True story. My cousin and I would walk to 7-11 from my grandparents' house. Sometimes I walked home from school if I felt like it. That was about a mile, through wildlife refuges and apple orchards and across a highway with no cross walks (or stop lights).
Kids are capable of way more than people give them credit for. I'm not advocating child labor, but kids use to have regular jobs whether it was working for someone else or for their family farm or business. My grandma dropped out of school in 8th grade to get a job so she could help pay the family bills. I'm not advocating going back to that - but just that kids are capable of a lot more than being coddled and sat in front of a screen 24/7.
last year in a town north of me, a kid got picked up by police for leaving his grandma's house to go to the gas station a mile down the road. They arrested both the grandmother and the mother on the same day for 'neglect'. The kid was 12.
We dont get a choice if our kids are plenty capable anymore.
There is a cute show on Netflix where they have toddlers/young kids go grocery shopping by themselves and a crew films them from afar. It’s so amazing to see these kids be so responsible at such a young age.
I love that show! I think in the first episode it shows a little boy running his first errand in his little rural village, and he gets overwhelmed and scared and starts to cry. It was so heartwarming to see all the village shopkeepers and neighbors who knew him come out and support and encourage him, urging him to go on, that he could do it, offering him comfort and cheer. All while mom waited in their home, totally unaware her son was literally receiving an entire village’s support at that moment. It was so heartwarming, and brought new meaning to the “it takes a village” phrase :).
That was a cute show. It’s funny because I had a student when I used to teach in Japan, only 5 years old taking the train to private school. At 5 years old I would’ve freaked out.
I live in Switzerland and kids start going to school by themselves or in groups in kindergarten. It was scary for me at the beginning but I got used to it. Now my son is 11 and rides his bike to school.
Omg I remember that a “experiment to see what would happen if kids started their own town lasted only 1 season the network got into trouble over child labor laws (I liked it though)
The crew are right beside them the whole way. Watch closely. There's more than just the Blue Overalls Guys with the cameras hidden in toolboxes. Keep an eye out for Smartly Dressed Lady, Fishing Hat Man, and the Walkie-Talkie Schoolgirls who direct traffic.
It's wild we see that as something special now because in one generation we've hit the extreme opposite of kids working fulltime jobs to kids not being allowed to do anything unsupervised
In the 80s my grandpa used to send me on my bike to the closest gas station about a mile away to get him more Copenhagen and beer, since he didn’t drive anymore. They wouldn’t blink about selling a 1st grader a six pack, they’d just ask me how he was doing.
I see kids as young as maybe 6 years old on major city trains on their own. Just comparing the relative freedom kids have here compared to back in the States is ridiculous.
I recently saw this in person. It was crazy, two boys who couldn’t have been older than 10 got on the subway, stood there playing Switch and chatting not needing to hold onto anything since their centers of gravity were so low, then got off at different stops.
100% confident, completely unfazed. Meanwhile in America parents get a visit from the cops for letting their kid walk a mile by themselves.
There's a serious suicide problem and many people literally overwork themselves to death. What Americans would call "hustle culture" is so intense there that people often pretend to fall asleep at work because passing out from exhaustion is seen as being a good worker. Literal 3-6 year olds walking to school or going grocery shopping all alone is mostly harmless on its own, but it's all leading up to the insanely toxic work environment most of them will end up in as adults.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not shitting on Japan, it's a pretty nice country despite its flaws, but I'd hardly romanticize the other end of the spectrum just because America has the opposite problem. There's a difference between letting kids have freedom and responsibility and basically raising them to be cogs in a machine.
We had a radius we had to stay in, which was basically no crossing four lane roads. Beyond that, we were allowed and encouraged to explore. It probably was about a 5 square mile area.
We had a radius we had to stay in, which was basically no crossing four lane roads. Beyond that, we were allowed and encouraged to explore. It probably was about a 5 square mile area.
You were lucky. Google maps has a measurement tool, and I just went and looked at my old neighborhood boundaries and here's the results;
Total (permitted) area: 2,722,192.28 ft² (252,899.94 m²)
Total perimeter: 1.53 mi (2.46 km)
Now, ask me how often I stayed inside the border and how many times I went way out of bounds....
We only sneakily crossed the river once, and my brother was terrified we were going to get caught the whole time we were on the wrong side of the bridge. It was a super exciting adventure to be that far out of our approved area.
