this is "nightline." >> tonight a victory for those free-range parents charged with child neglect. tonight, they are speaking out. >> this is probably the safest time in human history to be a child. >> reporter: is giving kids the freedom to roam seen as brilliant or negative? >> i'm excited. >> the reason why some girls as young as 12 are opting to down size their breast. >> the devil. >> are they old enough to weigh the long-term risks? he's the anti-country star. ♪ >> reporter: all of life is a house party for one of the biggest country music successes of the year. tonight, sam funt talks about how he morphed from jock to to

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. a maryland couple cleared of child neglect charges tonight after allowing their kids to walk home from a playground alone. it sparked a national debate over so-called free-range

parenting. previous generations might have called it childhood. >> just in time for summer vacation, these kids can't wait to get out and explore. for the past few months they haven't ventured much farther than the backyard mulberry tree. not since their parents got in trouble with maryland child protective services for letting the kids walk home unsupervised from the playground. >> parents are accused with letting their children walk home alone about a mile away. >> this week without explanation, maryland cps reversed that. you must be relieved? >> very much. >> they afree-range kids. their mom and dad give them freedom to roam beyond the parental safety net. >> at what age do you think it

is safe to go out. >> when they ask. >> six and ten. >> you do some training and little by little. >> you watch them. >> send them a block away little further and little further and see how they react. >> it's called parenting. >> exactly. >> it is not a new idea. if you are over 30 chances are you were a free range kid. whether you raise your children this way is another matter. >> i grew up this way main sister grew up this way and she and i couldn't see this differently. she thinks you are crazy and i think a lot of people do. >> fear isn't rational. we can cite the statistics but when you are scared you don't think. >> you could eliminate all risk of being abducted but at what cost? >> right. lock your kids in the house all day. >> reporter: free-range parents say by not looking out for them every minute of every day you are looking out for their long-term development. the meitiv believe that helicopter moms who hover over

their children are doing their children a sdis disservice. >> their children are anxious. they lack common skills we took for granted askids. they don't know how to take care of themselves. they don't know how to handle the smallest situation and they get to college or jobs an cannot function. if we are failing to raise children who could function as adults then we are failing as parents. >> reporter: deprive kids of freedom, they say, and you deprive them of chances to learn. that means you have to trust them with the steak knife. families like the meitivs are old fashioned. google any episode of "dennis the menace." >> s, sorry. >> reporter: and the plot always seems to be one laugh track shy of an emergency room. >> if you must hammer do it outside. >> okay mom. >> reporter: parenting style, one of benign neglect. same goes for "leave it to beaver." ward and june cleaver always

concerned, but also giving their kids plenty of room. >> the way wally is talking, you think something is going on we don't know about. >> dear when you have children there is always something going on that you don't know about. >> reporter: and would anyone dare the cleavers of being neglectful. >> people say the world is different today and they are right. the world is dramatically safer. this is probably the safest time in human history to be a child. >> reporter: the meitivs are aware they have the luxury of calling this free-range parenting. a mother in south carolina recently arrested for letting her child go to the playground unsupervised while she worked her shift at mcdonald's wasn't necessarily doing this by choice. >> what you do is punish parents who have trouble securing child care or child care for all hours that they work, when school ends at 3:00 and your shift doesn't get off until 5:00. intervening in that means you are more likely to hit low-income parents who are struggling. >> i have to think also your

kids are white. >> there's no question. we had two high-powered lawyers. we are both educated. we know our rights and i say how would somebody feel if a single parent, english isn't their first language they don't have legal support, and don't have resources to take off many days of work they would lose. >> sure. yet, i'm sure you are also aware of things like the etan patz child. >> any child abducted from their family is a tragedy and thank god that is extremely rare. those risks are lower now than they were when most adults were growing up. >> reporter: the meitivs are not completely in the clear but they have another child protective services investigation hanging over their heads after someone called 911 in april. >> two kids that are unaccompanied and they have been walking around for probably 20 minutes by themselves. >> okay. and you don't see any parents around them? >> no, ma'am. >> the kids were picked up

walking home from the park again. police held them for five hours. a traumatic experience for them and their parents. >> cps has finally succeeded in making me terrified to let my kids out unsooipupervised because i'm afraid they will take them away. now they have been vindicated they feel. are you scared to go to the park? >> no. >> what do you think when you see a police car? >> my first thought is oh, no, better hide. >> reporter: not an ideal takeaway but understandable under the circumstances. yet you are in a tricky position. you have been cleared but you are still under a cloud. and you are worried that the next cop that passes your kids might pick them up again. >> got a cell phone now for that reason. also it is important -- another silver lining is that our kids have learned to stand up for

