Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"This idea that a boogey man is going to break in and kill your kids is about as paranoid as it gets".
Oh wait...I see... you are speaking of the kids and I wrote of my mother, I see the confusion now.
Apples and oranges, I guess mom really doesn't have the right to live out her life.
Silly me.
No, let me elaborate a little --
It makes perfect sense for the elderly to have alarm systems for a whole bunch of reasons. Big difference between an elderly person living alone and children living with able-bodied adults.
The first is that what would be something like a fall -- a simple inconvenience for a child or an adult -- is a life changing event for a senior citizen.
The risk to your mother in this case was not that the potential robber would cut her up into little pieces with a chainsaw, it is that she would be pushed or punched and suffer a serious injury as a result. The elderly are potential targets, not for freak boogey man attacks, but for strong arm robberies and these can have serious consequences for them.
Now if you'd care to put aside your emotions and get real about this for a moment -- to what extent are boogey-man home invasions a risk to a child (or an able-bodied adult)'s all cause mortality ? The notion that the primary risk to your child is some boogey man outside seems to me to stem largely from hubris and a kind of arrogance. The simple truth is that it's not the boogey man who is a threat to your children. The biggest threat is themselves, yourself, the company they keep and the company you keep in approximately that order.
i've never had a car accident, but i still wear a seat belt.
i've never been burgled, but i still have a security system.
the use of both becomes automatic, reflex, and totally hassle free, so why wouldn't i take advantage of both to reduce risk to myself, my family, and my posessions?
incidentally, as many have stated, security systems often do more than just monitor entry/exit from your home...fire and carbon monoxide are genuine (ie not fictional, boogyman-esque) concerns which do cause multiple fatalities every year.
take the emotion out of this. life is all about risk. we all deal with that risk differently. some people smoke, some people are overweight, some people ride motorbikes. etc. etc. etc. its all about choice. personally, im with the many people here who, while not obsessing over security, choose to have a system which can minimise a certain amount of risk (and yes, id agree, the absolute risk is low), however, the consequences of an undetected problem can be lifechanging. and not in a good way.
of course, ill probably have a car crash now, on my way home to find my house has been cleaned out
It makes perfect sense for the elderly to have alarm systems for a whole bunch of reasons. Big difference between an elderly person living alone and children living with able-bodied adults.
The first is that what would be something like a fall -- a simple inconvenience for a child or an adult -- is a life changing event for a senior citizen.
The risk to your mother in this case was not that the potential robber would cut her up into little pieces with a chainsaw, it is that she would be pushed or punched and suffer a serious injury as a result. The elderly are potential targets, not for freak boogey man attacks, but for strong arm robberies and these can have serious consequences for them.
Now if you'd care to put aside your emotions and get real about this for a moment -- to what extent are boogey-man home invasions a risk to a child (or an able-bodied adult)'s all cause mortality ? The notion that the primary risk to your child is some boogey man outside seems to me to stem largely from hubris and a kind of arrogance. The simple truth is that it's not the boogey man who is a threat to your children. The biggest threat is themselves, yourself, the company they keep and the company you keep in approximately that order.
a risk to elderly but not able bodied adults or adults with children? please. a person with a gun can kill an able bodied adult as easily as they can kill a geezer.
a risk to elderly but not able bodied adults or adults with children? please. a person with a gun can kill an able bodied adult as easily as they can kill a geezer.
How many children do you know who were killed by a boogey-man with a gun coming into their home ?
Again, their main risk factors are:
(1) themselves
(2) yourself
(3) the company you keep
(4) the company they keep
while you're trying to protect your kid from the boogey man, he'll probably be dreaming up ways to kill himself, having grown tired of his f***wit parents.
i've never had a car accident, but i still wear a seat belt.
i've never been burgled, but i still have a security system.
Car accidents and burglaries are common. Do you not know of anyone who has been involved in such a thing ? In my immediate family alone, I know of people who've suffered both.
The boogey man thing on the other hand is blown way out of proportion and in my opinion, it's largely the result of a kind of hubris and an "I'm better than everyone else" mindset that inflates risk from external sources.
