It was dinnertime as usual for Brittany Patterson when the police came and hauled her off to jail in front of her kids on October 30. The reason? She allegedly let her 11-year-old son, Soren, walk an old town alone.
Now, the internet is flooded with opinions regarding Brittany Patterson's arrest. One X user said:
"Utter insanity. Leave the kids alone, literally let the 11 year olds wander around alone like we Gen Ex'ers got to do"
Another user dismissed the entire situation as ridiculous. They said:
"This is ridiculous. This mom was arrested, and now Georgia DCFS is insisting the mom sign a safety plan and install an app on her son's phone to track his whereabouts because he walked to town once without telling her?!?"
On the same post as above, a user commented on the hypersensitivity of kids today saying:
"And we wonder why we're raising a bunch of snowflakes. I can see not letting your kid walk a mile alone in a blue city, but in rural America? Getting exercise in the fresh air? Not to mention the outrageous government overreach. I will sound old here, but I walked a mile to elementary school most days even though there was a bus. We enjoyed it!"
Another X user chimed in on the comment section with:
"20 years ago every parent would I’ve arrested…"
While some users seemed to side with the authorities on this.
"There has to be more to this story. This is nuts." said one user.
"There is more to this story… someone reported her because of something that they disliked about her," another one noted.
Why exactly was Brittany Patterson arrested?
Before her arrest that day, earlier that afternoon, Brittany Patterson had to drive her eldest son to a medical appointment and her younger son, 11-year-old, Soren decided to go tag along, but as they were leaving, he was nowhere to be found. Turns out he was out for a stroll alone. Knowing that they had a lot of family around that area, Brittany Patterson said:
"I figured he was in the woods, or at grandma's house,"
Soren, however, wasn’t wandering in the woods. He’d decided to take a walk into downtown Mineral Bluff, a small town with just 370 residents and located less than a mile from his home. As he walked along the roadside—where speed limits vary from 25 to 35 mph—a woman noticed him and stopped to ask if he was okay. Though Soren assured her he was fine, she still called the police.
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A sheriff picked him up and informed Brittany Patterson who was surprised, but not overly worried, trusting her son’s maturity. Later that day, however, the sheriff returned, arrested Patterson in front of her children, and took her to jail for letting him walk alone.
Released on bail, Brittany Patterson later had a home visit from child services, who found no issues, but continued their investigation. Patterson felt the situation was excessive, as she raised her kids to know independence, reflecting the community’s “free-range” mentality.
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