Florida Boy Walked to Chick-Fil-A Alone. Police Returned Him Home and Didn't Arrest His Parents.
Five-year-old William woke early and snuck out for Chick-n-Minis. When cops were called, they spared the boy’s parents, breaking from their all-too-common habit of arresting and charging parents with neglect.
In Jacksonville, Florida, a few weeks ago, a 5-year-old named William woke up before the rest of his family. He left their home and fully fenced-in yard barefoot and walked over to the local Chick-fil-A alone. The video of the story has gone viral, and for once, it's for a wonderful reason: The cops who responded to the situation returned William to his home and did not arrest his parents.
Restaurant employees couldn't help but notice that this early morning patron was younger than their average solo customer. They gave the boy breakfast while they waited for the police to respond to their call.
When Patrol Officers Perri and Kelly arrived on the scene, they asked William where he lived. "It's right across the street, right over there!" the boy replied, vaguely pointing his thumb behind him. Once William had finished eating, they walked him out to their cruiser to take him home. "Are you going to get me in jail?" William asked. One of the officers laughed and assured William, "No. I'm not going to put you in jail."
The officers then drove William around the neighborhood until he recognized his home. The house was completely surrounded by a hefty gate, which one of the officers had to jump over in order to knock on the door and alert William's parents to the fact that he had wandered off.
"I have children…the first thing, you know, you get that knot in your stomach because you know, somebody else whose a parent is missing their child," remarked Perri. The empathy and compassion shown for these parents is a breath of fresh air.
When Phil and Victoria answered the door, they were not clapped into handcuffs as this Georgia mom was when her 10-year-old son walked off without her knowing. Or like this Texas mom, who was arrested after making her 8-year-old son walk half a mile home in their suburban neighborhood. They weren't investigated for neglect like this Maryland mom, or this South Carolina mom, or this Virginia mom, or this Colorado mom whose son wandered off at a picnic. They weren't charged with neglect like this mom, who let her 9-year-old nephew walk her 3-year-old son a quarter mile to McDonald's.
Instead, the officers and William's parents marveled at how wily kids can be, and how scary it is when your kid goes missing. Later on, the family, the officers, and the Chick-fil-A employees had a little celebration, complete with high fives—not high bail. Contrast that with these North Carolina parents who were held on $1.5 million bail each after their 7-year-old son was tragically hit and killed by a car while walking to the store with his 10-year-old brother.
Kids will always be kids. Arresting parents simply for not knowing the exact whereabouts of their children every second of the day means punishing parents for being humans who are raising younger humans.
In July, Florida became the 11th state to pass a Reasonable Childhood Independence law with the help of my non-profit, Let Grow. It clarifies that "neglect" is when a parent or guardian "fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or health care, although financially able to do so; however, the term does not include a caregiver allowing a child to engage in independent and unsupervised activities" unless they constitute "reckless conduct."
I asked Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokesman Christian Hancock if our law was the reason the cops did not arrest the parents. He said it was simpler than that. "These parents didn't do anything wrong." Hear, hear!
It's only fair to celebrate the good, not just the bad. God knows I sound the alarm when law enforcement goes overboard on parents. When they act with common sense and kindness, it makes sense to share those stories, too.
