Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I don't. They just sort of show up every once in a while in things like AFV uploads, try not to laugh challenges, or cringe compilations.
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Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
241–250 of 531 posts
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, the subculture of people who get incandescently angry about CPS aren't the kinds of people I'd want anywhere near children.
for those of us who ticked off at CPS, that's kind of the point. who you want "anywhere near children" should have nothing to do with my relationship with my kids.
> who you want "anywhere near children" should have nothing to do with my relationship with my kids.
The laws against child abuse argue against this kind of absolutism.
Do you have something against those, too?
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had friends who should have been taken away from their neglecting parents, but never were. Turns out, if the child is not being literally beaten, all the parent has to do is not open the door when child services comes by. So if the child's teeth literally rot out of their mouth, they wear filthy clothes to school, they live in a house full of cat shit everywhere, and a rotted away caved in roof, all the parent has…
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Fortunately?
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
for those of us who ticked off at CPS, that's kind of the point. who you want "anywhere near children" should have nothing to do with my relationship with my kids.
> who you want "anywhere near children" should have nothing to do with my relationship with my kids. The laws against child abuse argue against this kind of absolutism. Do you have something against those, too?
I thought that was obvious.
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is how I grew up in the US (central FL) in the 90's. I was 6-7 when I was riding my bike down to the corner store ~0.5mi away, and ~10 I was staying home and watching my sisters when necessary. I was perfectly capable of cooking and looking after things. I just don't get this hysteria that seems to have gripped so many people. We are living in one of the safest times to be alive.
I grew up like this too (in the US in the 80s). I now have an 8 year old, and I think she would be fine at home alone for a while if necessary (especially with easy access to me via phone/Alexa/whatever). However, in my state (Illinois), the government has made it illegal to leave my kids home alone until they are 14 (14!) years old. This is insanity, but I don't dare risk it because on the off chance anything happen…
I took a bus home from school a couple of times a week (when my mum's commute didn't take her past my school) from age 11 or so.
It was great. Since it wasn't a school bus, it was easy to wander round the shops or the park etc and take the bus 10 or 20 minutes later.
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its been a genuine problem. I have heard people actually say that if a kid is playing outside by themselves, then the parent should be charged with child neglect because the kid could get hurt. Any time a kid gets hurt on YouTube the comments are filled with people blaming the parent for not being outside with them. Thing is, playing outside by yourself gives you a strong sense of independence. The kid might get hurt…
>I have heard people actually say that if a kid is playing outside by themselves, then the parent should be charged with child neglect because the kid could get hurt. Giving concern trolls the ability to use the State's guns on whatever personally offends them always ends badly.
Why concern trolling in particular rather than good old traditional fake concern?
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
I walk my kids to school in the US, but I definitely see kids as young as 6 walking without a parent. I choose to walk with my kids because I enjoy it, and it's easy exercise. That said, a lot of parents still drive their kids - the vast majority I would say. Even people who live within walking distance. It definitely is faster if you look at it in a vacuum: you save 10 minutes round trip! And when casually discussin…
I live about a half mile from my kid's school and we walk most days, or I bike. However, it has been... eye opening. We live in a fairly urban area of Nashville, but my street doesn't have sidewalks. We've been yelled at multiple times (me, my wife, and our kindergartner) by drivers to "Get out of the road!" (This is on a 25 mph street.) There are ditches and uneven ground on both sides of the road. Even the sidewalk…
When I was faced with the big commitment of buying a house, that was a major factor. Grocery store, credit union, pharmacy are all within easy walking distance, hospital's just a little further, and going downtown is still reasonable if the weather's nice.
There's a bit of our road without sidewalk, and someday I'd like to fix that. But mostly, it's just really nice to live somewhere walkable.
I've done a lot of walking in non-walkable areas before. It is awful. And I think that's most of the country. Been hit a couple of times by the side mirrors of drivers who were driving right on the edge. Had to make my way on roads with steep dropoffs or ditches on one side and cliffs on the other. Crossing big highways. It's dangerous.
I can totally see why some people just won't do that and won't let their kids do it. But what amazes me is that most people don't even see that as a problem. It's something that can be fixed.
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#248I blame Ottis Toole for the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh, and Adam's dad for terrorizing Americans into this.
The difference between my childhood and those a generation later can not be more stark. We were free to roam far and wide, they were never let outside.
The generation after that had phones and internet, and never wanted to go outside.
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had friends who should have been taken away from their neglecting parents, but never were. Turns out, if the child is not being literally beaten, all the parent has to do is not open the door when child services comes by. So if the child's teeth literally rot out of their mouth, they wear filthy clothes to school, they live in a house full of cat shit everywhere, and a rotted away caved in roof, all the parent has…
Yeah, the subculture of people who get incandescently angry about CPS aren't the kinds of people I'd want anywhere near children.
Guess I’d better quit as a paramedic since I’m apparently not fit to be around kids, let alone treat them in medical emergencies.
Re: Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
#250The US seems to be the only country that has this problem. Children here (Norway) walk to school on their own at the age of five or six, some of them take buses. "Ashley Smith, a foster dad, testified about being investigated for neglect because one afternoon his daughter, 8, was doing her homework on the front lawn. A passerby reported an “unsupervised” child (not knowing Ashley was actually inside). The upshot: “We…
In Japan, one of our buildings was right next to a girls' primary school. When I took the train from Shinagawa to Nishi-Ohi, I would see these tiny little girls, basically knee-high, on the train, by themselves, on the way to school. I've talked about growing up in Africa[0], and what kinds of things we had, slithering around. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34628812
I walked to school in the late 90s to middle school because we were so close a bus isn’t offered. I also did a similar thing and biked or walked to high school until a friend who took me.
When I used to ride a public transport train to work I would see young kids going to a private school dressed in school uniforms. They would go together and it wasn’t a problem, their school wasn’t in the best area either.
No one blinked an eye now or then. I live in fairly large city in the US South and half my neighborhood walks around. Never head of someone calling the cops for walking.