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The doors are locked and the lights are off in my neighborhood and they vote Republican. Most don't like kids we have a tough time passing school bond issues. Taxes are way too high according to most of them yet they spend their days down at the Med center courtesy of Medicare.
How do you know how someone votes if their door is locked?
In your haste to get out your pathetic smear, you didn't think that out very well.
Harrier shouldn't be surprised - liberals tend to be illogical
OP, I am guessing you don't have kids. And most parents are tired of non-parents telling us how to raise our children.
Yes and we are tired of seeing people abuse their kids. And keeping them from the real world is just that: abuse. I babysat my nephews plenty of times and they would run off and play often and that was fine.
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The world is a different place from when most of us were kids. This isn't just about "pedophiles in trench coats" (your example) but about many different dangers - a lot of which are not apparent to people who don't have kids.
The only major difference is the invention of 24 hour cable news. People hear about one kid a thousand miles from where they live getting kidnapped and freak out. It used to be you didn't hear that much about that sort of thing. It is just as rare now as it was then.
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The days of kids disappearing off to play in the woods alone are pretty much over. Did you do that, OP? Did you disappear all day and your parents had no idea where you were, and it was ok just as long as you were home for dinner? Probably not.
The majority of kids do not live next to wilderness preserves, can't ride a bike to a friends house because they would have to cross a busy street or highway, are in organized sports because their parents want them to spend time playing with friends. Unless you are blessed and lucky enough to live in a safe neighborhood populated with kids that just happen to be near the same age as your own children, your offered scenarios don't happen any more. Sorry you don't like it, but that's the way it is.
Ah, woods are everywhere. I lived by a park that had an overgrown, "woodsy" section and I would play there for hours as a kid. It was some of my best memories of being young, really. And yes, I lived near kids my age when I was with my mother. They lived a quarter mile away. I would ride a bike to see them on my own at age ten on. And yes, there are busy streets...so make sure the kid knows to watch out for cars and ride on the sidewalk if at all possible.
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A couple of questions: You blame American parents. Where are you from? Is your country smaller than the US? Does it have a lower crime rate? Do you live in a neighborhood with children? And finally, how old are you?
I'm old enough (over 25) live in a residential neighborhood full of kids kept indoors by their horrible parents and I say "American parents" because my European and Asian friends have the same shock I have for the "stranger danger, the world is out to get my children" mentality of American parents.
A movie, not reality. Kids would go out and be kids if only their parents let them. Oh, and organized sports are wrong for young kids. They should be out just playing with other kids, no need to have a team...unless of course you live in an exurb, at which point they have no access to other kids or anything but McMansions as far as the eye can see. That is an idiotic and unnatural way to raise kids anyway.
If I had kids I would raise them right here in Seattle or the Northern suburbs, so they could have friends nearby and I won't have to add to global warming by driving 20 minutes to the nearest store.
As to the OP, yes, you are correct. People have tried to make it sound like this country is so much more dangerous than it is. Yah, we have crime, but the chance of your kid being snatched up while out Trick or Treating with his friends is slim to none. And it is NOT trick or treating if it's done in broad daylight, at 4 in the afternoon, shipped in by a mini van caravan.
True trick or treating is: You may begin when it turns dark, and you have an hour (or however long). And the kids stay within an area close to home, 3 to 4 block radius. That's a ton of houses to hit up.
Exactly! I had so many fun memories growing up trick or treating...like when we saw a scarecrow with a bowl of candy in its lap that said "take one." Well, like all kids we loaded up, saying "screw the take one sigh." What happened? the scarecrow stood up... I half jumped, half fell off that porch and hauled arse. After I finally caught my breath I cracked up.
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Why don't some of these parents just put their kids inside of a plastic bubble, already. Their kids are going to grow up to me the most dependent, whiny, narcissistic bunch we have ever seen. If they get a scraped knee as an adult, they won't know how to handle it.
Exactly! These idiot helicopter parents don't seem to understand that sooner or later, their kids will grow up. And when they get to eighteen, what do you think they'll do when their freedom has been so strictly banned all those years? You guessed it: they are going to make up for it in bad ways.
My father didn't let me play and be myself nearly as much as my mother did. The result? Within two days out of the house I was high on acid.
It is simple: if you don't let your kids take the "risk" of going out alone and being kids, when they are young adults they will make up for it by taking the risk of sex, drugs and dubstep "music". And guess what? BY THE TIME THEY ARE THAT AGE PARENTS WON'T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
Rehab clinics around the country are full of the result of over protective, helicopter parents.
I skimmed it and found much of it nonsensical. So I simply commented on the Halloween issue .
You are the only one who seems to believe so.
