6 ms·

Having grown up in the manner you describe, and being a parent of several young kids - I do find the prospect of them having a similar childhood pretty terrifyi

Having grown up in the manner you describe, and being a parent of several young kids - I do find the prospect of them having a similar childhood pretty terrifying. I am forever thankful for a childhood like that - but letting my kids run amok in this day and age for hours brings me a lot of anxiety. It is an interesting paradox that makes me a bit sad. edit: for the record, we have them in wrestling / jiu jitsu - so their plate is still full re: physical activity and social interaction.

sjg007 6y ago
What makes you anxious about it?
- topkai22 6y ago
  Not the GP, but for me the answer is "cars." And child services coming after me for being neglectful. And rattlesnakes. But mostly cars. Even with statistics about danger being down across the board, in still pretty worried about my kids getting hit by an automobile. The raw statistics are even one area where danger is rising- fatality numbers are back over the mid 90s.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    ^ this. You can show someone who’s afraid of flying that it’s the safest form of travel all you want, but you’re not going to convince them. Anxiety usually isn’t rational, so rational means of convincing don’t work.
    - phdelightful 6y ago
      I disagree, I think the main purpose of reason is to overcome negative irrational behavior. Doesn't mean it's easy or automatic though :)
    - topkai22 6y ago
      Any chance you'd like to take a stab at convincing me I shouldn't worry about my (young) kids getting hit by cars? I feel like it's an unfortunately rational anxiety.
      - colejohnson66 6y ago
        I didn’t say you shouldn’t worry. I said that ignoring evidence showing a downwards trend is irrational and used airplanes as an example. I haven’t looked at the stats about children getting hit by cars. Please don’t read words from me that aren’t there.
        topkai22 6y ago
        Sorry, just hoping you had evidence I didn't!
        colejohnson66 6y ago
        No worries! I read your reply as antagonistic and went from there. My mistake.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    To add to the "cars" problem: these days there are many more people on the road who are incentivized to drive as a fast as possible to do their jobs. Amazon, UPS, FedEx etc delivery drivers are pushed to the brink to deliver as many packages as they can within a certain time frame, and there are thousands of untrained taxi drivers running around for Uber and Lyft and playing with their phones.
- dfsegoat 6y ago
  Cars are one. Feeling like my kids aren't as 'street smart' is another - but that is on me. Anecdotally, I see a lot more obviously mentally ill people on the streets than when I was a kid. Crime in general is more prolific in my area than when I was a kid (Sonoma County, CA). I'm not saying my anxiety is rational, or that the stats back up my anecdotes - I am merely stating my perceptions.
alexfrydl 6y ago
Unless you mean right now because of carona, I'm not sure what about “this day and age” is more dangerous than when you grew up.
- rbosinger 6y ago
  There are more people around. More cars. Where I live, there's about 1000x more needles than when I grew up. Way more crazy people roaming around. Maybe statistically they aren't causing any problems, but they sure harass me enough. Especially when it comes to "playing in the woods". The woods around town are the worst place now. We used to find camps and places where teenagers would party here and there but now when I walk in the woods (unregulated, non-protected "parks", or outskirts of real parks) there's people camping out and smoking, drinking, doing whatever. Both my hometown and where I live now are like this. It's not my imagination. My parents see the same thing. I don't care if the statistics say it's better.
  - mlyle 6y ago
    > It's not my imagination. My parents see the same thing. I don't care if the statistics say it's better. Kind of strange, though, isn't it? We live in a safer time than any before (have regressed slightly in the past few years), but many, many people have an intrinsic gut reaction that things are getting worse. "Our sires' age was worse than our grandsires'. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt." - Horace, ~20BC
  - Sodman 6y ago
    You should check out "Angels of our better nature" by Steven Pinker - it's a fascinating book about the decline of violence, both over the course of human history, and recently. The local woods by you may indeed be worse than it was during your childhood, but overall as a society we are doing better.
- dfsegoat 6y ago
  Yea - I can’t say that I have a rational understanding for why I feel like the world is more dangerous than when i was a kid.
vmception 6y ago
there is nothing different this day and age except awareness crime is lower across the board compared to 15-20 years ago ignorance was bliss, for you
- AlecSchueler 6y ago
  Awareness also brings behavioural changes. Could be there's less crime because of all the extra precautions being taken.
  - vmception 6y ago
    No? A) There are easy marks everywhere. B) Which crimes did your mind gravitate towards? Were those crimes ever major parts of all crimes committed? Does the presence or absence of children materially change any of that?
    - giantg2 6y ago
      There's a pretty popular theory that the advances in forensics and the prevalence of surveillance cameras are a driving factor in the reduction of crime. Even stuff like kids having a cell phone to call police or track their location could be a mitigating factor. I do agree that there are still many easy marks. I think the advancement of the aforementioned technologies and the parent comment's point about parents in general being more cautious removes many of the opportunity for certain crimes, or at least to get away with them.
- yostrovs 6y ago
  T
- fogihujy 6y ago
  > there is nothing different this day and age except awareness And the fact that crime has dropped like a rock, with a ~20 year lag, after leaded fuel was phased out.
  - 6y ago
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
>I am forever thankful for a childhood like that - but letting my kids run amok in this day and age for hours brings me a lot of anxiety. It is an interesting paradox that makes me a bit sad. Anxiety because of what the kids may do or anxiety because of what other adults may do?

