3 ms·

How are you sure this is peculiar to Japan. I believe there are many countries, to varying degrees, where children have a lot of freedom of movement and are not

• 77pt77 10y ago
  I've never seen it to that degree elsewhere but I'm open to new information.
  • deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  • huxley 10y ago
    I had that degree of freedom in both Honduras (the capital city of Tegucigalpa) and in Canada in the mid-to-late 1970s and early 1980s so I've got two data points there. Note: my Honduran side of the family was upper middle class so it was entirely by personal and parental choice, I walked by myself and also with young friends and family all through town
  • sushid 10y ago
    Did you live anywhere outside the US for a long time? In any case, I grew up in Korea in the late 90s and it was pretty much as described in the article, without the niceties like designated safe building or a warning chime to remind kids to go home. I walked to and back from school every day, and oftentimes went to Sunday school, library, etc. by myself. I was also given money to purchase school supplies for various school activities everyday. I also knew how to take the subway/bus to get to my grandparents' place on days my mom would be there after school. Every Saturday all the students helped clean the school and we had rotating duties to collect milk cartons, clean the bathroom, bring lunch from the kitchen in bulk to serve to classmates, etc. Mind you, this was all in 1st and 2nd grade. When I moved to the States in 3rd grade we had tasks like whiteboard erasing, door holding, etc. but that's about the only similarity I found.