I came across this story today and it triggered something for me. I'm one of those kids who grew up in the 1970s when parental expectations were pretty different from what they are now. If you know what I'm talking about then maybe this story will hit you the same way.
It was a cool, rainy day when Legend and his 10-year-old brother were shopping with their mother at the local Food Lion grocery store. They asked to make the two-block walk home, where their father was waiting. She allowed them to do so.
Instead of walking about 100 yards to the right to the crosswalk at Lyon Street, the children sought the most direct route: across West Hudson Boulevard, through the Gaston County Health Department parking lot, on to Lyon Street and then to their home.
They never made it.
A witness described what happened to a local news station.
A witness told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon that Legend stepped out in front of a car as his brother tried to pull him back.
“That shocked me,” said witness Summer Williams.
Williams said she stopped her car and held the child in her arms.
“Even at night, I still see his face,” Williams recalled.
She said she rubbed him and tried to comfort the 7-year-old. At that time, he was still alive.
“Just letting him know that somebody was there and he wasn’t alone. Stay with us, sweetheart. You’re going to be alright. Stay with us,” Williams said.
By all accounts, the elderly woman who was driving the car that hit Legend was not speeding. So the culpability is being put on the parents.
Jenkins and his wife, Jessica Ivey, were arrested two days later and charged with involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of child abuse. Their alleged crime: allowing their 10- and 7-year-old children to walk home, two blocks away, without an adult, leading to the younger child’s death.
Each parent was initially held on a $1.5 million bond before it was reduced to $150,000...
The charges against Jenkins and Ivey have resulted in a flurry of national attention, with parents asking how much child autonomy is too much and what counts as negligence. Many commenting on the Gastonia Police Department Facebook page question how allowing children to walk unsupervised near their home crosses boundaries when they themselves did so and allow their kids to do so. Others insist the intersection is too busy and unsafe for children. Some cast blame on the police department and interrogate the legality and morality of holding the grieving parents responsible for their child’s death.
That last paragraph is the one that really has me wondering. I was allowed to walk to and from school when I was 7 years old. We had to cross a busy street that looked a lot like the one where this accident happened. Of course we had crossing guards and adults looking out for us but not always. When I was a bit older, maybe 8 or 9, we (myself and my best friend who was the same age) would cross the street alone to go to the big playground and park adjacent to the school. And on most weekend days we would ride our bikes for miles down suburban streets and our parents literally had no idea where we were for hours at a time.
So while I definitely see a tragic outcome here, I'm not sure I see a crime. Certainly a 10-year old can cross a street and walk for 2 blocks without parental supervision. The fact that the older brother was there makes me think it wasn't so unreasonable for these parents to think the two boys could make it two blocks home safely.
Of course they were wrong and they seem to be suffering tremendously because of that. The boy's father was put on suicide watch and wakes up crying. But it makes me think my parents and the parents of most people my age would be in jail if they were somehow able to jump forward in time about 50 years to the present day.
To be honest, I wasn't nearly as lax with my kids as my parents were with me (as most parents were in the 70s). I did let my kids walk to school about 2 blocks but there were no major streets to cross. So maybe I kinda-sorta agree my parents were a little too hands off. But I also know I survived all that freedom and so did my friends. So I'm not sure what's happening to these parents is justice even if I'm also not sure I'd have made the same decision.
Here's a local news report about the story. You can see the street in question and yeah, 7 is probably too young to cross that alone, but with a 10-year-old brother who was on the phone with his dad as they walked? I just don't know where to come down on this one except that I feel terrible for the loss these parents have suffered.
