4 ms·

I find it difficult to relate to someone who could hold this opinion. It may be a feature of not being a parent.. But how helpless exactly do grownups think kid

by djhn 11y ago

I find it difficult to relate to someone who could hold this opinion. It may be a feature of not being a parent.. But how helpless exactly do grownups think kids are? Beyond the age of 5, maybe 6, a child is surely more than capable of independent living for several days? They should be able to handle their bodily functions, feed themselves, keep themselves entertained with books and/or TV and/or the internet, play outside with their friends and cycle around (slightly depending on the living arrangement and distances involved), commute to school, get their homework done etc.? I remember being home alone for days going on weeks during early school years, if my parents were out of town/out of country. 20-45-minute commute of walking+subway (/metro/underground) is still the norm for everyone at my (then) primary school starting from first grade.

DanBC 11y ago
> I remember But all the six year olds who were left to fend for themselves and died as a result are unable to take part in this conversation.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  Six-year-olds don't contribute much to any political conversation. It would be especially rare to hear from such vanishingly small groups of six-year-olds as those to which you refer here. I'm afraid their voices would be drowned out completely by the much larger groups of six-year-olds who have died while with their parents, e.g. while riding in automobiles or in house fires.
LyndsySimon 11y ago
I'm curious - did you live in the US during that part of your childhood? I did, in a rural area in Arkansas. I was probably 12 or 13 before I was left home alone for longer than a few minutes.
- djhn 11y ago
  A nordic capital, 1mil population, old-style city centre. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stadsplanesystem.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stadsplanesystem.jpg (1st picture). 15 minutes walk to central railway station connecting (kind of) to the rest of the world. I'd say the independent/free play-area radius extends beyond the inside yard sometime between 4 and 5, by 10 kids would be cycling all over the city by themselves. Most would walk 10-15 mins to their kindergardens themselves (?) from about the age of 5. I wouldn't consider this an outlier, and my family wasn't particularly laissez-faire. Many friends would go cycle-touring or interrailing in Europe between 15 and 20. Doing a solo interrail in Europe for a month is a culturally established "rite-of-passage", although people will usually wait till they turn 18 to go alone.
  - LyndsySimon 11y ago
    Ah, then that explains it. While your experience certainly isn't exceptional in your community - or worldwide - it would absolutely be exceptional in the US. There have been cases of parents being prosecuted for allowing their children to walk to a local park less than a mile away. Seeing a child alone in the US is exceptionally rare. This extends to age 12-14, I would say.

by djhn 11y ago

DanBC 11y ago

> I remember But all the six year olds who were left to fend for themselves and died as a result are unable to take part in this conversation.

jessaustin 11y ago
Six-year-olds don't contribute much to any political conversation. It would be especially rare to hear from such vanishingly small groups of six-year-olds as those to which you refer here. I'm afraid their voices would be drowned out completely by the much larger groups of six-year-olds who have died while with their parents, e.g. while riding in automobiles or in house fires.

LyndsySimon 11y ago

I'm curious - did you live in the US during that part of your childhood? I did, in a rural area in Arkansas. I was probably 12 or 13 before I was left home alone for longer than a few minutes.

djhn 11y ago
A nordic capital, 1mil population, old-style city centre. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stadsplanesystem.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stadsplanesystem.jpg (1st picture). 15 minutes walk to central railway station connecting (kind of) to the rest of the world. I'd say the independent/free play-area radius extends beyond the inside yard sometime between 4 and 5, by 10 kids would be cycling all over the city by themselves. Most would walk 10-15 mins to their kindergardens themselves (?) from about the age of 5. I wouldn't consider this an outlier, and my family wasn't particularly laissez-faire. Many friends would go cycle-touring or interrailing in Europe between 15 and 20. Doing a solo interrail in Europe for a month is a culturally established "rite-of-passage", although people will usually wait till they turn 18 to go alone.
- LyndsySimon 11y ago
  Ah, then that explains it. While your experience certainly isn't exceptional in your community - or worldwide - it would absolutely be exceptional in the US. There have been cases of parents being prosecuted for allowing their children to walk to a local park less than a mile away. Seeing a child alone in the US is exceptionally rare. This extends to age 12-14, I would say.