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Japan has entered the chat... In Japan, children are encouraged from early age to be independent. They even take the subway and bus by themselves, albeit it's
by monological 4y ago
Japan has entered the chat...
In Japan, children are encouraged from early age to be independent. They even take the subway and bus by themselves, albeit it's significantly safer there than in other parts of the world. Still though, I think people in America have gone off the deep end.
- ch4s3 4y agoIts funny, because I see young-ish kids alone or in small groups walking around all the time in Brooklyn. Between 2:30 and 4:00 PM the sidewalks around my apartment are choked with unaccompanied kids.
- woodruffw 4y agoThis is true in my part of Brooklyn as well, and it's how I was raised in Manhattan. These problems are not unique to suburbia, but they're definitely amplified.
- ch4s3 4y agoI grew up on a farm and was out roaming around alone from probably the age of 5 or 6. Kids are pretty capable if you raise them to be a little self reliant and resilient.
- woodruffw 4y agoAbsolutely. I'm singling out suburbia (specifically, suburban car-dependent monoculture) here as the least ideal of the three "spheres."
- ch4s3 4y agoYeah I personally view suburbia writ large as a cultural backwater and site of psychologically stultifying sameness. Rural and urban places are endlessly interesting to me.
- patrickserrano 4y agoI live in Manhattan and my wife and I just had our first kid a few weeks ago. We've been talking about it for months now, but we want our kid to have that kind of independence and familiarity with the city. On one hand it's good for their development and on another hand it just seems practical that they be able to navigate the city on their own for safety reasons. I've offended a lot of suburban friends and family though, because they don't understand how we could raise a child in NYC let alone give them any kind of independence. I've been told that it's irresponsible, that I'll be endangering him, and that I'm crazy to think the city is a safe place for a child, among other things.
- thwayunion 4y agoIMO it's exactly the other way around. Raising a child who can't do basic things like run errands or get to school on their own until they are well into young adulthood is a wildly insane way to raise a child.
- ch4s3 4y ago> I've been told that it's irresponsible, that I'll be endangering him With all due respect, whoever is telling you that is should mind their own fucking business.
- nicolas_t 4y agoCongrats on your first kid! We live in Hong Kong and think that it's a great environment (albeit insanely expensive) to raise our one-year old child but heard the same reaction to friends and family. Some people get obsessed with the idea of safety and can't understand the value of freedom to explore, easy access to culture in the form of theatre, art, museums, ... Instead they only optimise for that single dimension of safety and are offended whenever someone challenges their obsession by making a different choice than them.
- midoridensha 4y ago>I've offended a lot of suburban friends and family though, ... I've been told that it's irresponsible, that I'll be endangering him, and that I'm crazy to think the city is a safe place for a child, among other things. Time for some new friends...
- indrora 4y agoIn Seattle and some of its extended metro, 10yo kids on the bus isn't uncommon. There's packs of them that transit their way to local skate parks near me.
- richliss 4y agoThey've even made an adorable Netflix show out of the concept - "Old Enough".
- lelandfe 4y agoAlong with this great SNL sketch, "Old Enough! Longterm Boyfriends" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhGTtWsW9F8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhGTtWsW9F8
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Kaibeezy 4y agoMaybe people in America have gone off the shallow end and bonked their heads.
- ihaveabeardnow 4y agoI was wondering how many comments I'd get through before see one such as yours. Japan always comes up when these things happen. Glad to have you here.
- bfrog 4y agoFox news will do that
- divbzero 4y agoA recent podcast episode from 99% Invisible explores this contrast in societal norms: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/first-errand/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/first-errand/
- rado 4y agoJapanese parents reading this story: "???"
- cafard 4y agoKids in Washington, DC, often enough get themselves to school via Metrobus. I see them walk to the stop by themselves, three or four blocks in a quiet neighborhood.
- csours 4y agoJapan is extremely culturally homogeneous compared to America. As far as I know, this doesn't actually affect kidnapping statistics all that much, but it does affect perception.