4 ms·

When did parents get so scared?

21 points by apress 11y ago

FrankBlack 11y ago
I am sure it was a slow change that we hardly noticed. I think a couple things contributed to this mentality (there are plenty of others): 1) The tragic death of Adam Walsh became national news and spawned his father's advocacy for victims of crime. That spawned "America's Most Wanted"; a show that convinced viewers that each person wearing a sleeveless undershirt was a criminal. Faces of missing people appeared on milk cartons. No one wanted their child to be next. 2) Cable TV news needs to fill up 24 hours a day, so it breathes fear into us with each story so we don't dare change the channel. Or not...
adamio 11y ago
"With more first-time parents than ever older than 35..." I would gess this probably has a larger subconscious impact than societal drivers, I wonder if any studies on this have been done
talmand 11y ago
As I have said elsewhere here on HN, I would like to let my kids play in the front yard but I don't. Not because I fear they'll be hit by a car jumping the curb, a serious injury from falling down, or some bad person kidnapping them. I don't let them play in the front yard because I don't want to deal with the possibility of someone calling the cops after seeing my kids in the front yard that will lead to a government employee with more power than their agency is supposed to have showing up to threaten taking my kids away from me for playing in the front yard.
imh 11y ago
I wonder how much it is related to the fact that we hardly know the people around us. I don't know my neighbors. I've heard that's a new phenomenon. We, the adults, might not even step out of our bubbles as much these days, much less allowing our children to do so.
- ChuckMcM 11y ago
  I wonder if this is a big part of it, I know all my neighbors on a "Hi, how are you?" basis, and some better than that. We all know each others kids, and we all look out for each other. One of the reasons I chose the house I did was so that our kids could walk to the park without crossing any busy streets. I think you have to be intentional about it though. We walk our dog and say Hi to everyone we pass.

21 points by apress 11y ago

I am sure it was a slow change that we hardly noticed. I think a couple things contributed to this mentality (there are plenty of others): 1) The tragic death of Adam Walsh became national news and spawned his father's advocacy for victims of crime. That spawned "America's Most Wanted"; a show that convinced viewers that each person wearing a sleeveless undershirt was a criminal. Faces of missing people appeared on milk cartons. No one wanted their child to be next. 2) Cable TV news needs to fill up 24 hours a day, so it breathes fear into us with each story so we don't dare change the channel. Or not...

adamio 11y ago

"With more first-time parents than ever older than 35..." I would gess this probably has a larger subconscious impact than societal drivers, I wonder if any studies on this have been done

talmand 11y ago

As I have said elsewhere here on HN, I would like to let my kids play in the front yard but I don't. Not because I fear they'll be hit by a car jumping the curb, a serious injury from falling down, or some bad person kidnapping them. I don't let them play in the front yard because I don't want to deal with the possibility of someone calling the cops after seeing my kids in the front yard that will lead to a government employee with more power than their agency is supposed to have showing up to threaten taking my kids away from me for playing in the front yard.

imh 11y ago

I wonder how much it is related to the fact that we hardly know the people around us. I don't know my neighbors. I've heard that's a new phenomenon. We, the adults, might not even step out of our bubbles as much these days, much less allowing our children to do so.

ChuckMcM 11y ago
I wonder if this is a big part of it, I know all my neighbors on a "Hi, how are you?" basis, and some better than that. We all know each others kids, and we all look out for each other. One of the reasons I chose the house I did was so that our kids could walk to the park without crossing any busy streets. I think you have to be intentional about it though. We walk our dog and say Hi to everyone we pass.