D.C. Officials Want Parents to Get a 'License' for Children to Play Together

America. Land of the free? That's less and less of a reality it seems. Despite the maxim of freedom being of utmost importance, there are many who fear too much freedom to let freedom reign. This is especially true of those who are in positions of power and control of society, such as law makers.

Do some just fear freedom, or do they want to control things and need to reduce freedom as a result?

A new area being targeted for these "concerned leaders", is children hanging out. Think of parents who gather their children for some free play now and then. Maybe you all hang out together too and bring the kids along, or sometimes one set of parents will handle the group as the others have an night off, and this alternates each time. This allows parents to have some free time from their kids now and then, and the children enjoy paying with friends.

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Government officials in Washington, D.C. are saying these arrangements violate the law. According to these control freaks, this is acting like a "child development facility" that is operating without a license. Can you believe that nonsense from these bureaucratic idiots? They want to crackdown on parents helping each other out because the stupid legal system says that organizing groups of children to do something is "child development", or acting like a day care, and bypassing the money-collection provided to the state. They want a chunk of cash.

In the 70s a group of parents created an informal playgroup for toddlers in a church's spare room. This organizing of play dates grew over the past 40 years, where groups of parents and their children enjoy three-hour playgroups up to three times per week. Parents take turns staffing the events and watching over all the children, while being unpaid.

Karin Lips of the Network of Enlightened Women wrote in the Washington Post about how "some DC government officials now are trying to regulate the program, which they contend is an illegal child-care facility." The anal-retentive Office of the State Superintendent of Education sees a threat to their revenue stream from playgroup cooperatives, which they investigated this September. They want playgroups to get a license to operate because they're "violating child care facility laws".

Parents are outraged, and rightfully so. An informal parent-led playgroup is not a formal child care business. But the government idiots argue that it's not informal, based on the parents' use of "rules" of participation that they've established over the years. Rules like a parent can't bring a contagious child to the playgroup, or asking for emergency contact information.

Those are simply reasonable things to promote the health of every child. What kind of demented moron would honestly think that "rules" in a social group make that group formal and requiring regulation? They must be really thick, really greedy, really hungry for control, or a combination.

Imagine that you can't request your parenting friends to not bring over a sick child to your home, or ask them to tell you about allergies, or divulge other medical issues. God forbid you dare have a rule to take off your shoes, as Karin Lips mockingly said. Lips is also a homeschooler, and this type of thinking is sure to put a target on homeschooling parents in the future. Lips warns:

"This regulatory encroachment could be the District’s first step toward broader government overreach in this area and the crowding-out of voluntary associations. From nanny-shares to babysitting co-ops to regularly scheduled times to play at public parks, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education investigators could find new opportunities to crack down on the voluntary ways that D.C. families approach playtime and child care for their children."

Who the hell doesn't have rules in interaction? Social interaction is built on rules, not just some free-for-all do whatever the hell you want. Better cough up some some money for a license just to have your children interact with "rules" present. If you dare to have rules for health and safety, well then you can't have voluntarily interaction with others based on certain expectations. You need to have the government approve of everything and pay them for butting into your life.

Government is already intrusive enough into our daily lives, insert itself where ever it pleases. Does it need to get to this level of crazy? Are all voluntary associations going to come under some bureaucratic lunatics purview for licensing? Lips adds:

"Ironically, if the Office of the State Superintendent of Education has its way and is allowed to regulate this playgroup out of existence, it would be creating a disincentive for parents to self-regulate, as a playgroup with no safety rules would presumably be on stronger legal standing."

Parent, like anyone, have the right to make judgment, and set requirements for interactions and well-being between themselves, or with their children, without the government shoving themselves between everybody. The fact that a D.C. council is getting involved to try to decide the fate of parent cooperative groups is troubling for the future of child interactions. Organized interactions could end up being only allowed through daycare where you have to pay strangers to take care of your kids rather than someone you know who isn't "licensed".

With over 40 years of organized interactions between families, they don't need a council to tell them what to do. I would think they have more pressing matters to attend to than become tyrannical controllers in the lives of families. Parents don't need to be told what they can or can't do. Children don't need a license to play together.

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References:

• D.C. Bureaucrats Are Trying to Make Parents Get a License to Let Children Play Together
• D.C. should just let the children play

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Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

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