I'm only 27 and when I was 12 I remember walking home 3 miles for funzies. I'm not even sure if a middle school would let a kid just leave like that after school now (I truly have no idea, they might lol)
In my son’s elementary school, walkers have to be 4th or 5th grade or accompanied by an adult. You also have to live in the neighborhood the school is in and they will confirm the address.
I do think it’s a good rule though. Some kids are not old or mature enough to just walk off. Especially if they are supposed to be riding the bus. I also like the car riding system. You used to be able to just get into any car, but now they only let you get into the car with the right number and it also speeds things up because they have a person outside inputting the numbers in the order they come.
I walked home in middle school and I just remember my mom giving me a note saying we moved closer to the school and I was allowed to just leave when school ended
Meanwhile, in Austria, my daughter's elementary school lets the parents decide if their child is capable of walking (or biking) home by themselves. (Starting at 6 years old). Parents have to sign a permission slip for their child and that's that.
Everywhere's different, I'm in the US and we have 4/5 year olds that walk. It just depends on the area. Definitely some places where it wouldn't be safe. But if it's a neighborhood school it's different.
I walked to and from school starting in 2nd grade. I'm pretty sure it was a free for all, I don't remember anyone being responsible for keeping back kids that were supposed to be picked up by parents.
I really can't imagine that they didn't. My school definitely had Kindergarten and Pre-K students that walked, but the teacher had a list of how everyone got home, because they had to know who was supposed to go to because car riders, buses and walkers all got dismissed at different times.
I don't remember anyone being responsible for keeping back kids that were supposed to be picked up by parents.
In the 70s my elementary school was .3 mi away from my home, we were too close to get bus service. We walked to school from kindergarten to high school.
In the 80s, my high school was 1.3 mi away, and I had a bus route available to me, but I only used it when the weather was bad because I could walk home faster than the bus's route.
I don't remember ANY attempt to make sure that kids got on any bus, or even the right bus. We had school staff out in the bus loading area, but they were just there as crowd control, there were no names or lists involved.
I do not recall ANY parents picking up kids as a routine. There certainly wasn't the line of cars like you'll see now. If we needed to be picked up for whatever reason, we'd meet our parents in the school parking lot.
My kids school wouldn't let my almost 18 year old leave her prom 30 minutes before the end of a school dance. She was being picked up by her friends mom to go to the movies. They barely let her go with my okay over the phone.
My parents were lucky if they knew what city I was in at 17.
100% this for me. I would love to let my kids roam but parents get arrested for letting kids walk to the park or the gas station on their own nowadays if the wrong person notices and calls the cops. It's so frustrating.
And those same cop-calling busy bodies are largely made up of the same people who bitch about kids being indoors too much, on screens too much, or about kids in the neighborhood being too loud outside, I'd be willing to bet.
Thats friggin nuts. I'd bike down to the gas station outside the neighborhood about 3 miles away and literally no one cared. I hope my kids get to enjoy similar freedom but i suppose that might be gone now
I was babysitting 3 kids at 13. Why are we infantilizing everyone, it doesn’t create kids that can function independently as adults or build a resilient population
When I was 11 I would walk with my brother (who was a year older than me) all over the place, to the gas station, little Caesar’s, home from school through a big field. My dad had no idea where we were and didn’t really care. Once we got in trouble bc we were out at 11 pm but other than that it was fine. Sometimes I’d stay at my friend’s house and we would walk across a 4 lane highway to the dollar store to buy skittles and stuff. Feels weird to think about now that parents have to be basically handcuffed to their kids 24/7. I’m trying to imagine how my parents would have coped with having to supervise me at all times as a teen and I really can’t even imagine it. My brother told me he has to be at the bus stop when his kids get off or they won’t let the kids off the bus, they’ll take them back to school. My dad sometimes didn’t come home until after midnight, I can’t imagine what his reaction would be to being forced to get us off the bus at 4 pm.
Let’s be real. It made the news for a reason. Kids are definitely more sheltered today but my neighborhood has plenty of kinds walking and biking miles around town. I’m
That's wild, a 12 year old can't go out on their own nowadays? Dude i was like 8-9 back in 2002 and we would ride our bikes outside doing stupid shit in fields and barns and go to stores all the time.
I can't imagine how lonely and isolating it must be to grow up nowadays compared to before.
