WINTER 2015
stander called the police after speaking
with Ms. Harrell’s daughter. Ms. Harrell
was quickly arrested and her daughter
turned over to Child Protective Services.
It is clear that, unlike the Maryland
couple, Ms. Harrell did not have a wide
variety of choices regarding what to do
with her daughter. Given her situation,
she chose, what some outsiders may
presume, was her best available option.
Despite the differences in their class levels, geographical region, and race, the
connection that runs between the experiences is that the bystander never attempted to talk to the parents directly and
the government reaction was automatically to turn to Child Protective Services.
The irony of the government’s responses in these situations must be noted. It is
interesting that the first response to situations in which (1) the child is not being
harmed and (2) the parents have no prior
record of neglect or abuse, is to turn to a
broken system in which the child will lose
both the stability and comfort she or he is
accustomed to. It is also distressing that
DOMESTIC
the first call made by both bystanders was
to the police. While the police are supposed to be a part of protecting the community, there was nothing in either situation that called for direct contact to the
police. The phrase, “it takes a village to
raise a child,” has clearly lost all meaning
in these American communities. It could
be linked to the prevalent neoliberalism
of today’s society in which people are becoming hyper individualized and increasingly incapable of feeling connected to society. It could also reflect a shift in the role
of police in the minds of communities. Or
perhaps it is simply poor logic on the part
of the bystander. In either case, the political implications of these situations are real.
America’s foster care system is already
broken and the impending doom that a
neighbor or a random stranger might call
the police because one’s parenting practices do not align with theirs makes American communities seem more reminiscent
of 1984 than a village working together.
From a top-down approach, police and
child protective service offices must be
more critical of what constitutes neglect
and abuse, a task that would be much
easier if state governments crafted clearer
laws than they currently do. It is easy to
understand how a police officer might not
know what to do with Debra Harris when
the South Carolina law is so vague as to
what constitutes abuse and abandonment.
With stories popping up every year about
a child dying in a car because of suffocation, it is understandable that the police
arrested Kim Brooks. Police have little
to no guidance from the law on how to
handle these situations. It also wastes resources and time to target individuals who
pose no actual threat to their children. It
is not the State’s nor the bystander’s job
to prosecute parents who pose no threat to
their children. Who knows if free-range
parenting is the superior of the two styles,
but it is the parents’ choice to decide how
to raise their child. It is the community’s
job to provide feedback, to engage in
conversations and to step in when needed. But more importantly, it is the community’s job to know when to back off.
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