and more of a parent problem than the kids' problem.

[Gwendolyn]

43. Me too.

I'm embarrassed now. I feel like I was abused. :D

[FirstLight]

50. exactly!

we took the BART to Bayfair mall in San leandro from Oakland at Rockridge in the early 80's...and usually with a whole $20 to spend!

ya, times have changed alot...that's why I am glad I live in a rural area now and my kids can have a semblance of that...

(actually had a friend tell her daughter to put on her bike helmet before climbing the aspen in our front yard! excuuuuse me? ya, my kids are more "free range style" lol )

[madaboutharry]

56. Well, Kitty...

The parents I know are not overprotective and coddling. None of them have lost their minds. They just feel different than you.

[Hello_Kitty]

65. Yeah, and the results are pretty obvious in many of the young adults around me.

Who can't do a fucking thing for themselves. A few weeks ago I was hanging out with a very good friend of mine, a divorced man whose son lives with him. The son was packing for an early flight the next morning to Chicago to see some relatives and my friend was going to drive him to the airport. My jaw about hit the floor when I heard the following: "Dad, are you going to walk me to my gate?" Now, this would be a perfectly reasonable thing to assume his dad was going to do if we were talking about an 8 year old, and oh what the hell, even a 12 year old. But the "child" I am describing is 20 years old. 20 years old and was worried that he wouldn't be able to find his fucking plane by himself. And no, he's not special needs. He's a perfectly normal young man who attends college.

Sorry, but a lot of y'all parents are raising a generation of weenies.

[blueamy66]

73. I have to agree.

I cannot believe that there are 26 year old "children" living at home with their parents, not paying rent and allowing Mommy to do their laundry. Are you kidding me?

What happened in the last 20 years? Seriously? And I am not addressing extended families living together....I'm talking about Mom and Dad and one Junior.

[Hello_Kitty]

74. Yep. It's extremely common and it's not because of the economy

This has been going on for years. "Childhood" is a state that lasts until one is about 30 or so, apparently.

[blueamy66]

80. I guess that there is something to

unconditional love that I will never understand, as I have no children. But I cannot imagine paying my 26 yr. old "child's" way thru life...just cause I love them.

[Hello_Kitty]

83. It's not love. It's laziness.

Too many parents are scared of their own damn kids. All this psychobabble about "self esteem" has led a lot of parents to avoid confronting their little darlings at all costs. It's easier to do everything for them than it is to force them to do for themselves. It's gotten so bad that 2 women in Canada wrote a book about how to teach young adults to do basic things they should have learned by the time they were preteens. http://www2.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/backtoschool/story.html?id=e3e8fd70-c5eb-4774-b928-716543dcfc09

[LynneSin]

77. Were you also babysititng kids ages 3-8?

Big difference there. Twelve year olds can be responsible for themselves at the mall but the younger children should have been with an adult.

[Hello_Kitty]

84. You're probably right about babysitting small children

But several people in this thread are claiming that you shouldn't even let 12 year olds go to the mall alone.

Also, why do small children necessarily need to be with an adult? How about a 16 or 17 year old? Are they still too young to watch toddlers? Of course, judging from shocking number of young "adults" I know these days who are barely able to wipe their own asses without Mommy's or Daddy's help, I'm not so sure I'd leave a 3 year old with anyone under 30.

[Freddie Stubbs]

86. The 12 year old wans't the problem. It was the 3 year old

[Hello_Kitty]

87. Several people on this thread are claiming that a 12 year old shouldn't go to the mall alone

The people criticizing her for putting them in charge of a toddler have a point, though I don't see anything wrong with them watching the 8 year old. But others on this thread are saying "I'd never let a 12 year old go to the mall alone", which is absurd. You can't hover over your child and never give her opportunities to learn independence and then turn on the Adult Switch when she's 18 and expect her to be a fully functioning independent adult. You have to gradually introduce them to situations so that they are ready by then. Otherwise, you'll have a 20 year old "child" like the one of my friend's that I described in another post, who was afraid to find his gate in the airport by himself.

[carlyhippy]

94. maybe he wanted to say goodbye to his father at the gate, maybe he's not an experienced traveler

is this the first time he's traveled at that airport? I am for giving children some independence, but not all kids are at the same maturity level, maybe some need more of the guidance of a good parent who is willing to help them towards independence, instead of turning them loose in the streets to find their own way.

