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I am very sympathetic to this (to the extent that my wife thinks I am borderline irresponsible). That said, I think the argument about how fears are misplaced

I am very sympathetic to this (to the extent that my wife thinks I am borderline irresponsible). That said, I think the argument about how fears are misplaced since now is the most safe time to be a kid is bad. > And it is widely believed that the world is no longer a safe place for children to play in. Yet statistics show that it has never been a safer time to be a child. Injury-related deaths are at an all-time low in most Western nations. In the US, deaths from unintentional injuries fell by 73% for boys and 85% for girls between 1973 and 2010. This misperception of risk creates the parental paradox. This doesn't make much sense. Parents have mass migrated to a different style of parenting. In the same period life has gotten much safer for children. Therefore we should revert to the older style of parenting and not be afraid that the risks will return? I think this cause is really hurting itself with this kind of weak argument.

mlrtime 3y ago
This jumped at me as well. The author did not do a great job of combating this argument.
strix_varius 3y ago
Agreed. As a new parent myself, I also don't think any proposal to have children running free in the neighborhood / playing together unsupervised can be taken seriously with addressing that: > This is the most dangerous time to be a pedestrian in over 40 years. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/us/dangerous-time-pedestrian-trucks-suv-dg/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/us/dangerous-time-pedestrian-... I would love for my daughter to get to roam the neighborhood like I roamed mine. But despite choosing one of the safest, lowest-traffic neighborhoods in our city - with 25 mph speed limits - I still regularly see drivers flying by at twice that, in a lifted truck, with a phone in front of their face.
- geraldhh 3y ago
  gives a whole new meaning to the "smartphones and social media are a threat to children" trope

mlrtime 3y ago

This jumped at me as well. The author did not do a great job of combating this argument.

strix_varius 3y ago

Agreed. As a new parent myself, I also don't think any proposal to have children running free in the neighborhood / playing together unsupervised can be taken seriously with addressing that: > This is the most dangerous time to be a pedestrian in over 40 years. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/us/dangerous-time-pedestrian-trucks-suv-dg/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/us/dangerous-time-pedestrian-... I would love for my daughter to get to roam the neighborhood like I roamed mine. But despite choosing one of the safest, lowest-traffic neighborhoods in our city - with 25 mph speed limits - I still regularly see drivers flying by at twice that, in a lifted truck, with a phone in front of their face.

geraldhh 3y ago
gives a whole new meaning to the "smartphones and social media are a threat to children" trope