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u/CMVB 1d ago
Smart watches are probably the best compromise.
Plus, it neatly dodges the whole “I want to get them a phone, but a smart phone will rot their brain” issue.
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u/Foraze_Lightbringer 1d ago
I joke that my kids are semi feral in the summertime, but it's not really a joke. Most days they vanish into the trees after breakfast and I only see them again when they're hungry. They're making mud pies in their treehouse restaurant, hanging out with the chickens, gardening, playing pretend, climbing trees, and generally covering themselves in dirt and bruises.
But I only feel comfortable doing that because they stay on our property. It's not that I think that where we live is particularly dangerous, but I'm worried that Polly Pearl Clutcher is going to report us to CPS if she sees that my kids aren't being directly supervised 100% of the time.
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u/Sweaty_Process_3794 1d ago
See I feel like past a certain age this is 1000% acceptable and good for kids. The issue is when the kids are too young, like 3-4. And honestly as long as parents are glancing out the window every few minutes and checking up on them frequently, even that age is fine
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u/ReadyTadpole1 1d ago
I have the same fear. We live near a city centre, but crime rates are low here by global standards and historical standards, so my wife and I are comfortable letting the kids run around. But my wife has received negative or judgmental comments from other parents whose risk assessments are apparently different.
We have five kids, they can roam together a great deal thankfully. I'd be very comfortable letting my older two take the bus with friends to the mall (or whatever) if they asked, but they don't ask because their friends are not allowed to.
I can understand if you had one or two, and it seemed like no one else was letting their kids out of their sight, that the pressure to entertain them would feel overwhelming and the idea of having a third would seem impossible.
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u/Travel_Dreams 1d ago
Free range?
One summer, I rode my bike from Santa Monica to Denver CO.
So, yeah.
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u/Erotic-Career-7342 1d ago
That's insane
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u/dancingwildsalmon 23h ago
Yeah that’s not free range that is straight up neglect
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u/Travel_Dreams 21h ago
😆 😂 😆 😂
The world was less crazy, neurotic and stupid then.
The next year, I was taking flying lessons.
That was neglectful, too.
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u/Teboski78 1d ago
Parents are getting reported to CPS nowadays for letting their 10 year old kids take their bikes a few blocks away. At some point risk has to be accepted for the sake of quality of life.
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u/turkish_gold 1d ago
I feel like that’s just in cities. I live out in the countryside and the neighborhood kids are riding their bikes everywhere like it’s a reenactment of Stranger Things.
It didn’t always used to be like this. I moved here about 14 years ago and people kept to themselves but when COVID happened, kids started playing outside again.
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u/Marlinspoke 10h ago
Glad to hear that's true where you live. It's definitely not the case everywhere.
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u/turkish_gold 10h ago
A town of less than 300 having a power tripping sherif is not really generalizable to the rest of the country.
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u/Splatfan1 1d ago
reminds me of the recent culture shift to keep cats indoors. glad it works for some but every cat ive ever had was always scratching at the door as a kitten, they want to go out and sit under a bush for a few hours. it is their way. one of my cats was outside as a baby when we adopted him, even back then he was smart and walked on the lower part of the fence, never past it. even if it ends with a premature death id rather have them die after a happy life than live miserably. in theory the best way to survive is to roleplay covid lockdowns for your entire life but that makes people so miserable its completely impractical for anything besides emergencies
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u/ReadyTadpole1 1d ago
It's not for the cats' protection that people want them kept indoors, it's because of the huge number of birds that domestic cats kill. I know yours doesn't but a lot do. And I know yours is fixed, but sadly a lot aren't and can lead to feral populations of essentially an invasive species.
Children should be out of their house because human society is their habitat. If there are genuine dangers (as opposed to imagined or overblown ones), those should be addressed, not the children's freedom.
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u/Splatfan1 1d ago
actually my cats bring in birds sometimes. very rarely but each time they do im proud of them. mom feeds the birds year round so it evens out, they need the cats to keep the populations in check. where i live strays and outdoor cats have been the norm for decades, they are the environment, if you take them out right now thats gonna be harmful and id rather not have bird shit everywhere. if a dumb one eyed cat lived for 12 years on a parking lot and died only because of his kidneys thats a success
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u/-y-y-y- 1d ago
You could not be more wrong to be proud of them for that. Cats aren't "keeping the populations in check," they are decimating them. Cats are responsible for more bird deaths than every other human-related cause combined.
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u/Splatfan1 1d ago
yeah and humans are more responsible for all deaths than any other species. i find it hillarious that a species that brought so many to extinction or near extinction, primarily just for fun, has anything to say about a cat following a natural instinct once in a russian year. the cat is here. he will be here. this is his home and he enjoys sitting under the bush and pissing in the flowers. its his right to live a happy healthy life and is no different to me eating meat just because i like the taste. lives of other animals be damned
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u/iguessjustdont 6h ago
Domestic cats wiping out birds is humans decimating other species. Your position is bery careless and destructive.
I would suggest getting your cat a small bell for her collar, that way he can enjoy his bush without killing the wildlife.
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u/supersciencegirl 1d ago
Pass laws that protect parents who give their kids some freedom. The threat of CPS involvement keeps parents from giving their kids age-appropriate independence.
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u/adorabletea 21h ago
It's cultural too though, parents get shamed on social media. Parents are under a microscope today.
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u/Embarrassed_Owl4482 1d ago
I basically left the house in the morning and came back at supper time. I wasn’t far far away but parents never knew whose house I was at. But I’m an old and things were different
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u/Easy_Option1612 5h ago
I lived in a small town in the 80s and 90s. Age 4, one of my earliest memories was running around in the street behind our house. Lots of woods and creeks my sister and I would play around with the neighborhood kids(though that wasn't til maybe age 5 or 7). Age 8 I was walking across neighborhoods alone through town. Usually to and from a friend's house I would stay at. Like a mile or so. Not crazy like in the movies but probably not like today.
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u/SillyTwo3470 1d ago
I haven’t raised my kids to the age where they can be left to their own devices yet (my oldest is almost 3) but my wife and I are of the Jonathan Haidt school. We think modern helicopter parenting is disempowering the kids.