their rights. >> reporter: plenty of others disagree but the meitivs say they are there their kid and their right to raise them the way they see fit. >> what do you think? is free range parenting nurture or neglect? share your thoughts on our facebook page. next, why a growing number of girls, some as young as 12 are undergoing bris reduction surgery. and he's the hottest new breakout in country music. ♪ i don't want to change your mind ♪ ♪ i don't have to make you love me i want to take your time ♪ how sam hint took his time to become the new anti-country star of the year. read your handwriting, a wide-screen multimedia center, and a head-up display for enhanced driver focus. all inside a redesigned cabin of unrivaled style and comfort.

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♪ we all know some young girls dream of being bustier, but for a growing number of girls, some as young as 12, an over ample booze bosom can lead to pain and. some consider it a curse. are they old enough to weigh the po ten shlt risks down the line? like most teenager girls mackenzie loves to shop. >> i'm excited i love to wear stuff like this all the time but it is so low. i try things on maybe it will work. but then it doesn't and i'm upset. >> for this high school senior trips like these end up in tears. mackenzie is a petite five feet tall. her bra size 32-h.

uh-huh, h. so mackenzie is making a drastic decision to go under the knife to surgically shrink the size of her breasts on her 18th birthday. >> someone told me i was going against god. he gave me a gift and i shouldn't be doing this. to them, i want to say, i don't care about your opinion because at the end of the day it's my body. >> reporter: it turns out mackenzie is far from alone. in the u.s. breast reduction surgeries have spiked 157%. why this uptick? some studies suggest girls today reach puberty earlier, pointing to the obesity epidemic or hormones in the modern diet. other experts say it is because the surgery has gotten so safe and artful. doctors tell us younger and younger women are seeking out the procedure raising questions are teenagers like mackenzie old enough to understand the risks?

nipple sensitivity, and even losing the ability to breast-feed. >> i'm ready to take the chance because it will be worth with it in the end. >> the size of her breasts have taken a physical and emotional toll on her since her early teens. >> so uncomfortable. >> the worst part is walking down the street or walking down the hall at school. being known as the girl with the giant boobs. having guys date me because i have boobs and it gives me self confidence issues because i feel i can't trust people. >> reporter: two weeks before the surgery. >> preop at ten. >> they are driving two hours to boston children's hospital for a preop appointment. >> i asked if i have kids will i be able to breast-feed. what impact will it have on my body. >> reporter: she is going to meet one of the best known

surgeons. >> we see patients as young as 12, 13 years of age but that's rare. >> dr. labow specializes in reduction surgeries. a field fraught with controversy. >> you can have a 15 or 16-year-old more emotionally secure than 18 bra straps that bruise or chafe to the point of bleeding. >> physical social psychological, self esteem issues are decreased with this. >> how are you? great to see you. >> reporter: luckily for mackenzie her insurance covers the procedure. otherwise it would cost $10,000, trip whal the typical breast enlargement would cost. >> i would think that you would in part be able to breast-feed but we are making it a little more difficult to do so. >> reporter: for mackenzie the long-term benefits out weigh the risks. >> i want to look like a normal

girl and i have never been so sure of one thing in my life that i want to do. >> reporter: the night before surgery we pay mackenzie a quick trip to her hotel room. how are you feeling? >> i'm feeling good. >> do you know what size you will be when it is over. >> maybe a d if i'm lucky, c plus d. >> mom, when you think of the surgery, what comes to mind? >> i'm nervous, really proud she is definitely going through with something that will impact her for, you know the rest of her life. it was a very hard decision. >> birthday present for you. >> hi. >> bright and early the morning of her 18th birthday mackenzie arrives in preop. >> adorable. >> you can tie it to the stretcher. >> officially an adult she signs her first consent form. mackenzie is allowing us to be with her every moment of her surgery, four hours in total. >> i'd expect you to recover --

you will be pretty much yourself by the one-week mark. healing under the dressing is what will play out over time. most people won't notice anything that has happened but you will feel lighter right away. >> reporter: mom's never waivered in her support of kenzie showing no signs of fear until now. >> anxious. >> hard. this is the moment -- nobody likes -- >> no. i'm actually really nervous. when they started to mark it it was like try to stay strong for her. >> reporter: on the table the complicated work begins. >> set for incision. >> use the scale to weigh how much you removed. >> for a couple of reasons, documented for the purposes of insurance and also gives me a sense of how much we have done on this side and when we go to the other side we can say we want to be more or less that sort of thing. >> while the team is sculpting away we went to check in on mom. >> she is sleeping okay. >> we went a little after she

