National Post (National Edition)
LET MY KIDS TAKE THE BUS: B.C. FATHER
Spent two years teaching children how to transit
A Vancouver single father of five children, ages five to 11, is accusing the B.C. government of “overreach” after he was told that allowing his four oldest kids to take the bus to school on their own put them at risk.
Adrian Crook, who runs a video game design consulting business and maintains a blog called 5 Kids 1 Condo, says he started allowing his children to take unsupervised trips last spring to teach them to be independent and to instill in them values encouraging sustainability. The family does not own a car.
But someone lodged an anonymous complaint to the provincial ministry of children and family development and an investigation got underway. In a letter from a ministry lawyer dated Aug. 2, Crook was told that a court would likely agree that his arrangement raises “protection concerns.”
“Arguably, a child moving around in the community exposes the child to at least the same level of risk as being home alone, if not greater risk,” the letter said.
Crook said he was floored by the ministry’s “Cover Your Ass” decision and says the helicopter-style of parenting being promoted — in which parents hover over their children to minimize exposure to risks — is the reason why we are now seeing so many “infantilized” young adults who need their parents to accompany them to job interviews.
“The job of a parent is to raise (children) to not need you as fast as possible,” said Crook, who is divorced and has the children 50 per cent of the time.
“I’m trying to grow responsible humans . ... It doesn’t make sense.”
A ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday she could not discuss specific cases. In a statement, she said there is no specific age in legislation — federally or provincially — that dictates when a child can be unsupervised.
When the ministry receives a complaint, staff consider a number of factors, including the maturity and comfort level of the child who is being left alone, safety measures that are in place, and the child’s access to responsible adults.
“Each and every time the ministry is contacted we look into the circumstances, assess the risk to the child (or children) and the parent’s ability to provide care, and — based on those findings — take the most appropriate course of action.”
Crook said a couple years ago he would accompany his four oldest children — who are seven, eight, nine and 11 years old — for the entire 45-minute journey from their home in Yaletown, a neighbourhood outside downtown, to their school in North Vancouver. Then he started easing off, accompanying them only for the first leg of their journey and then letting them go on their own after a downtown bus transfer, so he could take his youngest to preschool.
Finally, beginning in April, he started letting his four oldest children take the entire journey on their own. There is a bus stop right outside their home.
“They did these trips happily and without incident,” he said.
Crook said he first checked with Translink, the transit operator, if there was a minimum age for when kids can travel unsupervised and was told it’s up to the parent.
“I did my due diligence before I started this process with my kids,” he wrote on his blog on Tuesday. Crook said he also equipped each of his children with cell phones and tracked their positioning constantly.
During the province’s investigation, Crook said he encouraged ministry staff to shadow his children on the bus, but they declined.
“They could’ve got on (the bus) without the kids knowing who they were,” he said.
Crook said even though ministry staff told him he had gone “above and beyond” to teach his kids to be responsible, they ultimately concluded that children under 10 cannot be left unsupervised inside or outside the home for any amount of time. Only until his oldest child turns 12 next summer can he be deemed responsible for the other children, Crook said.
The letter he received from the ministry’s lawyer cited a provincial court case in which a supervision order was made against a mother who had left her eight-yearold child home alone. The letter also said the Canada Safety Council recommends a child should not be left alone at home before the age of 10.
“Accordingly, I am of the view that a court would likely find that a 10-year-old child should not be taking transit unaccompanied by an adult and would find that child to be in need of protection,” the letter said.
“I have consulted with lawyers at the Ministry of the Attorney General and they concur with my opinion.”
Crook says he intends to challenge the decision in court and has started a gofundme page to raise money.
For now, though, Crook said he has no choice but to comply with the ministry’s findings and is accompanying his children to school in the morning and has arranged a nanny to pick them up.