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Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

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Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#61

Post by teekert »

jeffbee wrote: post #43
comrade1234 wrote: post #29

Here in Switzerland children start walking to school at around 5-years. Parents aren't allowed to bring them to school. If a parent escorts their children to school they'll be told not to. If they keep doing it they'll get a letter from the school and probably a police visit. And if they continue (I never heard of it getting to this stage) they may be fined. It's funny in the morning. One child walks to another child…

Pedibus. So civilized. People in California don't believe half the things I tell them about life in Switzerland, such as "if you try to drive your kid to school the cops will chastise you" and "if you drive 40 in a school zone you'll automatically get a year in jail" and, of course, "gas is nine bucks".

The US is extremely car focused, which they often don't really realize. Things that are normal here (like everybody has a bike) conflicts with their cyclers vs drivers culture. Such a distinction simply does not exist here. Instead we have roads that are red with signs "Cars are guests". Or indeed city centers where cars aren't allowed.

When I go to the US I'm often surprised that you can't get to things that are only a km away by foot because a road is blocking you, no way to cross it.

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#63

Post by softwaredoug »

armchairhacker wrote: post #16

How does this happen? There’s no silver lining which makes this conviction reasonable. If they can’t appeal, I hope they use Streisand to get the town or state of Virginia to vacate everything.

Virginia also has a free range kid law.

And in particular, the conviction here was delinquency of a minor. That's usually used to convict parents of teenagers whose kids do serious crimes.

I caveat to say, we don't know the full details. But it all seems pretty weak sauce.

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#64

Post by lifestyleguru »

That's what happens when there are few children and many adults all with strong opinions on how the few children should be raised. Back in my days (millennials) there was abundance of children and they knew that adults are a danger to be avoided.

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#65

Post by giarc »

ortusdux wrote: post #55

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Enough ! Old Enough! is a Japanese reality show that has been aired irregularly since 1991 on Nippon Television. The program depicts, in a documentary manner, the efforts of toddlers going on an errand on their own, buying groceries and delivering packages, accompanied by the camera crew. The American version - https://youtu.be/VhGTtWsW9F8

https://www.netflix.com/title/81506279

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#67

Post by jandrewrogers »

I walked myself to and from kindergarten every day. Approximately the same age, same distance, and it went through a park with water. That was normal.

The extreme neuroticism toward children having any kind of agency these days is unhealthy for everyone involved. Social media turned being neurotic into a virtue.

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#68

Post by qwerpy »

victorbjorklund wrote: post #38

This is so sad. America is really messed up. In other countries it is normal for a child to be allowed to walk on their own

American here, it seems to vary by location. I walked to school as a grade school student (Midwest) and where I live now (Orange county, California) I regularly see swarms of kids biking to school.

This particular situation seems ridiculous. I’d be furious if I lived there.

Re: Mom gets 6-month suspended sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond

#69

Post by throw83930489 »

neaden wrote: post #2

This is one of those frustrating things. You're just not allowed to not be scared with kids. If you aren't scared of letting your kid walk to a pond, you get punished for it. If you're not scared of the kidnappers, you have to be scared of the police. None of it is rational, it's different how many of us were raised, yet if you try to opt out the law gets involved.

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