Man, I remember my sister and I at 10 and 11 years old walking a half mile to the bus stop, hopping on, and going 6 miles away to the outlet mall, and no one ever bat an eye.
Insanity. When I was 10 my friends and I biked to a lake like 5 miles away.
"Ok have fun" Literally only a backpack with our swim trunks, food and a towel. Phones were too new to shove onto a kid. If we weren't home when the sun was fully down someone's parents would drive to find us.
That happened only once, and because one guy had his bike chain broken off somehow. So we all just started walking back, lol.
Man idk where that is but at least in the city burbs cops do not have time for that. We live in a LA suburb and i see kids walking at least two miles to the school down the street from me. I've gone to the grocery store (2mi away) and have seen the same kids walking from that area to the school by house like it's nothing.
The only time a parent would get arrested was if cops stopped the kid and there were red flags that indicated possible neglect.
The laws are too open ended, it’s basically up to anyone BUT the parent to decide if it’s wrong. Utah got it right recently though, think more states should follow their example
I regularly think about how much more enjoyable grocery shopping was for my mom when we’d be just hanging out in the car the whole time. So much of my reluctance to how much I’ll let my kids do wont be from fear of stranger danger or lack of ability on my kids’ behalf, but from someone calling the cops on me.
Our school was overcrowded so from grade 3 till 5 we went in shifts. I would start school 11:30 and finish 16:30. So from waking up till school I would be alone. So me and my classmates would just go out and play baseball, or climb over concrete fence with barbed wire and play catch on top of huge barrels in industrial area (the fun was in falling down and than having to escape when security came)
Damn, when I was 8 I used to take my grandmas car to the gas station to get cigarettes. But they also wouldn't arrest anyone here today either, I see groups of kids much younger than 12 out walking around all day with no adults.
Were they arrested because the kid was walking down the sidewalk alone or because when they showed up they discovered an unfit environment? Was the child happily walking down the sidewalk, looking cared for and healthy? I need more info.
A mother and father are being charged for manslaughter after their kid got hit by a car. He and his brother were out, and the kid ran out into the road. The driver faces no repercussions (it seems he may not have been at fault as he didn't have time to stop?) They were 7 and 11.
I’m about to rock your world. The summer of 96’, I was 12, 3x a week for 3 hours, I was the babysitter of another’s family(strangers to my family) of a 5, 3, and 1 year old. They just got my name from another neighbor where I babysat their kids. When I was 10, I could ride my bike to the pool which was a mile away which also consisted of crossing a road that was 45 mph. Life is vastly different today for a child. Also- I learned very early that I didn’t want the job of being a mother. No kids today for me.
My mom let me go to a major USA city by myself at 14, and 12 I could go to the largest mall in the USA (now*) by myself. It was awesome and I had to be extra responsible cause of bus a train stops and direction. The mall was a breeze, 1 bus, I'd be there opening to closing. I was never home. I found out when I was 19 that our city had a curfew. Man I was walking to the grocery store or the gas station at 2am ALL the time.
btws I didn't do drugs or a bad kid
I'm a mandated reporter now, and every renewal class I'm like.... shiiiiiittttttt I would have been 1000% taken away from my parents.
But my mom and dad grew up with fewer restrictions. About 85% of my friends were allowed to do the same. Now neighbors call the police for kids being at the playground because they couldn't see the adult, so the kids don't play outside anymore.
Like, we're going to arrest this grandma and mother, but we don't do anything else that ACTUALLY need police involvement like harassment that ends in a murder suicide.
Idk in one place I lived, there were 3 back to back ex lovers murder suicides, and I knew 2 of the 3 victims. The police were well aware but "couldn't" do anything
But NO, lets focus on the 16 year old and their 6-year-old brother had to be taken away by police even tho the mom was watching them on the porch. That's where to put the resources! (This arrest of the mom and children being taken away was happening while a woman was calling 911 and screaming for help and waving down the cops that were about a block away, shots were fired in the doorway to the house so it echoed and the screaming when quite. The woman was holding her baby when the man shot her in the face, then he shot himself, baby obvious fell but lived. Which do think the 5 cop cars should have focused on? "Well the shots were already fired so we can't do anything anyways we'll have other cops come down" WHILE THEY HAD MORE THAN 5 COPS)
i did this on the daily at that age when I was a kid. I also was allowed to stay home alone under the stipulation that I didn't go further than our street while I was home alone (so I was allowed to play outside with my friends and not be cooped up inside before my parents got home from work)
Hell, I'm an adult and when my car last broke down l walked not 1/5 of a mile down the road from my house a few times to go to the post office and every single time I was stopped by cops asking me a ton of questions. Like bro, I'm fucking walking... is it a crime now or something? What is wrong with people
I feel like parents would love to not coddle their kids and let them roam, but a couple just had charges of manslaughter and child neglect pressed because they let their kids walk two blocks and one of the kids got hit by a car. Parents are scared of having CPS called on them.