went to sleep but she's good. >> tears coming down my eyes. >> i know. >> after nearly four hours the team is done having removed about a pound from each breast. >> the surgery went smooth limit it was pretty much what we thought it would be. we didn't take a huge amount of tissue. a proportional amount. she feel lighter. she's going to look really good. >> wonder sglfl mackenzie is groggy and in pain but awake. >> it's over. two with weeks later, on the day her bandages come off, mackenzie is shopping for a senior prom dress for her new figure. gone is the 32-h. instead a comfortable 32-d. >> i love this dress. >> i didn't feel any different until i got to the different today and they took it off and i looked down and i was like oh my god. they are gone. so great. i noticed as soon as i woke up

on thursday that my back pain is gone which is the best thing ever. i can sit up straight without crying because my back used to always hurt. i feel like a completely -- like a new me. >> too big on the top. that's a miracle. >> reporter: her dress size has gone from an eight to a zero. she finds the perfect dress. a princess moment without the zipper tug of war. >> it is almost like i have a new life and stepping in to adulthood as a new person. >> i like this. i feel like belle. up next taking country by storm. how sam hunt took his own time to become one of the biggest breakout stars of country music in years. ♪ i don't have to take your heart ♪ i just want to take your time ♪ >> announcer: abc news "nightline," brought to you by e-trade.

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finally tonight, he's the fastest country singer to hit gold in three years. now he's gone platinum. sam hunt's journey to stardom was paved off the beaten path and that could explain why his fan base extends well beyond country music. here's abc's gloria riveria. >> reporter: he rocks a flat-rimmed hat instead of a cowboy hat. and he's more classic than honky-tonk. ♪ >> reporter: somehow sam hunt is burning up the country charts with feel-good hometown tracks like "leave the night on ♪

♪ baby i know what you are wishin' for ♪ i'm wishin' for it too ♪ >> reporter: and "house party" ♪ >> he may seem like a natural but the 30-year-old georgia native said he stumbled on music by chance, hanging out with a friend playing guitar the summer before college. >> if country music, if you learn three chords you can play about any song. >> it takes three chords. that's the secret sam is sharing. >> reporter: he loved football but he had a secret. >> i was obsessed with this newfound passion they would sit up at night and learn more chords and learn songs. >> reporter: not a lot of other guys on the football team are having these candle-it will acoustic sessions after practice. >> i kept it private for a long time. >> reporter: when his nfl didn't take v he moved to nashville and started writing. he penned hits like "come over"

for kenny chesney. this country star isn't afraid to mix it up. ♪ ♪ i don't want to steal your freedom i don't want to change your mind ♪ >> reporter: weaving spoken word with melodic verse in "take your time." >> his heart throb status comes from the way he wears sensitivity on his sleeve. sam is focused on calling his mom, keeping up his faith and hanging out with his band mates. >> we are actually roommates. >> you live together as well? >> yeah. >> reporter: so it never stops? >> no. >> reporter: good thing because this is just the beginning. you know your life is exploding. >> that's what i signed up for and i love it. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm gloria riveria in chicago ♪ >> tune in to "good morning

america" tomorrow. as always we are on-line at abcnews.com. good night, america. hey! hey, anybody home? debra! all right. come on, buddy. hey hey! aw. you nervous? don't be nervous. they're gonnnna love you. i'll tell you what i'll do althe talking, ok? come here. come here. did you eat yet? are you hungry? let's see what w we got. lasagna. bakeked beans. chicken lo mein. hold on.

this is debra's meat loaf. here. do me a favor. ray! have y seen geoffrey? no. but look, a dog. yeah. i see that, ray. why is he here eating my meat loaf? because... it's so good. what are you doing with a dog, ray? he followed me home. you want to play with him? go ahead. play with him? ray, i can't even find one of our own children, all right? geoffrey! that's 'cause they're walking now. i told you all that crawling would lead to no good. here he is. i got him. so what do you think, huh? what should we name him? are you kidding? ray, we can't keep him. besides, he belongs to somebody. no, there's no tag no collar. he could've been born in the wild. yeah, those herds of wild bulldogs.