Apparently, Canadian child services agencies aren't any better than their American counterparts.

A Winnipeg mother received the surprise of her life when a child services agent showed up at her front door telling her they had received a complaint of "unsupervised" children on her property.

The mother was under scrutinty because she let her three children play alone in their fenced in backyard.

Washington Times:

Ms. Kendrick, whose children are ages 2, 5 and 10, said she often lets her children play in the yard after school while she keeps an eye on them from inside the house.

“We’ve taught both the [older] kids so far that you look after each other. That’s kind of the point. The older ones should be looking after the younger ones,” Ms. Kendrick explained to The Press. “My 10-year-old is very responsible. We’ve taught the older ones already the whole stranger danger, and they know what to do. When my 5-year-old’s out there, she knows she’s not supposed to go up to the fence.”

She said that because a file has been created, she’s worried any future complaints could jeopardize the custody of her children.

“[The worker was] asking me about if we’ve ever dealt with CFS before, what my childhood was like, how I punish my children,” she said. “She had to look to see where my kid slept. She had to see if we had enough food in the house.”

CFS officials did not respond to The Press’ requests for comment.

Children's services agencies have been under fire for allowing children to live in homes where they are beaten and abused. So the answer is to swoop in and investigate anyone who doesn't sit on their children 24 hours a day?

We are seeing this kind of draconian reaction from government agencies more and more. Parents are arrested for letting their children walk home from school or play in a park by themselves. Is it any wonder by the time they get to college they need "Safe Spaces"? 

The child service agencies have a a tough job. But the answer won't be found in badgering parents who want to teach their children to be independent. There might be no more anguishing or important job for parents than learning how to let go of their kids and allow them to discover who they are. This kind of "supervised" independence should be encouraged, not snuffed out.