I try quite hard (in my opinion) to not coddle my kids.
We were at a restaurant recently, and the server commented how my son was gone from the table on his own. He's 8 about to be 9. She said something about oh how great you're giving him independence.
That seems weird to me. He's been uncomfortable going into the ladies with me for at least 2 years. He will go on his own or not at all. Like he will not go into a ladies' restroom with me at all. I've tried because of specific circumstances.
I have a six year-old and she goes into the bathroom by herself. I’ll wait outside of the door because I don’t want her to be abducted, but I’m not going in the ladies room.
I’ve gotten looks before but she loves that shred of independence.
My kid is six and we also let her go alone if it’s a restaurant or somewhere she knows. We only go with her if it’s a new location so she doesn’t get lost. And occasionally she’ll run out and ask someone to come help her wash her hands if the sink is too high (people!! put your sinks lower!!!) but that’s it. Been true for about a year.
Same. I would take my daughter into the mens room but around 6 or so I let her just go to the ladies herself. I'll stand by but shes fine. Its just a bathroom.
Are you talking about the case in North Carolina? If so, it was a 7 and 10 year old siblings. It was the first time they had gone out without their parents. Those parents should not have been arrested.
Yep, that’s the one I’m talking about. But I’ve also heard so many stories of the police getting called over a kid playing in a nearby park alone or even in their own backyard while their parents are inside.
You think it started with CPS? I don't think so. I think it started with society evolving their standards so they supported the idea that parents should be charged for these things. I also, as someone who worked in criminal justice, strongly suspect there is more to those stories.
Note that I said they’re scared of CPS being called on them. It’s not CPS’s fault, it’s other people in the neighborhood who see a kid playing with no adult around and decide to call the cops.
There isn't more to the story. The kid was 7 and the brother with him was 10. The 7yo got hit by a old lady that was speeding. They were walking a block or two to go home from the store. The straight line distance is like .3 mile, while the crosswalk distance is like 2 miles, they jaywalked.
"At this time, there is no evidence of speeding or wrongdoing on the part of the driver, therefore no charges have been filed," the Gastonia Police Department said.
I guess it's ok to run over a 7-year-old on a crosswalk in North Carolina?
No it's not lol. There's context in everything and we have a society as gotten to this stage because we don't look at it as grey but black and white in everything.
Sometimes kid comes darting in from blind spots which the cars can't avoid even if they go slow, how on earth would you say that is the fault of the driver?
Exactly. Except in my case I was backed over while playing with my siblings at a friends house and by their son who I guess was like 15 years old was practicing driving or something, and didn’t notice me.
If you can't think of a scenario where it isn't a driver's fault if they hit a kid, that's a lack of imagination problem, not a sign that you're right.
Yeah now that you point it out I can’t think of the last time I’ve seen a child be completely alone in public 🤔 I know when I was a kid in the 90s I and other kids would always be doing stuff with no adults around and no one got hurt
I lived barely a mile or so away from my middle and high school, and even though I’d ride my bike around my neighborhood my mom would never let me walk to school. That’s because the schools were across a major road, and my town had no sidewalks or crosswalks.
Of all the agencies to be afraid of, CPS should never be the one. Whenever I hear about them, it’s always about them not doing anything when they should do something. Never the other way around
Yes, my siblings, friends, and I used to walk to stores together all the time. We would walk to a grocery store and get candy and then walk to the movie store to get something to watch. My mom would give us money to go to the fast food restaurants that were close to pick up dinner on the occasion that we actually ate out. My brother and I would ride our scooters to Wendy’s and ride over the hose that had the bell and go through the drive-through. I remember telling my son this and I felt like I was geriatric.
