That's not the only fear. I regularly read about child protective services "abducting" children because they were not being supervised as closely as some adult thought they should be. For example, there is a recent story "Maryland family under investigation for letting their kids walk home alone".
Blame fear-mongering journalism. Heck, just the way you presented it here, (child abductions by CPS) reflects a fear-mongering narrative.
To be clear: Many states (mine included) have chosen to be deliberately vague in their wording regarding child supervision. Maryland is not among those. They chose, instead, to be very, very clear. Their law states that a child under 8 must be supervised by a reliable person 13 or older. That Maryland couple was allowing their 6yo to be escorted by their 10yo. That's a violation of their law.
If you disagree with the law, no problem, there are mechanisms for changing it. But let's please stop pretending that being investigated for clear violations of the law constitutes "kidnapping."
The parents under discussion are free to let their 10yo go to the park on his own. And in just two more birthdays, the girl can join him, or she can go unaccompanied herself. So, swaddled in bubble wrap and locked in a panic room, Maryland kids are NOT.
Terrible media is terrible, and it makes us all dumber.
