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I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with

by smsm42 4y ago

I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with my class mates) since I was 7. Playing outside without parental supervision (well, when not reading books, on which to be honest I spent a lot of time, being a geek) since about the same age. Going to relatives on public transport (~20 min) since about the same age. Going to high school on public transport (~1hr one way) since about 13. In fact, most of the day I didn't see my parents and they didn't see me - they were at work and I have been at school, or at the relative's or at home mostly tending to myself, doing chores, or homework, or reading books. Literally everybody my age was the same. I don't remember anybody having stay-at-home parents or somebody supervising non-toddler child the whole day. This probably sounds as insane to some Americans as the American idea that school age kids need constant adult supervision sounds to me. But from what I read in the literature it used to be this way in the US too. Just somehow people got super-paranoid one day...

midoridensha 4y ago
>I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with my class mates) since I was 7. I walked to school at those ages too. But we didn't all survive: one of my classmates in 7th grade was hit by a car crossing a busy road and died. It's long been dangerous for kids to be outside because of America's obsession with cars, but decades ago, having some kids get splattered on car hoods was considered OK and an acceptable sacrifice for a car-dependent society. Now, risk acceptance is lower so parents keep their kids inside all the time, while buying huge SUVs to protect their kids when they do go outside.
serpix 4y ago
You hit the nail on the head with how much we saw and interacted with our parents. It was not much.
- smsm42 4y ago
  Except for the weekends - on weekends there was much more interaction. But really it was normal to spend much more time with peers - or books, in a case of a geek like me, pre-internet times - than with parents. I think now it is considered bad but many societies have lived like that for generations. Spent a lot more time with my grandparents actually - which had significant influence on many aspects of my early development.

by smsm42 4y ago

midoridensha 4y ago

>I am reading all this and wondering how I - and my whole generation of peers - survived. I was walking to school (~15 mins on foot) alone (well, sometimes with my class mates) since I was 7. I walked to school at those ages too. But we didn't all survive: one of my classmates in 7th grade was hit by a car crossing a busy road and died. It's long been dangerous for kids to be outside because of America's obsession with cars, but decades ago, having some kids get splattered on car hoods was considered OK and an acceptable sacrifice for a car-dependent society. Now, risk acceptance is lower so parents keep their kids inside all the time, while buying huge SUVs to protect their kids when they do go outside.

serpix 4y ago

You hit the nail on the head with how much we saw and interacted with our parents. It was not much.

smsm42 4y ago
Except for the weekends - on weekends there was much more interaction. But really it was normal to spend much more time with peers - or books, in a case of a geek like me, pre-internet times - than with parents. I think now it is considered bad but many societies have lived like that for generations. Spent a lot more time with my grandparents actually - which had significant influence on many aspects of my early development.