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Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

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Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#11

Post by usaphp »

rayiner wrote: post #7
usaphp wrote: post #4

It is kind of dangerous for a 3 year old to go, 3 year olds like to run especially when they are with siblings, and they can easily end up running on a road, and then someone who hit them on a car will have to live their whole life with that tragedy...

My 3 year old never ran into the road, and as a six year old she would keep a tight leash on her little brother if he ever tried to do that. I’d for sure let them walk down a residential street by themselves.

Sure, in a calm environment. But when kids start having fun together - they lose control of the boundaries and can inadvertently run on the road without even noticing it.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#12

Post by ams6110 »

I biked all over my Midwest USA neighborhood, to and from school, and beyond from the time I was about 8, maybe even younger. This was in the 1970s. It would have been unthinkable for anyone to be overly worried about it, much less report it to the authorities, because that's what almost all the kids did.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#13

Post by ksdale »

21 wrote: post #6
usaphp wrote: post #4

It is kind of dangerous for a 3 year old to go, 3 year olds like to run especially when they are with siblings, and they can easily end up running on a road, and then someone who hit them on a car will have to live their whole life with that tragedy...

Maybe, but according to the article until they are 12 it's not legal. In some countries, you need to drive you kid to school until they are 14.

According the article it does not say it’s illegal, it says you have to make reasonable provisions for their supervision and safety if they’re unattended. That strongly implies that it is ok under certain circumstances to let children under 12 do things alone, else it would just say that it’s illegal to leave children under 12 unattended, period.

I think a lot of people would argue that watching the kids until they’re practically in the door of the bakery constitutes a reasonable provision of safety and supervision.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#14

Post by c22 »

usaphp wrote: post #4

It is kind of dangerous for a 3 year old to go, 3 year olds like to run especially when they are with siblings, and they can easily end up running on a road, and then someone who hit them on a car will have to live their whole life with that tragedy...

My three year old will happily run around the block, far past the point that you can see him, obliging you to give chase, but he is very careful not to run into the street, if he wants to cross a street he stops and holds out his hand. We also taught him to stop and look for cars before crossing a driveway, which he usually does. I would feel completely confident letting him walk down the block with his sister, in fact I do frequently, since I don't like to walk fast.

That said, I definitely have met some three year olds that would run directly into oncoming traffic without restraint, so I think this depends a lot on the specific kid.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#15

Post by Reedx »

For anyone curious in an in-depth look at how we got here and the unintended consequences, check out Jonathan Haidt's book "The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure". This gets into what happens when these kids leave home and no longer have parents bulldozing their path.

Here's a short talk from the same author about how overparenting backfired: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aMAJYtRPPM

"In the mid-'90s there was a sharp shift to overprotective parenting. In previous generations, kids were allowed to out of the house unsupervised from age 5-8, which has now become age 12-16. As a result, their independence, resilience, and problem-solving skills suffer."

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#16

Post by zdragnar »

quaunaut wrote: post #3

It's worth noting, this is in Canada. Laws are different everywhere. I know that in most of the US, CPS will not come out for a single complaint, not ever. It has to be multiple, repeated complaints, and the vast majority of the time, it needs to be more than a kid walking down the street- generally, CPS has more than enough real child abuse cases to deal with that they don't have time to pick up the odd stuff. Not s…

I don't know which most of the US you're describing; if anything they err on the side of over-investigative around here.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#18

Post by kardianos »

quaunaut wrote: post #3

It's worth noting, this is in Canada. Laws are different everywhere. I know that in most of the US, CPS will not come out for a single complaint, not ever. It has to be multiple, repeated complaints, and the vast majority of the time, it needs to be more than a kid walking down the street- generally, CPS has more than enough real child abuse cases to deal with that they don't have time to pick up the odd stuff. Not s…

This is not true in the US.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#19

Post by usaphp »

c22 wrote: post #14
usaphp wrote: post #4

It is kind of dangerous for a 3 year old to go, 3 year olds like to run especially when they are with siblings, and they can easily end up running on a road, and then someone who hit them on a car will have to live their whole life with that tragedy...

My three year old will happily run around the block, far past the point that you can see him, obliging you to give chase, but he is very careful not to run into the street, if he wants to cross a street he stops and holds out his hand. We also taught him to stop and look for cars before crossing a driveway, which he usually does. I would feel completely confident letting him walk down the block with his sister, in fa…

Exactly, all kids are different, even when they are raised the same. When my son was 3 he also was very cautious and never ran on the road, however my daughter at the same age will run everywhere thinking that it’s a game, without putting much thought into weather it’s safe or not.

Re: Mom Lets Her Kids Walk to the Bakery Down the Block. CPS Chastises Her

#20

Post by bittermang »

bradenb wrote: post #8

I wonder how we got to this. I'm all for parents being protective over children that aren't theirs, but when did we develop the entitlement that we should police the parents of other children? Obligatory "When I grew up...": When I grew up (I'm 32), there were still murderers, kidnappers, drug dealers, gangs, etc. My parents and the parents of all my friends let us roam free from the minute we finished our chores unt…

Just as a counter to your anecdote. I'm 35. My mother wouldn't let me so much as cross the street. I live in a small rural town with little to no crime.
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