Posted on 05/14/2024 1:53:05 AM PDT by grundle
Ever since returning to the Chicago area after living for almost a decade in Switzerland, my nice suburban neighbors have scrutinized my parenting. The biggest shock to the community was when I decided that my 7-year-old daughter was responsible enough to walk five blocks to school alone.
"You know, we'd be happy to drive her in the morning," said one neighbor.
I've discovered that these parents are all lovely people and well-meaning, but they are also part of something my husband and I still — even after being "home" for a decade — can't bring ourselves to join: the school car line.
The car line at our neighborhood elementary school is seemingly never-ending. It snakes around the corner of an otherwise beautiful centuries-old brick school. In the cars sit devoted parents who want the best for their children, which also seems to include polluting the air and constipating the streets.
But beyond the environmental consequences of the car line, something feels even more detrimental: American parenting culture.
Opposite the Swiss version, which promotes independence from the time a child can walk, American parenting culture seems to say to the child: I'm in charge of getting you to school — you have no agency. If it's cold, I'll keep you warm. If it's raining, I'll keep you dry. If it's snowing, sure, wear your sneakers, I'll drive you. If you're late for school, it's not your fault, it's mine.
But in Switzerland, where I learned to parent, children as young as five walk or bike to school alone. If there is ice on the streets, they fall and get up again. Parents don't drive children to school or hover at the playground while constantly telling their child to share, to say they're sorry, to be nice.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
I see a yes and a no to this article. The no part is this is Chicago. I’d never live there in the first place.
The yes part is I agree with kids learning independence and doing more on their own. They are valuable learning experiences that can be carried into adulthood making them more apt to be successful in employment or in their own business. That rugged individualism is what made America so successful before the left reversed it all.
As a 7 and 8 year old boy I walked about 5 blocks to school everyday, except during the cold winter.
In HK our daughters walked down the hill, took public bus to Central MTR (Subway),then rode that 8 or 9 stops, and then another bus to school in the 4th grade.
But HK is a safe city.
Over the years I have witnessed the pussification of America. It has really gotten bad.
The quarter famous person, “life is tough. Wear a helmet.”
Thanks. Missed that at 5:27:18 AM! But the focus on one child seems to indicate this is another one child family. If married, that is too often the norm.
I am not so certain they were actually safer.
The perception of safety was much greater.
Kids are actually much safer today, because of better traffic controls, safer cars, car seats for kids, many other safety devices built into power tools, etc.
Today we are inundated by viral, sensationalist media, which program us to think we are not safe.
Maybe it’s having been both a prosecutor and a defense counsel, but I didn’t trust anybody enough to let my daughters get out of sight in the neighborhood or ride their bikes around the corner. I think I deprived them of early independence because I knew “what is in the heart of man”.
Switzerland is distinctly less “diverse” than much of Western Europe. Therefore its a lot safer to let your 7 year old walk a few blocks on their own. I wouldn’t be willing to risk it in Chicago - even in a nice neighborhood.
“Maybe it’s having been both a prosecutor and a defense counsel, but I didn’t trust anybody enough to let my daughters get out of sight in the neighborhood or ride their bikes around the corner. I think I deprived them of early independence because I knew “what is in the heart of man”.”
As a fellow “girl dad” I know what you mean. I watched over mine like a hawk, much to their chagrin.
Japan too, lacks diversity. Thus its extremely safe and clean and harmonious.
The good old days weren’t safer. People today are more afraid because we see all the extremes in various forms of coverage. No TV and radio didn’t sensationalize crime and mayhem.
Kids need freedom to deal with the world as it is, starting at a young age. Don’t talk to strangers is still good advice.
My brothers and I didn’t get driven anywhere because we only had one car and my mother didn’t drive. Walk, bike,,trolley, bus, subway. School buses were for kids who lived on farms.
Switzerland is an unusual place in many ways. Singapore is probably similar. Organized, clean and safe, so there is less worry about the outside world.
Apparently she won’t drive the child to school because of the environment and pollution
The proper verb is "to raise" or "to rear."
I started walking alone a half a mile to kindergarten when I was five and continued to do so throughout my grade school yers. However, this was when my state of California had two Republican US Senators and a Republican governor, and both Los Angeles and San Francisco had Republican mayors. Different galaxy.
There were always pervs. The difference is that they never made national headlines like now.
4th sentence: “my husband and I still — even after being “home” for a decade — can’t bring ourselves to join: the school car line”
She doesn’t live in Chicago, she lives in the suburbs.
“Of course, those were better days, and safer.”
Not really, in terms of stuff like this. We’ve got Amber Alerts, everyone has a trackable phone in their pocket, and there’s a network of cameras everywhere capturing people’s license plates. It’s much harder to kidnap a child off the street nowadays and get away with it than it was, say, 40 years ago. The 70s-80s were the peak serial killer/kidnapper heyday.
Bingo. They didn’t get publicized (until around the Adam Walsh incident) and they didn’t so often get caught.
When we were growing up, during summer our parents would tell us, “Get out of the house and be back for dinner.”
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