What is the obsession with "safety" about on these forums (Boston: section 8, rental)

[mustmove]

I don't let my 5 year old roam free, but us modern parents are over protective to a fault. I try to be reasonable. There are only 100 non-custody related child kidnappings a year in the USA. Horrible if it happens to your family but the odds are low. Biggest danger to kids are cars and water. Most kids get lots of the first and plenty of the second.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by miu

I think that the actual number of crimes are up. And I think that makes sense since the population is much higher. And there are more types of crimes due to copycats and bad people thinking of more ways to do evil. Certainly there are more sophisticated scams. Then there is the internet and pedophiles trying to lure the underage into compromising situations. Roofies weren't around when I was young. And morals have gotten looser. Young people are losing their virginity at a younger age. It's more acceptable to have children out of wedlock. Dance moves have gotten even more sexually suggestive to the point that the moves in the movie Dirty Dancing seems very tame. No one asked me to be an FWB when I was young, and that sort of relationship is commonplace now.

Increased number of crimes due to increase population doesn't say anything about the frequency with which those crimes occur. I agree with lz1982 that the 50s were probably better; but the 60s, 70s and 80s (eras which people love to be nostalgic for) were bad and probably worse. I'm saying that the crime RATES (statistics... frequency of ____ crime per _[number]__ of people) are equal to or lower to those eras. THIS is a graph from the U.S. Bureau of Justice. You can see that violent crimes have SHARPLY decreased since the early 1970s.

Your post does bring up a good point though. Cultures and morals have changed quite a bit. People losing their virginity at younger ages, babies out of wedlock, dancing, FWB, etc are all relatively recent (although some could argue the 60s and 70s were more sexually promiscuous). However, none of those things are crimes. It's a different issue entirely. Changing morals is something that generally happens throughout history. You can say what you want about crime, but these aren't crimes and have very little to do with it.

[kotter]

Originally Posted by rranger

I find endlessly interesting how much the topic of "safety" comes up on urban forums. And, Boston is no exception.

I'm wondering whether people live in fear of their own shadows, whether they're afraid to leave their homes, etc.

Frankly, I've lived in a lot of places in my life and there are very few (the notable exceptions being places like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick in Brooklyn in the 80's) where I actually ever felt threatened by my surroundings.

And yet, I read endless questions and ill-informed responses about the supposed safety of inner-city neighborhoods, usually from people who clearly don't have knowledge of these places.

So, really, I'd like to know. Why is this such a popular discussion topic?

People are afraid they will get mugged if they move into a neighborhood with a bunch of Democrats.

[syracusa]

Originally Posted by miu

I'm not a paranoid person, but I do read the news.

That might just be the crux of your problem.

Originally Posted by miu

If you aren't worried about your son, then that is your personal choice.

Very funny. And that sanctimonious word again: "choice".
No, I am not at all worried about him. I would also leave him walking on the Interstate to find his way out on his own, dodging cars.

Originally Posted by miu

And I don't recall reading stories like that when I was a kid.

Could it be that the media at the time may have been preoccupied with slightly more relevant news for the larger population than who had a dog stolen?

[syracusa]

Originally Posted by mustmove

I don't let my 5 year old roam free

With the way our neighborhood is physically set up (safe to the bone) and if neighbors with kids, in general, were not the sanctimonious, self-absorbed individuals that they tend to be nowadays - yes, I would let my 5yo ...GASP!! roam free in front of our house or theirs - a few steps away, where physically close neighbors live.

But it is not like that anymore - and entire childhoods are wasted because of such imbecilic attitudes about "safety". Deep down it is about so much more than that.

[Cantabridgienne]

Just curious, Syracusa....do you consider yourself sanctimonious at all?

[Deef1]

Originally Posted by kotter

People are afraid they will get mugged if they move into a neighborhood with a bunch of Democrats.

You are funny!

[Deef1]

Irfox What planet do you live on...it sounds a Whole lot better than mine. Maybe if you took your rose-colored glasses off for a year and looked around a bit the world would be clearer to you...

While I am not paranoid and do mostly whatever I want...I am also not an idiot. My rose-colored glasses are only on my face when the suns out. When its dark, I put on the night vision goggles!

[jewels922]

Is safety overrated???

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Deef1

Irfox What planet do you live on...it sounds a Whole lot better than mine. Maybe if you took your rose-colored glasses off for a year and looked around a bit the world would be clearer to you...

While I am not paranoid and do mostly whatever I want...I am also not an idiot. My rose-colored glasses are only on my face when the suns out. When its dark, I put on the night vision goggles!

Whoah! What did I say to set you off? And what did I say that you seem to think is so far off base? I'd love to hear what I said that (in your mind) is so inaccurate. For the record, I live on a planet where the present is home to far less violent crime than the previous three decades (90s, 80s and 70s) yet some insist that it's a "dangerous" time. This isn't wishful thinking, it's actual government data (the graph is linked in my last post).

People in general are far too paranoid to the point of being borderline insane. I don't know how some people get by with the constant fears that the entire world is out to get them.