Reasonable Independence Law for Children
Our government has been turning play time into crime time and it needs to stop.
Kids need the freedom of independent play and parents need to know that they can support them without committing a crime. Unfortunately, this government overreach has an even greater impact on lower income families and communities of color. These parents often find themselves on the wrong side of the law simply by allowing their children to go outside and play; like we did when we were young. That’s wrong and it’s worsening our children’s mental health crisis. More importantly, there are more important issues facing families and much better ways to use taxpayer resources.
The need for this law is talked about in part four of New York Times best selling book “The Anxious Generation”.
Below are the sections of Florida law that need to be clarified in order for children to have their reasonable independence to go outside and play.
Criminal Law:
Florida Statute Ann. § 827.03 makes it a crime to fail to provide “necessary supervision.” Fla. Statute Ann. § 316 has a specific provision that makes it a crime to leave a child age 6 or younger in a car for more than 15 minutes or if the child is any age and the car is running or the child is in danger.
The problem in Florida is that when the police are called on a child who is playing outside, it’s up to the police to decide what they think is “necessary supervision”. While there is some clarifying language in the statute, many officers don’t know where to find this language. This can lead to police response looking like a) the kid looks happy playing outside and does nothing b) the child is taken home in a police cruiser and now the child thinks he/she is ‘bad’ for playing outside or c) parents are accused of neglect and arrested while their children are put in foster care. We just want the definition of “necessary supervision” to be clear like in other states that have passed this law.
Juvenile Court | Child Protective Services | Neglect
Florida. Stat. Ann. § V-39.6625 provides that neglect is defined broadly as lack of care (food, shelter, medical care), while Fla. Stat. Ann. § V-39.6225 specifies that leaving a child without adult supervision or arrangement appropriate for the child’s age or mental or physical condition, so that the child is unable to care for the child’s own needs or another’s basic needs or is unable to exercise good judgment in responding to any kind of physical or emotional crisis.
Again, depending on the police or social worker who arrives for a phone call reporting a neglected child you can have a person who decides that ‘helicopter parenting’ is appropriate for an (for example) 11 year old playing on a playground or a person who is happy to see a kid playing outdoors. The more clarity we can bring to this statute, the more families will feel free to let their children play outdoors.
This law has passed in Utah, Virginia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, and Montana
Interested in cleaning up FL law and/or sponsoring this bill? We have sample language from four states that have already passed this! Feel free to contact us below and we’ll send it to you!