You're probably right. I remember a couple of cases in the last twenty years where working class American women of color were arrested or had their kids taken away for "neglect" of letting them do normal kid stuff like walk places and play in public unsupervised.
Though in the early 90s - 92-93 - my friends and I would play at the public park that was literally adjoining our elementary school parking lot for an hour before all our moms came, and the vice principal would LEAVE THE SCHOOL to come over to the park and tell us we couldn't play there bc it wasn't "safe" (it was safe). They didn't even have the means to see individual kids as they left, but since they could see us there from the school driveway, they were insistent that they were in charge and couldn't take legal responsibility. Our parents tried explaining that they all knew and we had permission but the school basically just threw a fit and they ended up taking turns for one mom to come when school was out and sit there in the park parking lot until the other parents came to get us.
no subject
Though in the early 90s - 92-93 - my friends and I would play at the public park that was literally adjoining our elementary school parking lot for an hour before all our moms came, and the vice principal would LEAVE THE SCHOOL to come over to the park and tell us we couldn't play there bc it wasn't "safe" (it was safe). They didn't even have the means to see individual kids as they left, but since they could see us there from the school driveway, they were insistent that they were in charge and couldn't take legal responsibility. Our parents tried explaining that they all knew and we had permission but the school basically just threw a fit and they ended up taking turns for one mom to come when school was out and sit there in the park parking lot until the other parents came to get us.