The Safety of Kids

[kybearfuzz]

I read on Yahoo! News today that the "Free Range" kids were picked up by the police today while they were walking back home from the park. The police and child protective services held the kids for a long while before letting them go home with their parents. The whole story is here.

If I recall correctly, the parents are being criticized for letting their two kids, ages 10 and 6, walk together the mile from their home to the local park and back on their own. The story makes it sounds like there are outraged people going on about child safety, but most of the comments I've read on the Yahoo! site have parents basically not seeing a big deal about it.

I have to agree. As a kid, I was allowed to walk or ride my bike solo much farther than that and no one blinked. Some argue that we live in more dangerous times, but I can't say I totally agree there either. I think with our access to more constant national media, we just hear more about such stories.

Reading the story today was a bit ironic for me. On my drive home today I got stuck behind the school bus in my subdivision. I swear, the bus literally dropped off kids every 100 feet. Instead of dropping the group off at the corner and letting them walk less than a block to their respective homes, the bus practically drops them off at home individually, which seems very time intensive with the breaks and stops.

Not being a parent, I guess I just don't see the harm. I would like to think I would have taught my kid(s) how to look both ways before crossing the street and trusted they could walk less than block to get home.

Comments

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

In my day (the Dark Ages), we would disappear for hours and our parents would have no idea where we were or what we were up to. And we didn't have mobile phones either.

And I think you're right about us just hearing more about the things that do happen nowadays.

Saying that, I would probably be an over-protective parent.

[sunbeam-bears.livejournal.com]

My mother walked me to school twice. My first and second day of kindergarden.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I honestly don't get the big deal .. or the campaign to make these parents out to be criminals. Granted, I lived in a small town when I walked home from school; even when we moved to Houston, I walked several blocks home from school by myself. I believe these parents are simply teaching their kids to be self-reliant.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

we really have become overprotected as a society. Both in the name of safety and also lawsuit fears. It all just circles worse and worse, kids are ultra protected when they are young, then when they grow up and are in the real world they get pissy that there isn't someone protecting their every movement and more rules get set up to protect. It's annoying.

[pbehr.livejournal.com]

I remember as a child (65 years ago LOL) the rule was to be home before dark or dinner whichever came first. Other than that go out and play. And we did. Our bicycles were like horses. we rode then all over the place. And would stand around and talk with them between our legs. :-)

I really do wonder what the children of today staying inside with their iPads and only allowed to go out on arranged play dates will be like 30 years from now. I certainly have no idea.

[mort-83.livejournal.com]

We were feral children in my neighbor hood. We went all over the place by ourselves. Christ on a cracker!!! I'm feeling old.


I'm gonna go and yell at somebody to keep off my lawn. ;)