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I didn't say otherwise, and I'm not going to voice my opinion on such laws.
I will. I think they're rubbish and should be abolished, and anyone who supports them voted out of office completely. Aside from EXTREME things like molestation, locking in cages or beatings (not spankings, beatings, as in bones are broken or hideous marks are left), parents should be able to parent THEIR children however the bloody heck they feel like it, period.
No one is saying, and that includes me, that parents should have such free reign that they could, say, leave a 2 year old home alone all day, extreme things like that, I think we can all agree on the recklessness of such things as that and I'm inclined to say laws about such things should remain. It's getting to a very ridiculous level anymore, though, with practices being scrutinized that a generation ago no one would've thought anything of, with things like people being reported simply for letting their kids play at the park or even outside in their own yard. Except for extreme practices, the government and citizens alike need to mind their own business and stay out of it. People calling about such things don't need to be encouraged, they need to be shamed as the stool pigeons they are, and governments that meddle in such matters should be called out as being the socialist, dictatorship and Communist regimes that they are.
I'm probably around the same age as you (37), was living in a nice suburb of San Francisco, and my mother didn't let us "roam free" at age 8!! She was a pretty laid-back mother, too, not the type who was overprotective or anything. By the ages of maybe 11-12 we were allowed to ride our bikes downtown, and by 13-14 she let us take the bus to the mall - at 8, she wouldn't have let us go much farther than our friends' houses on the same block. So I'm not sure where you get the idea this was common even a generation ago... did you grow up in a rural area?
I am the same age as you and I grew up in a first rings suburb in the Twin Cities. I can guarantee you at 8 I was venturing a lot further than a mile from home...via bike or foot... all of us kids in the neighborhood did. We have a huge trail system through the east metro and we would walk on that all day. It officiallly stretches about 16 - 20 miles from St. Paul to the border. We would walk to the convenince store for "penny candy". I just mapped it and it is .9 miles each way from my house. No shoulders, busy road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gouligann
With predators of today roaming around, children need to be aware of their surroundings and taught not to get into cars with strangers. Any parent who fails to teach this, is BAD parenting, although of course it doesn't prevent all abductions.
Making a child walk a mile home as punishment, is NOT bad parenting, and he should never have been charged for making the child walk home. Now, I have to say that if the child was dropped off in an unfamiliar area or was physically unable to walk, then that's a different story.
It's DAMNED HIGH time our children get consequenses and proper punishment for their poor choices. That parent did no wrong IMO.
I agree
Mom to a couple of boys here...and I would have done the same thing...not for something as minor as what I think this was (but who knows, there could be a backstory of the dad just being fed up with the kid being evasive..).
I walked on the pavement on an highway. Almost got hit looking for an crossing. However it was the kids decision, like mine to do so. If it was an road with a really big field is one thing, but the fact the kid TADDLE TELL on his parents, is what is bothersome, not him walking on the road.
It really depends on the Highway on how busy it is. In my area it is like back to back cars. It depends on which state, but the kid just TADDLED on his father, where his father probably did not instruct him correctly. So it is an error of communications.
I wonder what tunes some people would be singing if this child was kidnapped on the way home or hit and killed by a driver? How many people on here would still be advocating for "The good ol days" ? One can parent without having to resort to ridiculous and draconian measures to do so. Just because things were done in the past does not mean they are the correct way to go about things.
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