At any rate, as far as this woman and all her kids are concerned, I don't have an opinion either way, I will not judge her issue...but in my experience as a parent, I didn't let my kids go to the mall by themselves, and I don't apologize for my parenting skills at all, and neither should she, if she felt she was being a good parent.

[Hello_Kitty]

96. He can say goodbye at the curb like every ADULT does nowadays.

He was scared about having to find the gate by himself. Apparently the last time he flew alone he was young enough to be escorted by his parents to the gate so your point that he's an inexperienced flyer has some merit. Still, he's flown enough with others to know (or he should know) that only ticketed passengers get past the gate. He's flown enough to know (or he should know) that signs to the gates are clearly posted everywhere. This 20 year old man who is six feet tall and shaves every day thinks of himself as a child. Knowing the family as well as I do I can tell you that, yes, they treat him like an overgrown child.

[JonQ]

7. Seems like a lecture

was in order, as you said. Along with a warning not to let this happen again.

[joeybee12]

8. I say prosecute her...she doesn't seem to get that what she did was wrong

and extrememly irresponsible...prosecuting her seems to be the only way to get that through her thick skull.

[Flaneur]

10. Did you forget the sarcasm smiley? I certainly hope so.

Jesus Christ, what kind of chicken little country is this turning into?

[joeybee12]

55. No, not at all...sorry if you think a woman who endangered her children

is trying to make it out to seem harmless doesn't need a lesson in parenting and maybe this will do it, then you need to put the sarcasm button on.

[Odin2005]

62. You are full of it. She did nothing wrong.

This 12yo sounds like she can watch her siblings while her mom IS IN A DRESSING ROOM just fine. Christ, I guess if it were up to you the parents of all of us that were latch-key kids should be jailed. :eyes:

[joeybee12]

82. My advice...take a course in reading comprehension...

...the mother was not in the dressing room, she let the 12 year-old take the kids to the mall alone and the 12-year-old left the kids unattended while SHE went into the dressing room.

Apology accepted.

[rucky]

9. Okay 12 seems a bit young for this...

but I've let a 10-year-old neighbor watch my daughter for a few hours at my home.

So, at what age does it become appropriate to babysit and be in public?

[immoderate]

13. Ridiculous. The charges will be dismissed.

--imm

[librechik]

16. 12 is the legal child care age around here (Colorado)

this is an outrageous nanny state intervention.

[MicaelS]

19. Jeezus H....

Anyone wants to know what is wrong with this country, look at the nanny-state bullshit like this situation. I'd have told everyone concerned to fuck-off.

[mitchum]

23. When I was 8 years old, my mom would drop me off at the movie theater for all day...

and I would watch repeated showings of The Jungle Book, The Love Bug, or whatever.
Those were different times.

[LisaL]

58. Yep and I was watching my five years old sister when I was 10.

Taking her to the park, etc... Different times indeed.

[joeybee12]

89. With your 3-year-old brother or sister to look after? n/t

[mitchum]

95. Of course not, she would drop him off at another theater...

we had different tastes
and there were no multiplexes back then

I keed! I keed!

[kiva]

27. An arrest is over the top, but the fact is that the oldest

daughter and friend, regardless of that certification course, really weren't prepared to look after 3 younger children in a mall--the fact that they chose to leave the kids unattended to try on clothes makes that clear.

The main problem I have is that mom refuses to admit she made a mistake, probably because of her motive: "her decision to let the kids go to the mall unsupervised stemmed from the fact that "the children wanted an activity, and I wanted a couple of hours of quiet and rest." In short, mom wanted some time off and wasn't too particular about how she got it.

[KittyWampus]

39. very reasonable observation, on your part. Yes, Mom's have it tough with kids underfoot

but it wasn't just the pre-teens who showed faulty judgment.

[kiva]

54. I think the older girls were just being 12 year olds.

I was also babysitting at that age, but with two important differences: I was alone and not in a place with as many distractions as a mall. Two pre-teens are a lot more likely than one to slip into the not thinking mode, and having so many opportunities to do things other than watch the little ones was probably part of the problem.

I'm curious that no one has commented on the fact that mom regarded the mall as an entertainment venue for 5 kids, the youngest only 3. Seems to me that shopping as therapy is a little advanced for a pre-schooler.

[varelse]

38. Heh, my parents would be shocked to read this

My sister and I took charge of our twin baby sisters within a month or two of their arrival home from the hospital. We bottle-fed them, kept them out of the kitchen when Mom was cooking, changed their diapers, taught them to read, and (as soon as they could walk) we took these kids virtually everywhere we went. We were taking them out around the neighborhood (usually to a park about a mile from home) by the age of 12 (when I was 12 the twins were 2 1/2).

