The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood • Hacker News Board

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#41

Post by testing22321 » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:41 PM UTC

kannanvijayan wrote: post #37

I have a 10 year old boy and I'm facing these issues right now. I'm also in Canada so culturally adjacent to the US and similar enough with regards to this topic. I don't see child welfare agencies personally as a particular threat when it comes to this topic. Maybe they ARE more likely to get involved in cases of more free range parenting where before they weren't, but it doesn't register as a real worry. The major…

Small town Canada here. In winter all the kids above school toboggan and slide down the roads (GT racers). All the kids below trudge up carrying their slider of choice. In the afternoon the roles are reversed. Not an adult in sight.

At the ski hill kids 5+ roam free- it’s always fun getting on the chairlift and a little kid says “ can you help me get on?” And you have to physically pick them up onto the moving (fixed grip) chairlift. There’s no cell service.

Mountain bike trails around town are full of groups of kids 5+.

My advice: move to a small town, it’s like going back in time in a very good way.

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#42

Post by weakfish » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:41 PM UTC

ButlerianJihad wrote: post #29

amazingamazing wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there's really no reason American kids in metro areas like SF, Boston, DC, NYC couldn't take a bus 5 miles away by themselves. when one comes up of an actual reason to why, it contradicts real statistics. the biggest things parents should worry about is their kid being bullied by other kids during school, a supposedly safe place, and other family. strangers just aren't the major source of violence towards children.

Welp this week we in Phoenix are dealing with a report of a 17-year-old high school girl who boarded a light rail train (the one with security cameras and guards) and she was harassed and assaulted by a mob of boys on the train, presumably in front of human onlookers; she disembarked, and was assaulted some more. She is now in a neck brace, and her mother is absolutely distraught, saying this is something she cannot…

I’m also curious why you write “we in Phoenix are dealing with…”

I’ve noticed a trend of people attaching a sort of personal identification with headlines

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#43

Post by mynegation » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:41 PM UTC

delichon wrote: post #18

scelerat wrote: post #12

My biggest fear of letting my young kid play alone outside is getting hit by a car.

That's why you have an emergency backup child for redundancy in case of failure of the main child.

The only people who find this joke funny don’t have any children.

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#44

Post by paulryanrogers » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:41 PM UTC

garbawarb wrote: post #36

NordStreamYacht wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan is a monocultural civilisational state. That is a big factor.

American children are in more danger because the country's more diverse?

Diversity doesn't make places more dangerous (if i understand the stats). But humans are naturally tribal and fear those who look and act significantly different.

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#45

Post by xavortm » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:42 PM UTC

garbawarb wrote: post #36

NordStreamYacht wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan is a monocultural civilisational state. That is a big factor.

American children are in more danger because the country's more diverse?

To his point - I would say, it's a bug factor BECAUSE on average their culture seems more safe. But it's not because it's monocultural. Bad "monoculture" is bad, good one is good, nothing complex there. Simplifying, but that's pretty much what is said

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#46

Post by Mordisquitos » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:43 PM UTC

amazingamazing wrote: post #20

spicyusername wrote: post #4

I don't know. Maybe this is going away in some places, maybe I just have my own anecdata, but my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of small Metro. Nothing special about it at all. Every time I see one of these articles I always wonder who they're talking about. I always feel like this is just one of those…

> my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood Your kids are hardly free-range. Let me guess, there's no way for them to actually meaningfully leave the area (no train, bus, etc)? It's like dumping kids on a 5 acre farm and saying they can do whatever they want. hardly free-range in the way described in the article. Presumably yo…

> It's like dumping kids on a 5 acre farm and saying they can do whatever they want.

What do you mean it's like dumping kids on a farm? Are the suburbs really THAT lethally dangerous?

Source [22 minutes]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAfDrFUBkA

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#47

Post by yieldcrv » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

amazingamazing wrote: post #20

spicyusername wrote: post #4

I don't know. Maybe this is going away in some places, maybe I just have my own anecdata, but my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of small Metro. Nothing special about it at all. Every time I see one of these articles I always wonder who they're talking about. I always feel like this is just one of those…

> my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood Your kids are hardly free-range. Let me guess, there's no way for them to actually meaningfully leave the area (no train, bus, etc)? It's like dumping kids on a 5 acre farm and saying they can do whatever they want. hardly free-range in the way described in the article. Presumably yo…

> and yet Manhattan is safer than most American suburbs

[something traumatic happens and 50 people run for their safety]

see and as proven, only 1 person was assaulted!

I think a future society that counts trauma and mental health disruptions instead of just the crime stats will reach different conclusions on areas considered safe

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#48

Post by bojan » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

neogodless wrote: post #17

scelerat wrote: post #12

My biggest fear of letting my young kid play alone outside is getting hit by a car.

When I was a kid I was taught not to walk in the street. When you walk, you go in the opposite direction of cars and can see them coming and, if necessary, move off to the side more. I know it's survivorship bias, but it worked for me. Now I get that population density is increasing, and probably so is traffic. Though so are automatic safety features that cause cars to brake rather than hit things. Are there statisti…

The cars are getting bigger. That means that the impact is more deadly, and the line of sight is higher - making it easy to overlook a child. The sensors often won't react at low speeds which are common for residential neighborhoods, and at high speeds they are late anyway.

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#49

Post by zabzonk » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

amazingamazing wrote: post #20

spicyusername wrote: post #4

I don't know. Maybe this is going away in some places, maybe I just have my own anecdata, but my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of small Metro. Nothing special about it at all. Every time I see one of these articles I always wonder who they're talking about. I always feel like this is just one of those…

> my kids play outside unsupervised all the time, as do all the kids in my neighborhood. I live in just a regular suburban neighborhood Your kids are hardly free-range. Let me guess, there's no way for them to actually meaningfully leave the area (no train, bus, etc)? It's like dumping kids on a 5 acre farm and saying they can do whatever they want. hardly free-range in the way described in the article. Presumably yo…

> my personal litmus test is if you'd let your 13 year kid explore Manhattan alone during the day

My parents let me (14) and my brother (9) explore central Paris on our own when my Dad was working at the Paris air show for the RAF. No problems at all even though this was just after the student protests in the 60s, and so things were a little tense.

I think Manhattan would be OK too, though I've only been there as an adjust. Certainly, you see kids running around London.

Re: The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood

#50

Post by procaryote » Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 1:46 PM UTC

mynegation wrote: post #43

delichon wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why you have an emergency backup child for redundancy in case of failure of the main child.

The only people who find this joke funny don’t have any children.

You can have humour and children at the same time...