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When? When the child is at a public park in the biggest city in the nation on a Saturday with hundreds of other children and adults?
No, they do it when they are "babysitting" or during that dinner party you had with Uncle Eddie from out of town, or while they are helping with homework. Please don't be so blind as to think that the only people who want to hurt children are bad, mean strangers.
There is no way I would allow my child to stay in a park and walk home unattended(possibly with older siblings or friends that I trust completely). It is not worth the risk. You can teach your children responsibility in so many other ways. Not only is there concern for their safety (first and foremost) but also their ability to get "hooked up" with the wrong kind of kids, which is what everyone would complain about next(unsupervised, trouble making kids).
It has been proven that even when children are told repeatedly not to talk to or go with strangers, they will, it is their nature to be trusting. I knew someone I went to school with, he was 13, who was kidnapped in an upper middle class "safe" neighborhood. The man begged him to help him with a dog he hit with his car down the road. After much convincing the boy got in the car. He was abducted and taken to Maryland where all sorts of things happened to him before he was able to escape 5 days later. Just not worth the risk. Just because we were allowed to do certain things when we were younger doesn't make it right. My parents smoked in the car when I was little, does that make it a good thing?
There is no way I would allow my child to stay in a park and walk home unattended(possibly with older siblings or friends that I trust completely). It is not worth the risk. You can teach your children responsibility in so many other ways. Not only is there concern for their safety (first and foremost) but also their ability to get "hooked up" with the wrong kind of kids, which is what everyone would complain about next(unsupervised, trouble making kids).
It has been proven that even when children are told repeatedly not to talk to or go with strangers, they will, it is their nature to be trusting. I knew someone I went to school with, he was 13, who was kidnapped in an upper middle class "safe" neighborhood. The man begged him to help him with a dog he hit with his car down the road. After much convincing the boy got in the car. He was abducted and taken to Maryland where all sorts of things happened to him before he was able to escape 5 days later. Just not worth the risk. Just because we were allowed to do certain things when we were younger doesn't make it right. My parents smoked in thecar when I was little, does that make it a good thing?
There is no way I would allow my child to stay in a park and walk home unattended(possibly with older siblings or friends that I trust completely). It is not worth the risk. You can teach your children responsibility in so many other ways. Not only is there concern for their safety (first and foremost) but also their ability to get "hooked up" with the wrong kind of kids, which is what everyone would complain about next(unsupervised, trouble making kids).
It has been proven that even when children are told repeatedly not to talk to or go with strangers, they will, it is their nature to be trusting. I knew someone I went to school with, he was 13, who was kidnapped in an upper middle class "safe" neighborhood. The man begged him to help him with a dog he hit with his car down the road. After much convincing the boy got in the car. He was abducted and taken to Maryland where all sorts of things happened to him before he was able to escape 5 days later. Just not worth the risk. Just because we were allowed to do certain things when we were younger doesn't make it right. My parents smoked in the car when I was little, does that make it a good thing?
Free Range Parenting is another term for lazy parenting.
No comments on the fact that the woman in question actually says that she doesn't let him take a cell phone because he might loose it?? That to me is the most insane part of it all. Get on a soap box about preparing your kid for adulthood but don't provide a basic means of communication most adults have to use in case of an emergency? How about first teaching him the responsibility not to loose a cell phone (which my 9 year old over protected child HAS), THEN let him loose to all the psychos and perverts in the city??
I think it really depends on the kids, and the location. I think it's more common in urban areas for kids to become independent earlier and take public transportation on their own and learn their own way around.
This lady is really extreme, but I think that kids are somewhat more safe if they learn how to exist somewhat independently in their surroundings. If you live in a city, this might mean learning how to take a bus/train home, maybe in the burbs it's different.
I grew up in suburbs, but spent a lot of time in a large city with my parents. Supervised completely until age 10 or so, age 11-14 some short bouts of none-supervised, and age 14 or so taking the train into the city and spending the day by myself. It really helped me learn how to be independent, not panic if my parents weren't around, and figure out how to handle myself around strangers. THAT BEING SAID-- my parents also taught me to be very very wary of people and how to be aware of my surroundings. If you are going to let your kids explore independently you MUST also teach them how to identify safe/unsafe situations and how to problem solve.
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