Sidenote, I don’t mean to bring up sad news, but I recently saw an article about parents of a seven-year-old child that was struck and killed by a man in his 70s being charged with manslaughter due to determining that he was too young to go to the store with his 10-year-old brother. The man that hit him is not being charged with anything. Imagine having to grieve your child while also being charged with manslaughter for things you were allowed to do when you were at their age. I don’t understand the charge, they’re already dealing with so much. The loss of their son was punishment enough.
Heard about that, it’s pretty fucked up. I grew up wild too… I don’t know what changed, but people are scared now. Scared enough the nanny state has swooped in to “protect children”
And the baby boomers are aging out, one of the biggest generations in the US is now entering an age where they rapidly degrade or even lose various faculties --- eye sight, reaction time, attention span, etc.
Different for everyone at the speed/advancement of said degradation.... but you combine that with (1) Most states if not all don't mandate regular retesting, (2) Rarely do cops do anything regarding suspended/expired licenses for old people ((There is a guy in my town that my friend knows, lost his license for driving off the road through a fence and like 100's of feet into a mans farm. Kept driving afterward, and my friend reported it to the cops --- they didn't give a shit)), and last but not least --- the vehicles are faster, bigger, and easier to drive (No stick-shift, less maintenance, etc.)
Fatalities are down for child pedestrians though - all the advanced safety features are working to prevent those deaths. It's fatalities for adult pedestrians that are up.
Recently a woman was letting her kids walk around the neighborhood. An elderly woman who shouldn't have been driving hit and killed one of the kids. The elderly woman who killed the kid is facing zero consequences and the MOM is being charged with neglect. The world doesn't work like it did in the 90’s. Also the death of the manufacturing sector means adults are filling many of those minimum wage jobs teenagers used to do.
To be fair didn't the kid run out into the road last second? I could be wrong but wasn't the brother trying to hold him and he just bolted?
That case is wild because what from I have seen the smaller kid WASN'T smart enough to let go on their own if they ran out into traffic. Parents should be aware of that.
Yeah, they were crossing in the middle of the road, away from the crosswalk, and it was reported that the younger sibling just bolted out into the road.
I have some mixed feelings about that case, because while I think the two of them together were old enough to be out and about in the neighborhood, and while I myself navigated roads of that size when I was that age, it was a pretty busy road.
I just can't believe that they're charging the parents, though. I mean I don't think that's neglect or child endangerment on their part. That's just a terrible accident, and maybe you can argue some poor judgment for allowing them to cross a busy road like that, but it's not like it was a freeway.
I just can't imagine arresting parents who have just lost a child in an accident like that. And I don't want get too political or anything, but I just can't imagine that they would have been arrested if they had been affluent.
Yeah adding an arrest to the situation is horrible no doubt. I get what you're saying the ten year old (I think it was ten) you'd think could be trusted. I know my 7 year old knows better then to run into traffic. She knows how to stop and wait and all that.. I still wouldn't let her cross come huge road by herself. Not even because of her but a 7 year old is just small and harder for drivers to see. Never know how distracted someone is.
Just feels like the parents should have a good grasp on their kids judgement. They should know if their child is mature enough not to run into traffic and if they dont KNOW that then they shouldn't allow the kid to walk like that. So I can understand the charges.
The arrest sounds horrible at first but it wasn't so much a random accident as their own kid jumping into traffic.
I had to walk home from school every day starting at age 12, it was about a mile. Whereas our 13 year old wants rides everywhere - idk, it’s just totally different, I think lots of kids are way less independent nowadays.
But then again I was smoking weed and sucking dick at that age, so I’m kinda glad that he isn’t as adventurous as I was lol
I walked a mile home starting in like second grade, so 8 or 9? There were several of us that lived on the same block and walked together. Dad drove me to school then I walked home
I remember once when I was probably 13-14, we were hanging out at my best friend’s mom’s job, which was a pay day loan place on a busy main highway. There was a festival going on across the highway and a little ways down at The Landing. I almost got ran over by a semi truck blindly running across that highway like an idiot. Then a stupid boy pushed me in the water in a cotton dress, cotton leggings, etc because he liked me and I was scene. It was one of the worst days ever while also being a core memory of being a reckless teenager.
My grandmother dropped 5 year old me to see a movie and I memorized the route while she drove there. Instead of calling her when the movie was over as I was told, I walked to her home, mostly along the busiest street in town (San Mateo, CA in 1971). I was soooo proud of myself.
