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I'm tired of this claim that kids today are less free-roaming. Such articles never seem to provide empirical evidence to back it up. The term "helicopter parent

I'm tired of this claim that kids today are less free-roaming. Such articles never seem to provide empirical evidence to back it up. The term "helicopter parent" is thrown around as if it has some sort of scientific definition. In actuality, it is just a pejorative used to label any parent we have observed being overprotective. These claims about a societal shift serve only to tickle persons' biases that kids today are coddled, lack personal responsibility, and generally thin-skinned. (On the contrary, parenting styles are as diverse as children themselves.) Never mind that adults' personal anecdotes about their childhoods are unreliable and subject to massive bias. Think about it: Most people have scarcely any vivid memories of their 0-5 years. Many claim that they were allowed to roam free back in the day. Adults remember being allowed to run around, seemingly unsupervised. They are oblivious to protective steps taken by their parents. Most everyone with children knows the parenting tactic of giving kids the impression of freedom while taking discreet steps to protect them from harm.

ScottBurson 10y ago
How old are you?
xiaoma 10y ago
I think your weariness at seeing a claim which from all evidence appears true not backed up by "empirical evidence" is a bit self-indulgent. I've met many N American adults whose own childhoods align with what the article says and almost none who said they had a shorter leash than children do now. I've seen more children taking the metro by themselves in Japan in a one week visit than I did living the US for three years. It's also undeniable that social workers taking children from families due to them having been unsupervised is something that the state barely had resources for 100 years ago even if, contrary to numerous historical accounts, it had the will. No, I don't have statistics on exactly how far away the average 9 year-old was allowed to bike in various years. History books also don't come with a stack of empirical evidence to back them up. At some point, you have to either accept them until seeing more compelling conflicting accounts or dig into the sources and do the research yourself. If numerous anecdotal claims and published accounts isn't good enough for you, then the onus is on you to provide a more convincing argument in the opposite direction.
- frankosaurus 10y ago
  My claim is that persons' own recollection of their childhood is inherently biased. As kids, they weren't privy to many of their parents' protective actions. Never mind nostalgia, selective memory, etc.
  - xiaoma 10y ago
    Yes, but things like "walked half a mile to school every day at age 5", "was allowed to bike 5 miles from home after entering the 5th grade and 10 miles after 6th grade" are pretty clear cut.
Kluny 10y ago
Hmm. That begs a question. There must be some hn'ers on here that are old enough to have 20/30 year old kids. I'm 27, I remember having about 5km of freedom at age 8. So I'm old enough to say things like "back in the day, we roamed as far as we wanted." Can anyone who's old enough to be my mom or dad confirm or deny whether you let your kids roam as far as they wanted?

ScottBurson 10y ago

How old are you?

xiaoma 10y ago

I think your weariness at seeing a claim which from all evidence appears true not backed up by "empirical evidence" is a bit self-indulgent. I've met many N American adults whose own childhoods align with what the article says and almost none who said they had a shorter leash than children do now. I've seen more children taking the metro by themselves in Japan in a one week visit than I did living the US for three years. It's also undeniable that social workers taking children from families due to them having been unsupervised is something that the state barely had resources for 100 years ago even if, contrary to numerous historical accounts, it had the will. No, I don't have statistics on exactly how far away the average 9 year-old was allowed to bike in various years. History books also don't come with a stack of empirical evidence to back them up. At some point, you have to either accept them until seeing more compelling conflicting accounts or dig into the sources and do the research yourself. If numerous anecdotal claims and published accounts isn't good enough for you, then the onus is on you to provide a more convincing argument in the opposite direction.

frankosaurus 10y ago
My claim is that persons' own recollection of their childhood is inherently biased. As kids, they weren't privy to many of their parents' protective actions. Never mind nostalgia, selective memory, etc.
- xiaoma 10y ago
  Yes, but things like "walked half a mile to school every day at age 5", "was allowed to bike 5 miles from home after entering the 5th grade and 10 miles after 6th grade" are pretty clear cut.

Kluny 10y ago

Hmm. That begs a question. There must be some hn'ers on here that are old enough to have 20/30 year old kids. I'm 27, I remember having about 5km of freedom at age 8. So I'm old enough to say things like "back in the day, we roamed as far as we wanted." Can anyone who's old enough to be my mom or dad confirm or deny whether you let your kids roam as far as they wanted?