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But their risk of meeting this knowledgeable criminal remains at 1% (actually much much less that 1% after we remove all of the non-stranger abductions)
If you think that risk is too high, by all means supervise your child. But I object to labeling parents willing to take a less than 1% risk as neglectful or 'bad parents'.
And if you think that risk is too high, it makes no sense to expose your child to other things that have a much higher risk, like dogs or cars. You can buy the best car on the market and be the most careful driver, but you still are risking your child's life every time you put them in it. But we don't sensationalize car accidents like we do abductions.
Most bites to child, btw, are from dogs they know, including dogs within their household. And most child who die from gunshots are exposed to the gun in their own home. So again we have a situation where the risk is actually much higher than people realize, but we only perceive a risk if strangers are involved. No one things a child could die from their own dog or firearm, so they dismiss that risk and focus on non-existent 'stranger danger'
my guns have safety locks and my dog is a non agressive breed. I don't close my eyes to that risk. Again, choices I made to minimize my risk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hml1976
And people die from lightening strikes without standing in a storm. It happened to the golfer in front of my Dad a few years ago on a bright sunny day...more likely than your kid being kidnapped.
By the way, my husband golfs quite frequently, and checks the weather before going on a wide open field holding a metal object in his hand, plus his golf course has lightning detectors. I'll have to tell him what a sheltered, timid human being he is.
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in comparison between being alone at a park and driving in a vehicle would be like me saying: The statistics of getting into an accident are X, so be it, I will now let my 8 year old drive.
p.s. On a side note, my 12 y.o. is furious with me because he wants me to leave him and his best friend for a few days in the remote Canadian wilderness this summer with nothing but a compass, a pocket knife, a bow/arrow, and a bottle of water. He feels he can successfully hunt for his meals and build camp shelters. He cannot believe I won't let him do this!
For those of you who WOULD leave your child at the park alone at age 8, did you do anything to work up to this, or would this be the first time you allowed them to be without adult supervision?
in comparison between being alone at a park and driving in a vehicle would be like me saying: The statistics of getting into an accident are X, so be it, I will now let my 8 year old drive.
I don't think that way at all. My point is that people obsess over stranger abduction, but seldom give thought to loading everyone into the car 4 or 6 times a day.
What I don't get is what thrown in your face means. Some people think that being over protective is bad...
That! That is what it means. Being over-protective is a bad thing, yes. But calling a parent over-protective because they won't drop their kid off at the park alone is unreasonably antagonistic.
Many of us were not permitted to be at the park alone at 8 years old and still grew into fully responsible and independent adults. It didn't hinder us in some way or make us "live in fear". It just protected us while we were having fun on the swings and slides, things a truly over-protective parent wouldn't let their children on without knee pads or a helmet.
Creating a monster just so you can slay it, say I.
For those of you who WOULD leave your child at the park alone at age 8, did you do anything to work up to this, or would this be the first time you allowed them to be without adult supervision?
Yes absolutely. My child has been riding her bike to a friend's house (who's mom texts me when she gets there) alone for about a year. Our mailbox is at the end of our street and I've been having her walk the block to get the mail since she was 5. I have a gym in my garage and go workout for 30-45 minute stretches and leave her playing in her room. Both of my kids (5 and 8) play unsupervised together in the front and backyard and within a block of the house. The 5yr old has to stay on the sidewalk. When we go hiking (which is often) the kids can run ahead as long as they stay in yelling distance on the trail.
At the park up until now I often sit at a picnic table and read quite a ways away from the kids.
For those of you who WOULD leave your child at the park alone at age 8, did you do anything to work up to this, or would this be the first time you allowed them to be without adult supervision?
Yes. I described it in another post. It starts with the yard when they are small. Then they could wander as fax as limit x.... They had to demonstrate responsible use of the walkie talkie. Lack of responsible freedom meant restricted freedom for a time...
OMG.... This made me laugh as you are spot on! He LOVES Gary Paulsen and has read every book he's written - Hatchett, Brian's Winter, etc.. He also loves Will Hobbs, Jean Craighead George (sadly, she died this week), Jack London... basically any book where a 12 y.o. boy survives in the wilderness with his wits and maybe a pocketknife.
He is obsessed with this idea of just being left alone in the deep woods for a few days. He has read all this survival fiction and we spend the summers in the remote Canadian woods, so he believes he is experienced and should be allowed to do this. He is seriously mad at me now.
We are well beyond "leaving your kid at the park." He wants me to "leave him in the remote wilderness!"
Are you saying there's a strong desire for a young kid to play at the park with their parent completely out of sight? If so, why?
Since me simply being at the park will not necessarily make the experience "boring" to my son, I don't see your point. Forgive me.
There is a strong desire to be independent and to have a life outside of supervision in general.
This is how children learn to be competent - they cannot have adults rescuing them whenever something goes wrong, but they have to know how to get help from adults *if* they need it. And the adult they get help from doesn't always have to be their parent.
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