Oh, and I was babysitting at night for other parents on the block by age 12. ALONE or with my sister who is a year younger. Times have sure changed!

[TransitJohn]

40. The world sucks nowadays.

I'm not that old...37. When I was 12, my friends and I would pack up our fishing poles, rifles, and tents and ride our bicycles 40 or 50 miles up into the mountains to camp without adults for 4 or 5 days. This was the mid '80s. They'd put me in jail if I let my 13 year old daughter do anything close to this.

[Stephanie]

45. That's right

Growing up in the West is different. We were educated in survival skills, we were expected to take care of ourselves. At 12 all of us girls were babysitting and nobody thought a thing of it. We hiked, we biked, we waterskiied, we went off to the woods and roamed around, we were just expected to be home in time for dinner, around sunset. :)

[TransitJohn]

46. Hi Stephanie

:hi:

[Stephanie]

52. Hey neighbor!

Well not anymore, but I am so homesick for the West! :hi:

[havocmom]

69. The optimim word is "were". What was is not necessarily so now

Many adults do not really raise the kids, teach the kids, use common sense supervising the kids. Here is no different than big cities I have lived in and observed people in. It just isn't the same safe place anymore, and too many kids are not being raised at all, just barely tolerated. When parents don't place value on taking time to do parenting, 12 year olds are not all gonna understand the need.

Sad but true, even here.

[Retrograde]

70. Sounds like growing up in the East

being in the Big City we didn't have woods and all, but we took the bus downtown and hung around there. We even got to leave the country by ourselves(OK, I grew up in Buffalo and it was a short bus ride to Fort Erie, Ontario, but we used to go there in high school without parents or passports).

I remember pushing my brother in a stroller to see my grandmother, over the tracks, through the industrial area and through the underpass with the dead pigeons. I would have been about 10 at the time: sometimes I took my 7-year old sisters with me.

[Hello_Kitty]

79. I grew up in the east and it was common there as well.

Having you be home by sunset was standard practice. Hell, parents used to kick you out of the house so they could have some peace and quiet.

[ejpoeta]

51. i am the same age as you are and while i didn't go up mountains,

we did ride our bikes all over the place. we left in the morning and came back at dinner. the things i did back then.... there is no way i'd let my daughter do them now!! i won't even let her walk down the side of the road for fear she'd get hit by a car!! by the time i was 13, after my mom died.... we were home alone a lot. i'd be left with my little sister to take care of. it wasn't a great situation at that time.... it was a rough time for my dad. nowadays, i think if i left my daughter alone for any length of time i could have trouble. she is 10, and the most i will do is if she gets home before me she will be here alone for maybe 15 minutes. i don't think i would let her go to a mall unattended at ten or 12... but who knows what her maturity level will be by then. i definitely wouldn't let her be responsible for my 3 almost 4 year old. I want her to be a kid. LOL!

[izquierdista]

44. I would firmly lecture her

To leave them in a place where "mall security" could be called, that's just asking for trouble.

[LisaL]

57. The older children might have completed a babysitting course,

but they still left the younger three by themselves (as security was called). Yet it appears the mother refuses to admit any mistakes, claims she felt like her daughter could handle the situation-yet it appears the daughter couldn't handle the situation well, as the children were left un-attended. Still, charging the mother with child endangerment seems like a stretch for the first "offense."

[FarCenter]

60. Bozeman isn't Mayberry?

From the article -- "We're not going to take a chance with a child's life safety," said Kent. "We've got some weird people here. We have murderers, and we have a huge meth problem. This is a real city, this isn't Mayberry."

Isn't the Bozeman area where a lot of Californians have moved in?

[Odin2005]

61. Maybe my rural background is showing but this is a load of crap.

Good god, it sounds like that 12yo is responsible enough that this is in no way child endangerment.

When I was 8 (back in 1994) I was a latch-key kid and I came out of it just fine. Christ, if my mom did that nowadays I swear she would be thrown in jail. :eyes:

[carlyhippy]

64. unfortunately, the world is not a safe place for unsupervised children, even in Montana`

I wouldn't let my kids, even at 12, go to the mall alone. But I am the queen of the helicopter moms.

[Hello_Kitty]

75. College professors and future employers eagerly await your progeny.

Not.

