Free-range children: Bill would protect Idaho parents from what lawmaker calls unreasonable neglect charges

Once upon a time, children were more involved in the world around them.

Not in a global sense of the word ‘involved,’ as kids are more connected to virtual strangers than ever before, thanks to smartphones, gaming platforms and social media. But ‘involved’ in a more explorative sense, when sons and daughters would say goodbye to their parents for hours at a time to play the days away.

Now, an Idaho lawmaker has introduced legislation that would encourage kids of today to live and play as kids of the past once did.

“What it does is,” explained Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, “it clarifies the neglect language to ensure that kids can grow up, and can have reasonable childhood independence.”

Nate introduced the bill — House Bill 3, the Reasonable Childhood Independence Bill — into the State Affairs Commitee in what technically introduces changes to Idaho’s code on child protection, modifying language that, if passed, would prevent civil or even criminal action against parents for allowing their kids to, well, be kids.

Specifically, the amendment to child protection laws would exclude certain activities from qualifying as “neglect,” including:

— walking to and from school,

— traveling to and from nearby businesses.

— playing outside

— remaining at home unattended, and

— waiting in a car, provided temperatures don’t get too hot or cold.

“We have oodles of stories of how parents have been accused of neglect or even arrested for letting their kids walk around the block to go to McDonald’s,” Nate said. “...The intent of this [bill] is to help parents feel comfortable that they can let their kids grow up and experience life in a relatively independent way without the threat of being accused of being neglectful parents.”

The bill, which was approved to move forward for debate in State Affairs, has some tricky language to untangle. For example, the child in question would have to be mature enough to handle the reasonable circumstance of, say, walking home from school. But the language does not specify an age at which that child would be mature enough to engage in those acts, in part — according to Nate —because each child is different, and some handle everyday routines and activities differently.

The amendment would not indemnify parents who willfully endanger their children or disregard what the law says are obvious dangers to Idaho’s youth.

Officially known as the Reasonable Childhood Independence Act, the bill has quickly become known as the Free-Range Children bill, in reference to a neighboring state’s recent law. Utah, to date, is the only state in the nation to implement such a law; Idaho’s House Bill 3 mirrors many of the provisions in Utah’s Free-Range Children law, which passed in 2018.