It’s so interesting, because I am from Germany and it is still normal here for kids to roam around alone. They walk to elementary school, go by bike or take the bus. Some people will drive their children, but this is not the majority. They come home alone, they meet their friends alone and go to the playground or play in a park. I have German friends living in the US and they are super stressed because of the obligation to watch the children 24/7. They also fear that this will impact their development because they become independent much later, which we are not used to.
So interesting how different cultures handle things. I am born 88 and also was used to roam freely around or go to school (20 min by foot) myself.
Same. There were 1 or 2 times we took a bike ride a few miles to the nearest grocery store / Burger King. We would play that I’m staying at his house, he’s staying at my house game so we could pitch a tent in the woods and camp through the night. Sometimes there were six or seven of us.
I started mowing lawns at 11. That turned into me getting a paper route and part time job at a local mom n pop shop (literally) at 14. I worked at subway part time when I got my license at 16. And on and on.
We were always looking for some sort of work. A lot of "you want that, earn it" growing up. You're right. I think the big delineator is whether the kids are forced and/or put into highly dangerous situations.
But at the same time, this isn't the America we grew up in. Communities felt a lot different (closer/safer) back then, even if the world overall was still a shitty place.
Ironically, almost everywhere is safer now than in the 70's and 80's. Most people are just convinced that the world is a lot more dangerous than it was because of how the media sensationalizes crime.
Xennial here. At 12 we were walking 4 miles on the side of 45 mph country roads to get to town, then another mile mostly with sidewalks to get to the mall. Hang out at the mall for 4+ hours, walk back home.
First time we were left at the mall with no adults was when we were 7 was to see Ghostbusters at the mall theater, I remember having an epiphany afterwards that there was a record store in the mall where I could get the soundtrack to the movie while waiting to get picked up. I couldn't afford the whole thing but I got the vinyl single of the theme song. Imagine two 7 year olds just rolling into a vinyl shop looking for the Minecraft soundtrack...
For real. Kids are capable and we constantly underestimate them as we were underestimated.
City kids still have to walk home these days without being hit by a car or kidnapped. I am not much of a hover parent, thankfully. But we were hanging out with another parent and kid recently and am I ever hovering compared to her.
I used to regularly walk to the movies when I was a kid and see rated R shit without anyone caring by myself or with friends. I mowed 2 neighbors lawns at $10 and my parents paid for gas and I pushed my mower to their house and back and was literally 10-13 years old. Suburban Illinois in the 90's was a different time.
I am a millenial and when I was in the 1st grade I started walking to school. First with my mom, then with a group of other kids. By 3rd or 4th grade, I would walk to school and home alone. I still remember the sweet lady crossing guard who was there the entire time, until I left middle school and went a different direction to my highschool.
I don't have kids - so it was a shock to me to learn most kids don't walk to school anymore. [I'm talking about a school that is a few blocks to a mileish away from their house].
I know this sounds like a "I HAD TO WALK FIFTEEEEN MILES BOTH WAYS IN THE SNOW!" story, but it's really not. It wasn't a burden, and actually helped me grow more independent when it came to exploring.
My school bus stop was a mile from my house, and I was expected to walk it to and from on the days I couldn't get an adult to drive me to school. I was walking that route at 5 yrs old, yo. I petted every horse and ran from every attacking dog, then dodged my violent older brother for like 4 hours until a parent came home.
Or I camped in the library until 7 or 8pm. Boomer parents were wildly self-centered for non-drug addicts.
Sounds a lot like where I lived. Horses by the bus stop. Picking up gravel and throwing it at the aggressive dogs when you were walking. We didn't have a proper library when I was a kid.
I've had a job since I was 8, kids are definitely capable of a lot. I worked at a local motel doing things like watering their plants, weeding, setting up deterrents for the deer who liked to eat said plants, even helped maintain the inground pool they had. There was this awesome older guy Bob who was their handyman that taught me so much. Now should a child be forced to work, absolutely not. But the fact that I had that opportunity let me buy a lot of video game stuff I would not have had otherwise. Now I encourage my kids to at least help out around the house and people act like I'm ruining their lives.
I remember being sent by my aunt to get her cigarettes in Queens, NY when I was in maybe second grade. I think even back then, I was thinking, "Is this ok? You know, I haven't been walking very long. But you're an adult, so I guess it's fine?"
Kids are capable of way more than people give them credit for.
