I think further detail is required here.

There has to be more to this story than is detailed here. For example, how far did they have to walk, were they dressed properly for the weather, where were they walking – on the side of the road?

Seriously, this is ridiculous. What about exercise, independence, responsibility, learning a lesson. I’m tipping the girls may not miss the bus again in a hurry.

Bizarre, crazy world we live in !! This is not neglect. 3 of my kids (11, 10 and 6 year old) walk every day home from school, all seasons. Good exercise, is healthy and good for them. So glad I don’t live in the States !!

Ok if it was indeed 3 miles to the school, then yes that’s a but harsh. What I’d like to know is since when is making your children walk to school considered neglect? These kids were 10 freaking years old! What about all the other kids that were walking to school that day? Did they arrest their parents too? This is obviously yet another case of the system illegally removing children from the home and placing them in the custody of the money making business also known as CPS. A word to the wise…..be very careful in how you parent your children or they may come for your kids next.

I would have made sure they got to school safely and when they got home discussed the matter with them and made them understand that they have to be ready and waiting for the school bus. I think they deserved that depending on whether they are regularly tardy but if they weren’t give them the benefit of a chance to make sure they are responsible and if they do it again then set out a suitable disciplinary measurement. It is not wise to place your children in danger, once they are gone you can’t get them back. It seems the Sheriff’s department in Tennessee are quite strict about matters such as these.

How ridiculous. The reason the kids had to catch a bus was because she didn’t drive. Yeah?
She was trying to teach them a lesson – and a good one at that – DON’T BE LATE!
The mother should not be punished – I used to walk further than that as a child because both my parents worked and that was the only way I could get to school.
Cold temperatures have had to be endured everywhere – and she was able to make sure nothing happened to her children by being there although illegally.
About time people understood discipline – that’s what she was trying to teach and now that lesson is lost!

I walked almost 5 kms to school each day when I was in school and that was normal in our area, you had to be further than 5 kms to qualify for a bus pass. My mother worked at the school and drove there but we still walked or rode our bikes just like almost all of the other kids did. It is totally ridiculous to say that making your kids walk to school is neglect. As far as the cold weather goes, well it might not have snowed but we did get viscous frosts and school uniforms aren’t the warmest of clothing but we all survived.

Apparently she had no license to drive so it was just as well the kids weren’t in the vehicle. However, charging with neglect only makes sense to me if the children weren’t dressed for the conditions, or had to walk along a highway not marked for pedestrians. Requiring them to walk 4km or 5km is not unreasonable. And it is a direct consequence related to missing the bus, helping them see the importance of catching it. That is a good thing. If she doesn’t have a license to drive she would really want to make sure the kids learned responsibility to get the bus.

It does sound pretty odd the way she went about it.
But plenty of 10 year older walk to my kids’ school by themselves.

Id like to know exactly why that is classed as neglect?
As long as the children were dressed for the weather I dont see that its neglect at all. Seriously its crazy that kids are no longer allowed to walk to school.
I think the bigger drama would be the r fact that she was creating a hazard on the roads.

There are safer ways she could have punished them. She wasn’t only punishing her daughters she was deliberately creating a traffic jam. She must have been able to see the stream of traffic….or didn’t she use her mirrors at all.
There is safer ways of punishing a child –no TV or computer games, confiscate toys or books for a few days, no special treats, no play dates or sleepovers.

maybe she was driving slowly so she could keep an eye on them and make sure they werent kidnapped. i wish we had the whole story so we could make informed opinions rather than just making up our minds based on a short version of the whole story

She may of intended driving them some of the way… Being a Mum I’m sure she’d have them warmly dressed suitable for the walk. She was in the car, so they weren’t in danger of being kidnapped..This discipline wouldn’t hurt them and they might listen to Mum next time.

I believe other Mums should support Mums who are doing the best they can with their kids.. not ‘knock’ them.

My daughters walk home from school 2km each day, its not cold but its very hot. Unless schools do something about making times more suitable for working parents, this has to be done.

I think this is a little extreme, if you can then you should drive them, if you have the time to drive slowly ahead of them, disrupting traffic, just put them in the car and find another form of punishment.

I’ve checked in Internet to see how long she actually wanted them to walk. 3 miles. Almost 5 km. That meant, for the kids, at least 1 hour walking. I understand the reason why she did it, but maybe it was a little extreme.
I used to walk to school with my daughter since she was in kindergarten. But that was around 25 minutes.

I know times have changes, but I walked to school from the age of 5 years….just over a kilometre. Then my kids were driven to school most days but also walked by themselves on occasion. Maybe the mum driving slowly was a bit mean but surely it doesn’t hurt kids to take responsibility for getting themselves to the bus on time. Time to toughen up people!

What a stupid woman. This is no way to teach children responsibility.