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The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

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Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#191

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

Aurornis wrote: post #168
mmooss wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone here should watch the Japanese TV series, Old Enough! . 2-4 year olds are sent out on their own to run errands, etc. Yes, really, 2-4 years old. And they succeed and are fine. https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2011/02/old-enough.html

This is a reality TV show. They have a full crew following the kids around. Like any reality TV, you're only seeing the story they want you to see. Nobody should be gauging reality based on what you see on reality TV shows.

Sure, but if you spend time in Japan you really will see five-year-old kids walking long distances and taking transit to school and running errands unaccompanied.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#192

Post by thehoagie »

We live across the street from our kids elementary and middle schools. There is a sidewalk and a crosswalk to the school. Parents in our subdivision still choose to drive in because "the crosswalk is too dangerous". Schools can't afford crossing guards, county engineers claim it is an enforcement issue, police can't cover it with their limited staffing, and Republicans are banning school speeding cameras in Georgia.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#193

Post by alistairSH »

Aurornis wrote: post #130
alistairSH wrote: post #124

100% agree with the title. I live ~1 mile from the local school complex (primary, middle, high all share a gigantic piece of land, though are separate full-size schools). You literally don't have to cross a street to get there from my house - it's all neighborhood walking paths and there's a short underpass at the one road. Yet, kids are not supposed to walk. There's a bus, which isn't the end of the world. Except in…

> Yet, kids are not supposed to walk. According to who? Reading these comments reminds me that America is a big place and experiences are very different from one location to the next. My closest school has hundreds of kids walking to and from through all the neighborhoods if you drive by during morning or afternoon hours. My last in-office job had numerous people with 20-40 minute walks as part of their commute (exce…

According to the school. They don't like releasing kids on their own for some reason. neighbors wanted their son to walk home alone and the school said the kid could either take the bus, or a parent could show up and walk him out. Yes, for the same ~1 mile walk I describe above, that's all paved paths in a very safe neighborhood outside DC (Reston VA). Not all of Reston is like this, but out are is VERY walkable (~1 mile to schools, ~1 mile to shopping, ~1.5-2 miles to the town center and Metro station).

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#194

Post by ghaff »

aleph_minus_one wrote: post #97
danielbln wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is much better than the numerous suburbs without sidewalks (such a weird thing from a European perspective) but that country road with ample green space left and right? It's fine. Would benefit from sidewalks and bike lane of course, but the author makes it sound like there is a steep cliff left and right of the road.

> Yeah, this is much better than the numerous suburbs without sidewalks (such a weird thing from a European perspective) As children in such a situation, we would have a lot of fun as pedestrians to be a nuisance to the cars that drive on the road, too. :-) Having this perspective, I rather think that the reason why sidewalks are built is because of the complaints of car drivers.

As someone who has done a bunch of long distance walks in the UK, I’ve encountered any number of relatively rural or small town roads with no shoulders along walls or hedgerows that are at least as scary as a pedestrian as anything I’ve encountered in the US.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#195

Post by wendyshu »

WorldMaker wrote: post #112
gizajob wrote: post #2

I looked at the author’s Google map view of the 2 miles they couldn’t walk to school, and the enormous grassed area next to the road would have meant I’d be walking that quite happily in the UK.

Rural property owners in the US are somewhat likely to shoot first and ask questions about trespassers only later. In some parts of the country the Road is the only obviously public land. (Even that can't be taken for granted sometimes, as private streets exist in some areas, too.)

How many kids walking to or from school have been shot by rural landowners? What you're describing is illegal.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#196

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

smogcutter wrote: post #183
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll take a car line Push this out thirty years. One set of kids was navigating the real world since they were 4. The other has been mollycoddled with overparenting and screen time. Which cohort do you think will be happier, better adjusted and better off? Then realise that it's not uncommon to see grade schoolers taking the subway to and from school in New York.

Consider that the fact that there’s a tv show about it means it’s a novelty in Japan as well. It’s great that Japan has a civil society that makes a show like that possible , but don’t mistake it for more than it is. It’s the same mistake as generalizing from what you read in the news: it’s news because it’s unusual.

No, it really is commonplace in Japan. It makes good TV because little kids are cute as heck. Not everybody has kids, and even if you do, they don't remain five years old forever. So even mundane stories about little kids can stay popular.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#197

Post by qball »

rdtsc wrote: post #162
mmooss wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone here should watch the Japanese TV series, Old Enough! . 2-4 year olds are sent out on their own to run errands, etc. Yes, really, 2-4 years old. And they succeed and are fine. https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2011/02/old-enough.html

That wouldn't work in US until the whole culture changes. An individual family may do this, and then someone will call child protective services because there is a lost, unaccompanied child. Happened to my coworker: kids were playing outside and a neighbor called the authorities on them. Not clear if they really thought the kids were in danger, or just did it out of spite, but what ensued was a nightmare of CPS calli…

>That wouldn't work in US until the whole culture changes.

This is one of those things laws are great at. Delete the power of idiot Karens and the culture will return to normal.

It works for Utah (and to a point, Texas); it can work for your polity, too.

When children are at far greater risk of abuse and abduction by concern trolls and the State, and they very much are in New World countries, your society is broken.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#198

Post by bryanlarsen »

smogcutter wrote: post #183
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll take a car line Push this out thirty years. One set of kids was navigating the real world since they were 4. The other has been mollycoddled with overparenting and screen time. Which cohort do you think will be happier, better adjusted and better off? Then realise that it's not uncommon to see grade schoolers taking the subway to and from school in New York.

Consider that the fact that there’s a tv show about it means it’s a novelty in Japan as well. It’s great that Japan has a civil society that makes a show like that possible , but don’t mistake it for more than it is. It’s the same mistake as generalizing from what you read in the news: it’s news because it’s unusual.

The novelty is that the show has 3 year olds being independent. In Japan 5 year olds doing independent tasks is common and expected.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#199

Post by Brookeden55 »

mmooss wrote: post #125
aklemm wrote: post #5

Well that headline sums it up. After 10 years of dealing with it and wondering "how the f did we get to this point", it's satisfying to hear it called what it is. A small win in our family was in my son's final year of elementary school when he finally decided to try walking home 1.5 miles; that Spring was a delight for him. He was properly decompressed and had logged a minimum amount of physical activity for good sl…

Everyone here should watch the Japanese TV series, Old Enough! . 2-4 year olds are sent out on their own to run errands, etc. Yes, really, 2-4 years old. And they succeed and are fine. https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2011/02/old-enough.html

[flagged]

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#200

Post by lvl155 »

Aurornis wrote: post #185
lvl155 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the US. People on here are so sheltered.

The majority of the US is absolutely not like this. You keep accusing other people of living in a bubble, but you're indexing your entire experience on to anecdotes of where you grew up as an individual experience.

I lived all over this country. Inner cities to rural areas. North to South. East to West. Do you even have kids? And why are you targeting me on here?
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