In a “common-sense” move Friday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert made his state the first to legalize a controversial practice known as “free-range parenting” that previously led to the arrest of a number of parents for negligence. Herbert signed into law bill SB65, which becomes effective on May 8. It will now allow a child — “whose basic needs are met and who is of sufficient age and maturity to avoid harm or unreasonable risk of harm” — to travel alone to and from school or recreational facilities by
walking, running, or biking, play outside or engage in another independent activity, and sit in a car unattended, under reasonably safe conditions. Allowing a child to engage in such independent activities will no longer be counted as “neglect.” The bill also allows a parent or guardian “legitimately practicing religious beliefs” to “not provide specified medical treatment for a child.” “I feel strongly about the issue because we have become so over-the-top when ‘protecting’ children that we are refusing to let them learn the lessons of self-reliance and problem-solving that they will need to be successful as adults,” Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, who sponsored the bill, told Yahoo Lifestyle. READ MORE
Wow, my parents were pioneers and didn’t even know it. It’s called being lousy parents people, there’s nothing new about it. Leave it to The Mormon State to make it legal to be disengaged from parenthood. What do you expect from the parents (now lawmakers) that brought us “millennials”.