[carlyhippy]

90. sorry, college professors and employers are both awaiting my progeny

all 3 have had 4.0 gpa since middle school, 2 at university, both university honors students, one on her way to graduate school next year, and 1 will be entering university next year. If you are implying they are not "street smart" and cannot think for themselves, you are wrong. They are more than able to care for themselves and since they have graduated high school they have been doing so. Why would you assume this, because I didn't let them go to the mall at 12 by themselves, or is it because I was a parent who knew what was actually going on with my kids and was an involved parent? Obviously you don't have any children after reading your previous posts; unless you have children, you are not going to know how you will react as a parent, so please don't judge others' parenting.

[Hello_Kitty]

97. My not being a parent doesn't change the fact that others are fucking up at the job.

Sorry, but after all those tax breaks and perks that y'all demanded the "village" give you to help raise your children, some of us villagers are a little less than thrilled with the way it's turning out.

And you're the one who described yourself, proudly, as a helicopter mom. That's a phrase that sends chills through professors and hiring managers throughout the land.

[carlyhippy]

98. Yeah, but these kids of mine are young adults

I highly doubt if they are going to go to their professors and hiring managers and tell them "hey, btw, my mom was a helicopter mom". Their work experience, education, as well as their common sense will speak volumes; it already has at their young ages.

The tax breaks and perks that you speak of were well spent, I did my job of raising my kids. I agree with you about young adults not having living skills...they teach it at school here in jr hi, and that actually saddens me, the parents should be doing this, this isn't really the responsibility of the school.

I agree that times have changed over the past 30-40 years for kids. I went to the mall at aged 12 in the mid 70's, at that age I was walking across town to my parents' workplace after school every day. As kids my generation did have more freedom, but parent attention was lacking and as a result alot of this generation didn't want their kids to be raised this way, thus the generation of kids being catered to and doled extreme attention. The parents in the '50s thought kids were lazy and disrespectful, the parents of kids in the 60's were beside themselves, kids were dopers, lazy, hippies, no ambition etc etc. It's been going on forever.

[brooklynite]

66. When I was eight...

I started riding the NYC subway alone. I should my parents I could be trusted to not get lost or get into trouble, and they let me travel at will...

[LynneSin]

76. Stupid but the mother let two 12 year olds take care of kids ages 3-8

Lecture isn't enough.

If it was just the two 12 year olds, then I can see that. But they shouldn't be babysitting children that young at a Mall. What happens if those younger kids were snatched while the 12 year old kids were trying on shirts at Macy's? I mean who is watching the kids - the 8 year old?

This is scary shit and I think very appropriate response.

[havocmom]

81. Yep.

A couple of adolescents in a mall are not gonna do the same babysitting job they would do singularly at their home.

My god, what was the mom who dropped them off thinking? My guess is she was thinking she was glad all the kids were out of her hair for a time. She was doing the same as the girls in the fitting room who were ignoring their job of tending the younger kids. The difference being, the mom is a grown woman and should be more responsible.

[distantearlywarning]

88. I was babysitting when I was 12.

This doesn't seem like a decision on the part of the mother that warrants criminal action.

[hedgehog]

91. The mother's side of the story:

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/outrage-of-the-week-mom-arrested-for-letting-kids-go-to-the-mall/

[hedgehog]

93. I'm with the mother on this. Someone threatened to call the cops on me once for

leaving my kids in the car while I ducked in to exchange library books. My folks left us in the car all the time, it never occurred to me that this is verboten these days. (This was not during summer heat.) I never would have left a single child, but I think there were 4 or 5 in the car. At the time I was driving a real beater, a Suburban with a mismatched fender that needed a new paint job. I've often wondered if anyone would have paid attention if I'd been driving a new car.

[SoCalDem]

99. Sorry, but Mom is WRONG.

The older kids would probably be fine, but the younger ones, definitely NOT. She basically asked the older two (who were too young to start with for the ages of the younger ones) to babysit, in a potentially dangerous place.

She dashes to the store, leaving the older ones in charge for a half hour..at HOME..maybe she's OK...but to "drop them off at the mall"..CRAZEEE- lady..and she deserves to be charged with child endangerment..

[Skittles]

100. I think the mother made a bad decision

but I agree a stern lecture would probably have sufficed

[nolabels]

101. They should condemn the city, imagine that, having MALL in the city.........

what a dastardly thing to do. Just think all those people wasting money on things they don't need, it's just terrible :argh:

[TexasObserver]

102. I believe there's far too many arrests for far too many things.

Yes, it was stupid and thoughtless.

Parenting classes for the parents of all the kids, and a stern "don't let it happen again!"