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Yes. Everyone is falling over themselves in this thread to bemoan the sensationalist media and irrational fear of kidnapping, but cars are a dramatic difference
by jessriedel 10y ago
Yes. Everyone is falling over themselves in this thread to bemoan the sensationalist media and irrational fear of kidnapping, but cars are a dramatic difference in the risks of letting children wander that just didn't exist 100 years ago.
- throwanem 10y agoI do not believe there are likely to be many centenarians among those here disagreeing with the idea that daily life is so much more deadly now as to justify the degree of restriction under discussion.
- mseebach 10y ago> but cars are a dramatic difference in the risks of letting children wander that just didn't exist 100 years ago. 100 years ago, sure[1] -- but there's also a dramatic difference in behaviour from 40 years ago, and traffic is significantly safer today than then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great... 1: I'm sure more kids flat out died from catching untreatable infections when playing outside 100 years ago than are even mildly hurt in traffic today.
- jessriedel 10y agoWe could continue this debate over whether the increase in restrictions is rational, by me pointing out that as all-cause child mortality falls, and as others methods of getting children from A to B become cheaper, it makes sense for parents to take steps to avoid sources of risk that were acceptable in the past. But that is not even really my point. The point is that the discussion in the thread is hopeless if most commenters focus on feeling smug without considering all these effects in detail.