At the moment, the federal and state govt’s have made the outside environment too dangerous for kids to be left alone...with what is allowed to transpire in schools - what crack-pots are allowed to run free - the lack of pro-active police work - and a host of other things that, if they did exist 30 yrs ago don’t now, make going outside and playing a nightmare....
Case in point, my wife dropped my son off at her parents - she was saying good-bye and two 8 yr girls thought it was okay to stand there and mock her in a high pitch voice...yeap - I’m sure those girls speak to their parents like they are best buds instead of knowing their place - but if they do stupid childish stuff like that - what else are they capable of doing - be cause they were NEVER taught the right thing to do apparently.
Bullying seems to be increasing in schools - there’s a lack of respect taught at home - and schools wanting every dime a child is worth - won’t bar or kick the bullies out!
This is just one more indicator of children being pulled back in by parents too afraid to allow their children out of the home - or children too lazy due to technology - or a combination of both - or one leads to another in a cycle that will only increase bad social behavior in the near future...the kids going to college have much less discipline that those 20 yrs ago...and I wonder what they next 20 will bring...and we all wonder why Obama was elected...
I worked in a school district, I know what goes on in buses (even the kindergarteners swear like truckers). I wouldn’t allow my 6 year old daughter to walk 3 miles to school on her own across highways and such either.
Go ahead and call it helicopter parenting if you wish, but I’d like my child to arrive at school. I’d also like her to get there unmolested... Besides that, we get more time with her this way, and we’d have to stay home darned near as long to get her onto the bus as we do to drop her off.
Some people do this for legitimate reasons, other people not so much. To lump everyone into the helicopter parenting crowd is more than a little bit myopic.