Quote:
the use of both becomes automatic, reflex, and totally hassle free, so why wouldn't i take advantage of both to reduce risk to myself, my family, and my posessions?
You should, because doing so substantially reduces their risk of losing property or injury.
Quote:
incidentally, as many have stated, security systems often do more than just monitor entry/exit from your home...fire and carbon monoxide are genuine (ie not fictional, boogyman-esque) concerns which do cause multiple fatalities every year.
Yes, I agree that this is a legitimate argument (CO and fire). I personally knew kids who died in a house fire.
Quote:
take the emotion out of this.
I am. It is those who inflate risk from external sources (e.g. boogey men) and discount others (e.g. car accidents) who are using hyperbolic assessments of risk that aren't supported by anything but their irrational fear and hubris.
How many children do you know who were killed by a boogey-man with a gun coming into their home ?
Again, their main risk factors are:
(1) themselves
(2) yourself
(3) the company you keep
(4) the company they keep
while you're trying to protect your kid from the boogey man, he'll probably be dreaming up ways to kill himself, having grown tired of his f***wit parents.
i dont know any and i dont wish to know any. i also dont know any elderly people who have been attacked by boogeymen, but you seem to think they need the extra help.
i think an alarm protects you in many instances and while some may be very unlikely to happen, you will be very happy to have one if you are in a situation where it would have come in handy.
except for 1. i personally dont think "i own a security system" = "i'm scared of the boogey man" = "i'm better than everyone else".
i own a security system because it reduces a small but real risk, from a number of different sources. i don't exaggerate that risk. it exists. it doesn't govern my life, but i choose to pay to reduce it. its not a status symbol...its a boring piece of technology (like so many others) which for me personally is a sound investment. i don't think the material contents of my home are so great that i think the barbarian hoards are constantly trying to break down my gates, but im insightful enough to know that they carry sufficient value to a criminal to motivate a potential break-in. for me, that in itself would probably be enough of a reason to get a security system, more for when im away from the property that when im in it. combine that with the additional benefits of fire/CO etc, and its hard NOT to justify paying for a system, especially when you have kids.
except for 1. i personally dont think "i own a security system" = "i'm scared of the boogey man" = "i'm better than everyone else".
I didn't intend to imply that no legitimate purpose for such a thing existed.
While I regard fear of freak murders by boogey men as largely unfounded and pretty silly, risks of burglary, CO, and fire are nothing to sneeze at (I personally know people who've been victims of fire and burglary, and someone who had a close call with CO)
You don't need to be rich to be a burglary target. Two apts in my building were broken into last night, and I don't think those people were rich -- I live in the "sketchy" part of JC.
The notion that the primary risk to your child is some boogey man outside seems to me to stem largely from hubris and a kind of arrogance. The simple truth is that it's not the boogey man who is a threat to your children. The biggest threat is themselves, yourself, the company they keep and the company you keep in approximately that order.
Break-ins have been on the rise this year. I could name a whole series of ones that I personally know of this year. Seriously.
It's not some kind of boogey man mentality and if you have the money for it, why not buy yourself some extra reassurance if it makes you feel better.
except for 1. i personally dont think "i own a security system" = "i'm scared of the boogey man" = "i'm better than everyone else".
i own a security system because it reduces a small but real risk, from a number of different sources. i don't exaggerate that risk. it exists. it doesn't govern my life, but i choose to pay to reduce it. its not a status symbol...its a boring piece of technology (like so many others) which for me personally is a sound investment.
Great post. It's SO not a status symbol. It's an extremely boring piece of technology is exactly right. I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I just happen to have made a decision to put a small amount of my resources towards such a system.
I'm also not scared of any boogey men. I'm scared of the real break-ins that are happening all around us every day. And believe me, a lot of them aren't getting reported across the papers and whatnot. But it's a reasonable level of fear, it doesn't control my life. In short, my alarm system increases my enjoyment of my home. I see it as a positive, not a negative and I hardly know it's there.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