sjg007 6y ago

What makes you anxious about it?

topkai22 6y ago
Not the GP, but for me the answer is "cars." And child services coming after me for being neglectful. And rattlesnakes. But mostly cars. Even with statistics about danger being down across the board, in still pretty worried about my kids getting hit by an automobile. The raw statistics are even one area where danger is rising- fatality numbers are back over the mid 90s.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  ^ this. You can show someone who’s afraid of flying that it’s the safest form of travel all you want, but you’re not going to convince them. Anxiety usually isn’t rational, so rational means of convincing don’t work.
  - phdelightful 6y ago
    I disagree, I think the main purpose of reason is to overcome negative irrational behavior. Doesn't mean it's easy or automatic though :)
  - topkai22 6y ago
    Any chance you'd like to take a stab at convincing me I shouldn't worry about my (young) kids getting hit by cars? I feel like it's an unfortunately rational anxiety.
    - colejohnson66 6y ago
      I didn’t say you shouldn’t worry. I said that ignoring evidence showing a downwards trend is irrational and used airplanes as an example. I haven’t looked at the stats about children getting hit by cars. Please don’t read words from me that aren’t there.
      - topkai22 6y ago
        Sorry, just hoping you had evidence I didn't!
        colejohnson66 6y ago
        No worries! I read your reply as antagonistic and went from there. My mistake.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  To add to the "cars" problem: these days there are many more people on the road who are incentivized to drive as a fast as possible to do their jobs. Amazon, UPS, FedEx etc delivery drivers are pushed to the brink to deliver as many packages as they can within a certain time frame, and there are thousands of untrained taxi drivers running around for Uber and Lyft and playing with their phones.
dfsegoat 6y ago
Cars are one. Feeling like my kids aren't as 'street smart' is another - but that is on me. Anecdotally, I see a lot more obviously mentally ill people on the streets than when I was a kid. Crime in general is more prolific in my area than when I was a kid (Sonoma County, CA). I'm not saying my anxiety is rational, or that the stats back up my anecdotes - I am merely stating my perceptions.

alexfrydl 6y ago

Unless you mean right now because of carona, I'm not sure what about “this day and age” is more dangerous than when you grew up.

rbosinger 6y ago
There are more people around. More cars. Where I live, there's about 1000x more needles than when I grew up. Way more crazy people roaming around. Maybe statistically they aren't causing any problems, but they sure harass me enough. Especially when it comes to "playing in the woods". The woods around town are the worst place now. We used to find camps and places where teenagers would party here and there but now when I walk in the woods (unregulated, non-protected "parks", or outskirts of real parks) there's people camping out and smoking, drinking, doing whatever. Both my hometown and where I live now are like this. It's not my imagination. My parents see the same thing. I don't care if the statistics say it's better.
- mlyle 6y ago
  > It's not my imagination. My parents see the same thing. I don't care if the statistics say it's better. Kind of strange, though, isn't it? We live in a safer time than any before (have regressed slightly in the past few years), but many, many people have an intrinsic gut reaction that things are getting worse. "Our sires' age was worse than our grandsires'. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt." - Horace, ~20BC
- Sodman 6y ago
  You should check out "Angels of our better nature" by Steven Pinker - it's a fascinating book about the decline of violence, both over the course of human history, and recently. The local woods by you may indeed be worse than it was during your childhood, but overall as a society we are doing better.
dfsegoat 6y ago
Yea - I can’t say that I have a rational understanding for why I feel like the world is more dangerous than when i was a kid.

vmception 6y ago

there is nothing different this day and age except awareness crime is lower across the board compared to 15-20 years ago ignorance was bliss, for you

AlecSchueler 6y ago
Awareness also brings behavioural changes. Could be there's less crime because of all the extra precautions being taken.
- vmception 6y ago
  No? A) There are easy marks everywhere. B) Which crimes did your mind gravitate towards? Were those crimes ever major parts of all crimes committed? Does the presence or absence of children materially change any of that?
  - giantg2 6y ago
    There's a pretty popular theory that the advances in forensics and the prevalence of surveillance cameras are a driving factor in the reduction of crime. Even stuff like kids having a cell phone to call police or track their location could be a mitigating factor. I do agree that there are still many easy marks. I think the advancement of the aforementioned technologies and the parent comment's point about parents in general being more cautious removes many of the opportunity for certain crimes, or at least to get away with them.
yostrovs 6y ago
T
fogihujy 6y ago
> there is nothing different this day and age except awareness And the fact that crime has dropped like a rock, with a ~20 year lag, after leaded fuel was phased out.
- 6y ago

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

>I am forever thankful for a childhood like that - but letting my kids run amok in this day and age for hours brings me a lot of anxiety. It is an interesting paradox that makes me a bit sad. Anxiety because of what the kids may do or anxiety because of what other adults may do?