We don't want there to be a whitelist of things we are allowed to do, with anything not on that list assumed to be against the law. That's a bad direction to go down. The right response to this situation would be to apologize to the parents, and punish the police and social worker who overstepped their authority.
We have quite a few. Applying them correctly and equitably is a challenge, which is what leads to situations like this one. But, it's miles better than the alternative.
I think the overwhelming majority believes it's okay for 17yo children to roam free but not 17mo toddlers. Even if the gray area in between can't be made zero-width, I'd like it to be smaller.