My thesis is this: parents in America today tend to be overprotective to the point of not letting their kids be kids for fear of them being kidnapped, sexually abused, hit by a car (I guess cars weren't around when their parents were kids ) and every other thing. Instead, they turn to technology, handing a kid a tablet or a video game instead of unplugging the kid and letting him or her play outside or they do scheduled events like "play dates," making something that is supposed to be spontaneous and fun into something that is regulated like a board meeting.
There is a war on childhood being waged by the idiot parents of America...not all American parents are idiots like this, but a big chunk of them are.
I let myself get drawn in by borregokid's posts without mentioning how much I love the OP's topic. I've been saying this for years. It's very hard to let your kids roam free when every time you watch the evening news it's filled with murders, home invasions, kidnappings, etc. It makes it seem like crime is getting worse every day, when in reality times are much less violent than in the past. I once read that parents were much more relaxed about kids going out on their own until Adam Walsh was taken from the Walmart and his decapitated body was later found. It was after that incident that the media started reporting on all the child abductions and murders. It probably was aided by Adam Walsh's own father, John, who went on to host America's Most Wanted for years, highlighting crimes all over the country.
I think there is something positive about that because kids sure are more aware of stranger danger than we were. Things weren't all that rosy when I was a kid.
I make a point to let my kids go out and play, but I do feel better knowing that they have cell phones just in case. In fact, tonight was the first Halloween ever that I let my kids go by themselves. I was very nervous, but the parents of my son's friend were keeping track of him through the GPS on his phone.
There you go
I mean, instead of hiding your kids behind a "wall" or your own protectiveness, why not give them the "armor" of knowing things like not to talk to strangers and keeping their eyes open?
I mean, sooner or later, they are going to be out of your sight for good. Wouldn't you want them to have years of running around on their own to prepare them?
I have seen the adult children of helicopter parents and let me tell you, it isn't pretty. They are either the most socially inept, helpless people or they are big time hedonists. I knew a girl whose parents didn't even let her date until she was eighteen...she had an abortion at age nineteen and admitted to engaging in group sex.
See what play dates and being an over-protective Nazi of a parent does?
My thesis is this: parents in America today tend to be overprotective to the point of not letting their kids be kids for fear of them being kidnapped, sexually abused, hit by a car (I guess cars weren't around when their parents were kids ) and every other thing. Instead, they turn to technology, handing a kid a tablet or a video game instead of unplugging the kid and letting him or her play outside or they do scheduled events like "play dates," making something that is supposed to be spontaneous and fun into something that is regulated like a board meeting.
There is a war on childhood being waged by the idiot parents of America...not all American parents are idiots like this, but a big chunk of them are.
Guess you haven't read the entire thread. The above post is all over the place...smh.
My father didn't let me play and be myself nearly as much as my mother did. The result? Within two days out of the house I was high on acid.
Ah, now the truth comes out. Resentment.
You have laid a blanket statement calling certain types of parents idiots. I would opine that the only idiot here is a kid who runs out and gets high at the first chance in rebellion to daddy.
As you responded, you are NOT a parent so you really have no place to judge. Parents who protect their children are not guilty of abuse. I have volunteered in the foster care court system and I can tell you what abuse really is.
If you really care about kids, get out there and volunteer. Become a Big Brother/Big Sister. Volunteer at a local school - they always need help. Volunteer at the local YMCA/Boys and Girls Club. And grow up while you're at it.
In my neck of the woods Trick or Treating is banned after 7:00 P.M.
There tend to be as many adults as children on the streets.
It's very common to find at least one garage or lawn tent on each block giving away hot dogs, popcorn and beer.
My husband took the dog out about 5:30 last night and did not return home for an hour. He discovered the neighbor's tent that offered a scotch tasting experience to adults.
We had more than 150 kids and it rained all afternoon and evening.
Trouble is if they run into a neighborhood with a bunch of Republicans the doors are locked and the lights are off. Ever live around people who are described as the Republican Base...they don't like kids..period..Most should have been sent to Sun City. I agree with the rest of your post but don't count on Republican types to be friendly to kids. If the Tea Party base could vote on Halloween with their Christian base it would be outlawed.
I live in a solid Republican area, albeit they trend moderate, not tea party.
It is a highly kid friendly area.
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I half jumped, half fell off that porch and hauled arse. After I finally caught my breath I cracked up. 
You are the only one who seems to believe so. 
) and every other thing. Instead, they turn to technology, handing a kid a tablet or a video game instead of unplugging the kid and letting him or her play outside or they do scheduled events like "play dates," making something that is supposed to be spontaneous and fun into something that is regulated like a board meeting. 
