“Baking Helicopter Parenting into the Law”

My story about the mom found GUILTY of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” because she let her 5-year-old walk around collecting feathers went viral last week. You may have heard about it on CNN, Fox, The Washington Post, The New York Post, She Knows, and on and on and on. As one local reporter said here, “Her case is fueling a much bigger parenting debate.” 

Is it ever! And most amazing to me is the way that debate has…shifted. 

I really feel that when I began this movement almost 20 years ago, the reaction to this mom might easily have been: “FIVE YEARS OLD??? That’s crazy! He could run into the street — throw himself into the pond — or be kidnapped by a guy in a white van!”

And there were still some comments like that this time around. Of course there were. But by far the majority of comments that I’ve seen (impossible to keep up — it was shared 51,000 times on Twitter alone, the Washington Post piece got 3000+ comments) sided with the mom.

That strikes me as a sea change we have been waiting for. Google “Karyann Parkinson neglect” and you can noodle around for yourself. But as evidence, here’s how five Fox Newsers chewed on the story for about 10 minutes. They are saying everything we have been saying forever — and sometimes in our words!  Highlights:

Appalling!

What did Abe Lincoln do at age 5?

Somewhere along the line we have solidified a helicopter parent metality and baked it into the criminal justice system.

This is a crazy case.

What’s crazy is that this is  actually in direct contradiction with a Virginia law passed in 2023 — a Free-Range Parenting Law that specifically narrowed the definition of neglect to protect parents who let their children have some element of independence and freedom. And police decided to move forward with prosecuting this woman anyway, which is why they had to charge her with ‘Contributing to the delinquency of a minor’ —  because they couldn’t actually prosecute her for neglect. And as a young mom myself I find this completely horrifying.

I was raised by Free-Range parents – I would love for my son to grow up in the exact same way. Now I have to worry about other parents micromanaging the way I raise my child.

And what’s remarkable is that she [the Virginia mom] made the very intentional decision to actually give her child the opportunity to explore his capabilities. That is the very opposite of neglect. That is empowerment.

Right on!!!

As for the interview with Karyann I loved the most, here it is:

[NOTE TO COREY: CAN YOU DROP THIS VIDEO INTO THE PIECE? IF NOT, PROVING A LINK UNDER THE WORDS “HERE IT IS” IS FINE BY ITSELF. https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/07/health/video/cnn-sitroom-brown-virginia-mom-five-year-old-conviction ]

It’s a wonderful trip through common sense and Let Grow’s mission. Karyann talks about how she reached out to Let Grow when she got arrested. How I brought her story to national attention. How Let Grow co-founder Jonathan Haidt’s ”Anxious Generation” book has preached our ethos to millions: For kids to grow up resilient, they need some unsupervised time. Karyann even quoted our favorite counter-intuitive crime stat: If for some reason you WANT your child to be kidnapped, you’d have to leave them outside for 700,000+ years for this to be statistically likely to happen.

For her part, the anchor brought up the bipartisan Reasonable Childhood Independence laws Let Grow helped to pass  in 13 states. And she described them the way we do!  These laws clarify that “neglect” is when you put your child in obvious and serious danger, she said, not just anytime you take your eyes off them.

And that, full stop, is what influencing the culture looks like. Hearing your words and ideas “baked into” other people’s hearts and minds – and mouths!

As Karyann herself said so beautifully: Letting your kids roam when YOU feel they are ready – even at age 5 — “is perfectly in line with good child development. We need to give them opportunities to grow.” 

In other words: LET GROW.

If you would like to join Let Grow and get our free independence-building materials, or help us pass  more Reasonable Childhood Independence bills, or donate to support our cause – please do!

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KARYANN PARKINSON