Posted on 01/16/2015 9:49:52 AM PST by Olog-hai
All but a tiny fraction of child abuse is at the hands of relatives or “mommy’s boyfriend”. Kids are probably as safe on the street as they are at home.
Millions of kids have walked billions of miles to and from school, now we can’t?.
“When my sister was seven, she hopped a bus to NYC.”
That’s pretty impressive. More impressive if she started in California.
“”Today is not like it was years ago.””
I say this is a ditzy mother. She talked about growing up in NYC and roaming the streets as a child and today it’s safer! What world is she living in? Totally insane. She must be without any source for news.
“”Plenty of six-year-olds wander freely in most neighborhoods nowadays “”
If you saw the pictures of the streets where they were walking, that is hardly a “neighborhood”; high rises and commercial buildings? Not my idea anyway of a neighborhood.
Another busybody tattle-taling.
Nanny State PING!
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
If they do that again get a lawyer and threaten to file harassment charges. They'll quit.
The crime rate in America today is about the same as it was when JFK was President.
She's entirely correct.
I said: “Today is not like it was years ago.”
You people said to me:
“And don’t say the world is more dangerous now, the statistics say it is actually MUCH safer now, despite an avalanche of news stories that make you believe otherwise. Yep, mostly because we have the 24/7 “news” business devoted to making us as terrified as possible. I remember being warned about strangers and such in my youth of the 1960’s. A very rough neighborhood in N Memphis. The world always was and always will be a dangerous place. Situational awareness needs to be learned early in life. Exactly! Violent crime is actually significantly down as compared to the “good ol’ days.” People are just more frightened. I say this is a ditzy mother. She talked about growing up in NYC and roaming the streets as a child and today it’s safer! What world is she living in? Totally insane. She must be without any source for news.”
I expect I am older than any of you. I was 6 yrs. old in 1939 in east Texas. We took the Fort Worth Star Telegram newspaper and seldom was there criminal activity written about in that paper. In that same area in east Texas today, you will not see children roaming around as we did. During my childhood, no one locked their house, didn’t lock their car when they went to town and they left the keys in the car.
Believe me, today is not what it was years ago when I was young - 1933 to 1950.
“The crime rate in America today is about the same as it was when JFK was President.”
See my post 51. :o)
Indeed. Besides being home for lunch (mandatory) and before dark, I free ranged over a wide and diverse terrain from about age 4 onward.
Fair enough. I was a free range kid during the 1970s when America was a much more dangerous place than it is today.
FWIW, I didn't have my first son until I was 40. He's nearing six now and in Kindergarten. Things have changed. We live in a safe subdivision about 1/2 mile away from the bus stop. The bus driver won't let him off the bus unless a parent is there to pick him up.
I was deployed with the Navy when he was enrolled in school. One day after my return I had to go pick him up, something my wife normally does. I was in uniform. The bus driver wouldn't release him to me because I had failed to put myself on the list of approved adults. The first time I visited his school I noticed the place was locked down like a penitentiary. A long cry from the open schools of my youth.
Things have changed quite a bit since I was young. I still let my two sons, 3 and 5 roam around the neighborhood on their bikes close to our home within earshot. Most neighbors don't mind but I've been chewed out a few times from some busybodies. Honestly, I'm more nervous about a visit from CPS than I am about my kids getting abducted.
Sometimes, *GASP* when I pick my son up from the bus stop, I let him sit in the front seat without a seatbelt and roll the windows down for our 1/2 mile, 25 MPH ride home!
When I was 11 years old during the late 80s, I walked about 3 miles to school. I went through yards, woods, and all kinds of places. Somehow I managed to survive. (I did carry a handgun though - the horror)
Like a big city? Ah, no, I didn’t see that.
You’re right. My parents told me about how, when they were young, people left their home and car doors unlocked, often with the keys left in their cars. They grew up in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. By the time I was growing up in the 70s, the world was a very different place.
Yep! I know no one even THOUGHT to bother me as I was toting my Ruger .22 around with me everywhere I roamed—and boy did I ever roam!
The parents were already part of a “group”..Free Range parents. The question is whether they are trying to call attention more to themselves vs’s quietly teaching their kids self reliance. A simple “yes officer we were just trying to teach our kids more independence but didn’t realize the crime statistics of the neighbor hood...we will be more careful in the future” might have mitigated the situation. No..instead the parents, especially the mom wanted to get all “activist” and “double down”...so it becomes more about them and not about the kids. There is a “munchausens” quality to this story and to the parents’ story I find troubling! The parents do need to be investigated!
“”Like a big city? Ah, no, I didn’t see that.””
The picture of the street intersection was in the video at the link. I couldn’t imagine kids walking in that area.
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