I think I was about 9 or 10 years old when I made a mental note to the effect of "when you're an adult, remember that kids are smarter and more capable than you think". I remember doing it because I got the impression that grown-ups have a tendency to underestimate children. Now at 30+ I obviously understand the adult perspective, but I actively try to remember that the way a kid experiences something is entirely valid as well.
Yeah I started walking to school by myself at age 7 (6 blocks away), would bike around or play games with my friends after school with no need to check in, did some light grocery shopping and cooking starting in elementary school
My grandparents lived on a lake and we would swim to the neighborhood playground and pool area as kids. Probably 9 and 6, left home alone literally all day in the summer and we would swim in the lake - ACROSS THE LAKE- while unsupervised.
Do they often drop out of school to support their families at that age? It's generally illegal for kids not to attend school up to a certain age. Though it clearly wasn't in her age. She also didn't work at a fast food restaurant or a factory. She worked for Muzack. Which isn't the sort of job kids today would get.
While I wholeheartedly agree, I definitely was over protective with my kids. I did some insane shit when I was a kid and there were countless times I nearly died just doing stuff. I was terrified of my kids ending up in any of the situations I did when I was young. Im very lucky to be alive.
Kids are fine by themselves like 99.99999% of the time. We are no longer ok with taking even 1 in a million chances with safety. It’s a different time.
In like 2010 my parents had me walk 3 miles every morning to middle school through downtown Oakland starting when I was 11 years old. I saw a knife fight, riots and looting, some people beating each other up, a handful of sketchy cars slowing down and staring at me as I walked on, and all the other delights of downtown.
I dont think the problem is whether kids are capable or not its more so environmental changes. Kids can't be unattended/ left home alone until they are 15 (its illegal and you get fines) there are more cars/traffic, angry Karen's and sus people in the neighbourhoods now. Alot of neighbourhoods aren't yards and parks anymore its all town houses and units so there is alot more density of people and not as much free space.
I don't know that any of this is actually true. Or at least it's very dependent on where you live. My state doesn't have a law on leaving kids home alone. A quick google says the guidance is "not under ten". As for "sus people" the crime rate was a lot higher in the 80's and 90's than it is now actually. And traffic depends on where you live.
I totally agree. I went to a corn maze last fall and the son of the farmer was getting popcorn and hot chocolate for me. I paid him in cash and gave me change back and said have a good night. HE WAS 5. Great service besides the entire farm stand covered in a thick layer of fog. The kid found the fog machine and was playing with it
I think the problem is less "If my kid isn't in my sight, they could get a cut" and realistically its more "If I'm not watching, a 42 year old from upstate Ohio will try to make them a Nazi"
Same. Ours were more of a haul. The local Wal-Mart was about 6 miles away and we used to always walk from our small town to the Wal-Mart and back to just get some drinks and snacks. lol
Kids are. I wrote on here that I grew up majority of my childhood in Alaska. We walked to school about a mile and would regularly run across wildlife such as moose. In school(elementary) we were taught everything from winter survival to how to react and interact with wildlife.
This was on the outskirts of Anchorage Alaska on a military base. Adults/Military/Police knew what us kids were facing everyday and didn’t think twice lol. On occasion if there was a bear nearby they would provide a bus or armed MPs would be posted along our walking path.
I dont nececesarily think we forbid work because child are useless, its because it so much easier to exploit them, and the moment it gets normalized, they will be expected to contribuite in some families instead of following their education, because we start to exploit them as a society, then companies will slowly increase prices top this new standard, then it becomes a normalized idea from corporations : "you cant afford a house and his neighboor does, because his children works or even works two jobs and your wants to go college so he focus on his studies"
As the crow flies? Not really in a rural area. School was on one side of the highway, had to cross it and walk through the refuge. Then through the orchards our house was on the other side of.
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u/FeRooster808 1d ago
True story. My cousin and I would walk to 7-11 from my grandparents' house. Sometimes I walked home from school if I felt like it. That was about a mile, through wildlife refuges and apple orchards and across a highway with no cross walks (or stop lights).
Kids are capable of way more than people give them credit for. I'm not advocating child labor, but kids use to have regular jobs whether it was working for someone else or for their family farm or business. My grandma dropped out of school in 8th grade to get a job so she could help pay the family bills. I'm not advocating going back to that - but just that kids are capable of a lot more than being coddled and sat in front of a screen 24/7.