Back in the “good-old days,” a kid came home from school, gulped down a glass of milk, changed into grubby clothes and raced outside to meet up with a pack of neighborhood kids. Together they all ran around wildly, catching frogs, climbing trees and making mud pies. All of this was done without any adult supervision, or maybe mom or dad poked a head out the front door a couple times to make sure everything was under control.
Yes, kid nirvana still exists in some neighborhoods around the country but many would agree that those days of children playing freely and safely outside are endangered. Today’s kids are either over-programmed with dance classes, math tutors, and soccer practice—or they’re glued to a screen. What’s more, parents often perceive the outdoors as being unsafe, even though crime is down overall.
And then there’s the woman in Texas who saw two kids, ages 6 and 9, playing on the front lawn next-door and decided to call the cops because she thought the kids shouldn’t be playing outside unsupervised. It turns out that the kids’ mom was actually sitting outside in a lawn chair but when the police arrived they didn’t believe her story. They threw Tammy Cooper into the police car and into a jail cell.
“Orange jump suit, in a cell, slammed the door, for 18 hours,” Cooper told KPRC-TV.
Cooper was arrested for child endangerment and she is disputing the charges. According to Yahoo News:
Cooper is suing the La Porte Police Department, the officer, and the neighbor who made the call. In a statement, the police department said it was “confident of the known actions of the officers on the scene that evening.” The neighbor had no comment.
