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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

#361

Post by watwut »

mingus88 wrote: post #273
mmooss wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they are so different because you (and others) won't try to learn from different cultures. If not, probably nothing will change.

What exactly are you suggesting? Japan is a monoculture and strictly traditional, not to mention very xenophobic. Everything works because the social penalties for violating those norms are severe. It’s effectively an ethnostate and not that long ago revered their god-emperor. The U.S. is by contrast a diverse (geographically and demographically), broad culture of immigrant communities based on a concept of rugged in…

That difference has squat zero with kids walking or playing.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#362

Post by watwut »

spenczar5 wrote: post #172
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

It is importamt to understand the whole cultural picture of this practice: 1. Neighbors and friends are notified in advance. "If you see my daughter and she looks lost, please help her, she is doing an errand." 2. The destination is usually notified. "My daughter is coming to buy rice, let me know if she isnt there in two hours." 3. This practice is somewhat old-fashioned and rural. Many parents wouldnt consider it t…

In Switzerland, 5 years old walk alone to school. In Germany 6 years old.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#363

Post by subharmonicon »

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

My dad grew up in 1930’s Detroit and would tell us about how when he was five his mother would give him a little money and have him walk a few blocks to the baker to get a loaf of bread.

I grew up in the 70’s where after maybe eight we had pretty much free rein. I rode my bike several blocks away and crossed two busy four lane roads to get candy at 7-11.

The world is no more dangerous now than it was then, and yet here we are, with parents being treated like criminals for letting their kids play in their own front yard.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#364

Post by nick_ »

rdsubhas wrote: post #178

Sometimes I truly wonder how the US is so far ahead in innovation and efficiency. This is unthinkable, how many hours of driving to and fro + this queue each day. Here I am, in Germany, my kid goes to school by himself since second grade. Most of his classmates started to walk, bike, or take the train, bus or tram themselves at 3rd or 4th grade. Beyond 6th grade, it's considered a spoiled baby.

A huge amount of North America is designed almost exclusively for a totally car-dependent life.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#365

Post by ebcode »

jerlam wrote: post #279
bluGill wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is much to learn from them. However there are dark sides of their culture too. They have high suicide rates, and are very xenophobic (much worse than Trump in the US) for starters. We can learn, but be careful as it isn't always clear which factors you want to emulate are tied to things you don't.

As of 2019, Japan's suicide rate is lower than the US.

good to know

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#366

Post by otoburb »

willmeyers wrote: post #45

I live in a relatively residential neighborhood in NYC next to a school (outside of the congestion zone). The morning dropoffs and afternoon pickups are insane. It literally causes a gridlock for a couple hours in a part of the neighborhood that has like 4 intersections. Somehow we have to get back to the days when parents trusted the community that their kid is going to get home safe, otherwise this nonsense is neve…

Except that many NYC public schools have yellow buses that park in the narrow streets during pickup or dropoff which are the cause for 20 minutes of gridlock along those streets. "A couple of hours" seems to be rather unusual.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#367

Post by harvey9 »

mingus88 wrote: post #273
mmooss wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they are so different because you (and others) won't try to learn from different cultures. If not, probably nothing will change.

What exactly are you suggesting? Japan is a monoculture and strictly traditional, not to mention very xenophobic. Everything works because the social penalties for violating those norms are severe. It’s effectively an ethnostate and not that long ago revered their god-emperor. The U.S. is by contrast a diverse (geographically and demographically), broad culture of immigrant communities based on a concept of rugged in…

Rugged individualism seems to have been lost given the context here.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#368

Post by TeaBrain »

lvl155 wrote: post #43

Counter point: I used to walk home from school. Got robbed at gun point several times. Jumped for my skin color numerous times. Had a neighborhood buddy who got stabbed three times on his way home and survived. I can go on and on and on. I had to learn to walk an extra 20-30 minutes to avoid these situations. I will never let my kids walk home in 2025. Edit: no one told these parents to drive up for pick up like a dr…

>I used to walk home from school. Got robbed at gun point several times. Jumped for my skin color numerous times. Had a neighborhood buddy who got stabbed three times on his way home and survived.

Where was this? Most places in the US are not this susceptible to random violence. In the suburban city I grew up in, I'd walk home from school and I never saw a firearm in public when I was a kid, aside from those carried by police.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#369

Post by bdangubic »

lvl155 wrote: post #166
Aurornis wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So in effect you’re saying the article is also location dependent? The article is literally about how location effects are driving the changes. > Pick one. If you knew the statistics on kidnapping in the US, you would not think of this as a “life-style” choice. Child abduction is extremely rare in the United States. You might be confusing sensational headlines with statistics. It's common to report missing children…

There aren’t many places in the US where it is safe AND practical for kids to walk home. If you don’t understand this, then you basically live in a bubble.

this is simply not true. I personally am in 12th town I’ve lived in the last 25 years, every single place I lived was walkable to school. it might just be you that lives in a bubble :)

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#370

Post by atonse »

bluGill wrote: post #234
lamename wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice. What laws are you referring to?

"Free range" laws. You search those terms and find a ton of information including which states have them.

But free range laws are a good thing right?

Free range laws say the opposite: that a kid over a certain age is allowed to be alone and the parents CANNOT be charged for it. It’s to encourage free range parenting.

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