A mother in Virginia has been placed on the child abuse and neglect register and handed a six-month suspended prison sentence after allowing her five-year-old son to walk on his own to collect feathers near a pond.
Karyann Parkinson, a mother of five, was convicted by a judge after a trial in the Williamsburg Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court. She was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after her son Samuel was spotted on his own 800 meters from their home. Nothing happened to the boy, but authorities still pursued the case.
Parkinson was told that if it happens again, she will go straight to jail. She is also not allowed to volunteer at any of the schools her children attend. The treatment of Parkinson has split many parents, with some supporting her decision to let the boy walk to the nature spot on his own, stressing that she could trust him and that he was ready to show he could make the short trip without supervision.
What happened on the day
Parkinson said that after the family went for a bike ride near their community pond, they made the short trip home. When they returned, Samuel asked if he could walk back and gather some more goose feathers. The mum decided the time was right to see if he was ready to make a trip on his own.
Minutes later, the boy was stopped by a security guard, who alerted the police before Child Protective Services were called. Parkinson told the authorities she had not breached any laws by allowing her son to walk on his own, but two weeks later she was charged.
Parenting debate and legal context
There is no official minimum legal age in the UK for a child to walk outside or walk to school on their own. The NSPCC state that kids usually start walking to school or outside independently between ages 9 to 11.
Parkinson has spoken out to defend her parenting, telling Reason.com that her life was turned upside down just two weeks before the birth of her fifth child. She said: "Everyone in our neighborhood was close-knit and knew each other. There was 24-hour security, a 25-mph speed limit, sidewalks, and wide grass verges.
"Sam was a responsible and independent kid. He'd made that journey hundreds of times with me, my husband, Dallin, 37, and our other children. Neglect occurs only when you put your child in serious or obvious danger, with no lower restriction on their age. Independence should be age-appropriate, taking into account the child's individual maturity and abilities."
Appeal filed
As parents remain divided, she told Fox News: "I didn't send him to play at the pond, I sent him down the path that happens to go past the pond to collect goose feathers. I know that a lot of people have seen the headlines and seen 'five-year-old alone at a pond' - I think if I saw that in isolation, I'd probably be alarmed, too.
"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."
The mum says the family have filed an appeal because they want her case decided by a jury and are hopeful of hearing the outcome before Christmas.
