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Leaving Kids in the Car for Five Minutes Isn’t Child Neglect
Recently, I found myself leaving my two boys in the car while I dashed into a local bakery. My younger son was asleep, and I didn’t want to disturb him just to grab a loaf of bread in what was essentially a one-minute errand. I made sure the windows were slightly open, quickly crossed the street, purchased what I needed, and came back. My heart raced the entire time—not out of concern for their safety, as they were just 20 feet away and in my view, but rather from the anxiety of potentially being accused of child neglect.
Fortunately, recent developments from New Jersey’s Supreme Court have brought some relief to parents like me. This ruling, celebrated by free-range parenting advocate Laura Mitchell, confirms that leaving a child in a car for a few minutes on a mild day while running a quick errand does not automatically qualify as neglect or abuse.
In a notable case, a mother known as A.B.-P. left her toddler in a parked car on a 55-degree day while she ran into a Dollar Store. Upon her return, security guards had already called the police, which sparked a six-year legal struggle. The court’s unanimous decision allows her to present her case, previously denied, while also preventing automatic enrollment in the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Registry, a designation that can severely impact future employment opportunities.
This is encouraging news in a world where parents often face legal repercussions for minor, low-risk decisions, like Kim Black, who was arrested for leaving her child in a cool car for just five minutes. Such overreactions to parenting choices, where the actual threat to a child is minimal, are becoming all too common.
It’s important to differentiate between the extreme cases of neglect—like leaving a child in a hot car for hours—and the more benign instances where a parent briefly steps away for a quick task. As pointed out by Mitchell, “Of the 30-40 children who die in hot cars each year, 80 percent were forgotten by their parents or climbed into the vehicle unsupervised.” These tragedies are not comparable to running a short errand.
The New Jersey Supreme Court acknowledged that it’s unreasonable to expect parents to eliminate all risks from their children’s lives. Just as we take risks when we let our kids swim, buckle them into a car, or travel by plane, the current climate of fear surrounding parenting decisions is counterproductive. As law professor David Carter observed, “No one should be the ultimate judge of acceptable risks for others.”
The reality is that responsible parents, who perceive the risk of leaving a child in a cool car for a few minutes as negligible, shouldn’t be facing legal challenges. The fear that authorities will intervene in our parenting choices is palpable. As Carter articulated, “It’s easy to critique someone else’s parental decisions, but it’s alarming when the state intervenes based on these criticisms.”
I’m relieved for A.B.-P. and for Kim Black, who managed to avoid severe penalties, but it’s disheartening that they had to endure such stress in the first place. Reflecting on my own childhood in the 1970s, waiting in the car while my mom ran errands was entirely normal. Yet today, the notion of allowing our children a degree of freedom is often viewed with suspicion. We should be able to buy groceries without the fear of being reported to the authorities.
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In summary, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling reinforces that leaving children in a car for brief periods isn’t necessarily a sign of neglect. As parents, we must navigate the balance between safety and independence, without the looming fear of legal repercussions for minor decisions.