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Mom Investigated Because Her Daughter Was Walking Her Dog
National Review ^ | 08/25/2018 | By KATHERINE TIMPF

Posted on 08/25/2018 10:47:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

A woman from Wilmette, Ill., found herself under investigation because her eight-year-old daughter was spotted walking her dog around the block by herself.

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the police showed up at Corey Widen’s door after an anonymous caller contacted them to report that the girl had been walking alone. Although no charges were filed, Widen was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services over concerns that the walk meant that her daughter might be being neglected.

“For something like this to happen to me, there’s something really wrong,” Widen said. “The funny thing is . . . I’m a joke with my friends because my kids are around me all the time.”

Widen also told the Chicago Tribune that she can actually see most of her daughter’s route through her windows at home, so it wasn’t like she wasn’t keeping an eye on her.

It might sound ridiculous, but this is far from the first time that something like this has happened. As the Chicago Tribune notes, many other parents have had the police called on them for seemingly innocuous things such as leaving their children in the car for a few minutes on a cool day or allowing them to play in parks alone.

Widen was eventually cleared, as she should have been, but these kinds of investigations should not be happening in the first place. They are, for one thing, very strenuous. According to an article in Reason, a lot had to be done before Widen was able to be cleared. Investigators had to talk to everyone from her children to her other family members to her pediatrician — which is a total waste not only of their time, but also of government resources.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: dog; dogs; government; overreach; wilmette
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1 posted on 08/25/2018 10:47:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I wouldn’t let my 8 year old girl walk my dog alone.

Anything could happen, including being attacked by another dog.

I don’t think police should have been called though.


2 posted on 08/25/2018 10:49:55 AM PDT by chris37 ("I am everybody." -Mark Robinson)
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To: SeekAndFind

My mom should be doing hard time.
She had the audacity to let us out to explore and play - that was however, back in the day...when there were borders.


3 posted on 08/25/2018 10:52:13 AM PDT by Ouchthatonehurt
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To: SeekAndFind

Would it have been okay if she’d worn a helmet, knee pads, and bubble wrap?


4 posted on 08/25/2018 10:52:46 AM PDT by ASA Vet (Make American Intelligence Great Again.)
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To: SeekAndFind

All those resources could have been better spent investigating parents that really are abusive and negligent. I wonder what would happen if someone reported drug deals going down at the nosey neighbors house?


5 posted on 08/25/2018 11:00:31 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: SeekAndFind

Stories like this always suggest to me a busybody or unbalanced neighbor with a grudge.


6 posted on 08/25/2018 11:01:04 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it")
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To: SeekAndFind

Busy-body neighbors without an HOA to lean on.


7 posted on 08/25/2018 11:02:28 AM PDT by samtheman (LetÂ’s elect as many Republicans as possible in 2018)
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To: chris37

At 8 years old I was off riding my bike across entire neighborhoods, creeks, and across highways.

Seems parents have become wimps and are raising spoiled brat crybabies.


8 posted on 08/25/2018 11:03:49 AM PDT by CodeToad ( Hating on Trump is hating on me and America!)
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To: SeekAndFind

My mom was the opposite. We were not allowed to play in the house.


9 posted on 08/25/2018 11:04:49 AM PDT by IC Ken (Stop making stupid people famous)
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To: SeekAndFind

I remember when the sight of a kid outside with their dog was called “normal”.

That was before this diseased culture we inhabit now.


10 posted on 08/25/2018 11:11:10 AM PDT by Psalm 144 (The United States is a terminal, fourth stage nation of immigrants.)
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To: SeekAndFind

DEPORT ISLAM: Safe Child Act


11 posted on 08/25/2018 11:15:21 AM PDT by TheNext
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To: CodeToad

GPS tag your child. Beast mark but it would work for parent control.

At a minimal, a hidden body tag could help.


12 posted on 08/25/2018 11:18:25 AM PDT by TheNext
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To: Ouchthatonehurt

My mom should be doing hard time...

Among my most cherished of memories, our son age six and his buddie taking the new puppy for their first walk, outside the fenced yard.

A Norman Rockwell moment.


13 posted on 08/25/2018 11:21:19 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (So what!)
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To: SeekAndFind
In the '70s our moms would chase us out of the house right after breakfast during summer vacation. The kids in the neighborhood would hang out, ride our bikes, climb the nearby hills, shoot our BB guns at paper targets, and sometimes wouldn't come home until it was getting dark. We all somehow managed to survive.

Not sure why today's children are being raised like the Eloi from "The Time Traveller".
14 posted on 08/25/2018 11:26:51 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: SeekAndFind

Gosh, at eight I was up on a Saturday before my parents, out the door, walking all over town. I had to be told, though, not to pick flowers off the neighbor’s patio. Great times; I feel sorry for today’s kids.


15 posted on 08/25/2018 11:27:42 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

I think in the 60’s and 70’s every child heard, “Go outside! bet it!” more times than they ever heard their name.

We managed to live through it. In fact, I know of no kid that ever died, was kidnapped, or harmed in any long lasting way.


16 posted on 08/25/2018 11:31:51 AM PDT by CodeToad ( Hating on Trump is hating on me and America!)
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To: SeekAndFind

17 posted on 08/25/2018 11:32:35 AM PDT by gaijin
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To: gaijin

18 posted on 08/25/2018 11:34:15 AM PDT by gaijin
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To: SeekAndFind

https://people.com/parents/mom-investigated-dcfs-letting-daughter-walk-dog-alone-wilmette/


19 posted on 08/25/2018 11:36:44 AM PDT by kanawa (Trump Loves a Great Deal)
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To: SeekAndFind

In the 70’s we had “migrants” and I liked them.

The scale was different though —we didn’t have a microstate operating inside our borders.

While most are law-abiding when there IS a miscreant, often the crime concerns sex, rape, or harming children.

I’m still mad about what happened to this mom, though.

The real solution to fears that generated this police call is to get rid of all the creepy illegal aliens.

In the long run, an important “migration” effect is a widespreak change in public perception of social risks to kids.

That’s what we’re seeing played out, here.


20 posted on 08/25/2018 11:38:40 AM PDT by gaijin
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