On a recent Saturday morning at Silver Spring’s Ellsworth Park, a few dozen parents and their children alike gathered in support of Maryland’s growing “free range” parenting movement — but luckily, few children walked home alone.

According to a May 9 Washington Post article, these so-called free range parents believe in allowing their children to be more independent.

Throughout the last few months, the free range parenting movement has gained momentum and attention throughout Maryland, generating as much controversy as it has support.

“How much freedom can you give (children) and not run afoul of the law?” Mark Kennedy, a father of two from Silver Spring who brought his family to Ellsworth Park that morning, said. “I really want to get some clarity.”

Free range parenting entered Maryland’s public consciousness after Silver Spring residents Danielle and Alexander Meitiv became subjects of widespread debate for their parenting choices. On April 12, police picked up the Meitivs’ 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter as they walked home alone from Ellsworth Park.

Silver Spring police and Child Protective Services held the two Meitiv children for five hours, and the incident prompted a full-on investigation of the family for child neglect. Since then, many Marylanders have been debating what constitutes responsible parenting, whether or not the government’s laws are too strict on parents and just how much freedom young children should be given.

The Ellsworth Park event held on May 9, called “Take Your Kids to the Park…And Let Them Walk Home By Themselves,” wasn’t quite as austere as its name implies. Most parents stayed at the park to supervise their kids, and few children actually walked home by themselves, the Washington Post reported.

In addition to spending the day at public parks in urban areas like Silver Spring, American families also share a strong affinity for camping. In 2011, families across the U.S. spent a combined 534.9 million days together camping. For free range parents, it wouldn’t be out of the question to let a child go off on a hiking excursion by his or herself.

“The message is just to show that it should be normal to see kids walking and playing by themselves,” Russell Max Simon, co-founder of Empower Kids Maryland, the group that organized the event, said.