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Cars are not the problem it's fearful parents. When I grew up there were all cars on the streets, and before cars there were horse and carts which had their ow
by Guthur 2y ago
Cars are not the problem it's fearful parents.
When I grew up there were all cars on the streets, and before cars there were horse and carts which had their own dangers. Over the last 150 years the distance that parents have allowed their children to roam has gradually diminished from many miles to essentially be the other room.
I feel this is more a product of our risk obsessed society, everything is about analysing and taking action to reduce risk. You can hear it everywhere, risk reduction, risk based analysis etc.
Edit: and in the interest of full disclosure I'm a father of 3 and know exactly how hard this is. I can't imagine me being comfortable with what I got up to as a child and that's the tragedy.
- jedberg 2y agoThe risk is real, but not how you think. The risk of children getting hurt is actually the lowest it's ever been, but risk of legal trouble is the highest it's ever been. We let our children roam and got a visit from the police because of it. Someone reported "unsupervised children". The police came to our door and started questioning us. My wife just kept saying, "did we do anything illegal?" and "were they unsafe?". The police ultimately admitted that they were perfectly safe and we did nothing illegal, but warned us that, "it just looks bad and you should be more careful". We've also been scolded by other parents at the park when we let our kids go to the other side of the park 100 yards away. "How could you let them go so far? What if they get hurt or need you?" It makes us not want to let them roam, just to avoid the hassle.
- jamesmontalvo3 2y agoWhat ages are you talking about? Where I live (in the US) I can’t imagine parents scolding me if I let my kids wander 100 yards from me, unless they were very young.
- jedberg 2y ago6-8 at the time.
- bongodongobob 2y agoAnd that comes from parents grossly overestimating risk, like the parent comment said.
- ryandrake 2y ago> The police ultimately admitted that they were perfectly safe and we did nothing illegal, but warned us that, "it just looks bad and you should be more careful". The police need to stop taking these reports seriously and stop responding to "look bad". They're supposed to be enforcing the law, not the look. If some nosey busybody reports something happening where there is no law being broken, they need to be told in no uncertain terms to STFU and stop wasting law enforcement's time. Better yet, have light criminal consequences for this kind of misuse of emergency lines.
- takinola 2y agoThe incentives for the police don't encourage this outcome. Imagine if something does happen and there is a report in the local newspaper that the neighbors had reported to the police multiple times but they did nothing. Better to CYA and give the parents a talking to and be seen to have done something than to do nothing at all. Situations like this is what should give you pause before reaching for your pitchforks next time you hear of someone screwing up royally.