5 ms·

How do you figure?

by anatoly 17y ago

How do you figure?

tptacek 17y ago
I figure that the kidnappers are a red herring. Parents do think about them, and do mention them in conversations about their kids walking to school. But i figure that the "closer" in the discussion is the idea that our little kids are walking across busy streets unsupervised. We're not totally irrational. We know our kids aren't going to get stolen off the street. But it's hard to dispel the idea that they could get hit by a car. Because they totally can. A 9-year-old crossing a street implicates two very scary variables: the fucking morons driving down our residential streets at 40mph to get around traffic on the main drags, and the fucking morons we've kept alive for 9 years who will still occasionally run out into the street without looking.
- timwiseman 17y ago
  I suspect you are incorrect. I think a lot of parents focus in on the sensational media reports of kidnappings and don't think about that street crossing. After all, a child hit crossing the street probably will not make national news, and very few people have any real understanding of statistics or probability. They worry about the sensation rather than the real risk.
  - mattmcknight 17y ago
    Some parents I have spoken with prefer the death due to head trauma over sexual torture. There's also the guilt factor. If something common happens to your kid, it's an 'accident'. If your kid gets kidnapped, people put more of the blame on you. I mean, I have lots of designs for safer transit, but it's a lot easier to keep the kid on a leash than change people to focus on the safety of automotive travel above the need for a status symbol. Why do only pros wear helmets?
  - tptacek 17y ago
    Well, consider me a data point in the other direction, Tim. And everyone else on my block (it was block party night) --- we're all worried about cars. Sex maniacs not so much.
    - timwiseman 17y ago
      I am a data point in the other direction myself, but while I have no statistics I strongly suspect we are in the minority, and people's behaviors tend to support that. Instead of doing things that would help reduce cars hitting pedestrians and traffic accidents in general(more sidewalks, longer yellow lights, more crosswalks, more traffic enforcement, more required training which includes focusing on sharing the road with non-cars....) many communities spend more time on things to prevent kidnappings which are already incredibly rare (the article goes into many examples.) And mattmcknight has an excellent point.
- anatoly 17y ago
  All good points, thanks. I guess I don't have a good handle on how much it's kidnappers vs cars in a typical parent's mind. I have some intuitions, and they seem to differ from yours, but I can't back that up with anything. And I probably did underestimate cars as a factor, being used to living in a large city with orderly traffic lights all the way.
kscaldef 17y ago
Well, I might let my 7 year old walk the 3 blocks to school on her own (or with the neighbor kids) except for the last street crossing onto the school grounds, which I'm not comfortable letting her cross on her own because of the crazy scene from all the other parents dropping their kids off in cars. (Ironic, isn't it?) So, I walk with her to make sure she gets across that street safely. (Before you ask: there are 6 potential street crossings onto the school grounds. The school can only afford to staff one of them with a crossing guard.)
- anatoly 17y ago
  Where I grew up it was common to have the school organize a rotation of somewhat senior kids to act as (unpaid) crossing guards (standing in small groups) on the major crossings within a few blocks of the school. They'd stand there in the mornings and sometimes right after school. Does this sort of thing ever happen in the US?
  - kscaldef 17y ago
    Yeah, it does. And having seen those kids blindly step into the road without looking, as if their reflective vests would magically stop the cars, I'm not sure that it makes me feel that much better. :-(

How do you figure?

by anatoly 17y ago

How do you figure?

I figure that the kidnappers are a red herring. Parents do think about them, and do mention them in conversations about their kids walking to school. But i figure that the "closer" in the discussion is the idea that our little kids are walking across busy streets unsupervised. We're not totally irrational. We know our kids aren't going to get stolen off the street. But it's hard to dispel the idea that they could get hit by a car. Because they totally can. A 9-year-old crossing a street implicates two very scary variables: the fucking morons driving down our residential streets at 40mph to get around traffic on the main drags, and the fucking morons we've kept alive for 9 years who will still occasionally run out into the street without looking.

timwiseman 17y ago
I suspect you are incorrect. I think a lot of parents focus in on the sensational media reports of kidnappings and don't think about that street crossing. After all, a child hit crossing the street probably will not make national news, and very few people have any real understanding of statistics or probability. They worry about the sensation rather than the real risk.
- mattmcknight 17y ago
  Some parents I have spoken with prefer the death due to head trauma over sexual torture. There's also the guilt factor. If something common happens to your kid, it's an 'accident'. If your kid gets kidnapped, people put more of the blame on you. I mean, I have lots of designs for safer transit, but it's a lot easier to keep the kid on a leash than change people to focus on the safety of automotive travel above the need for a status symbol. Why do only pros wear helmets?
- tptacek 17y ago
  Well, consider me a data point in the other direction, Tim. And everyone else on my block (it was block party night) --- we're all worried about cars. Sex maniacs not so much.
  - timwiseman 17y ago
    I am a data point in the other direction myself, but while I have no statistics I strongly suspect we are in the minority, and people's behaviors tend to support that. Instead of doing things that would help reduce cars hitting pedestrians and traffic accidents in general(more sidewalks, longer yellow lights, more crosswalks, more traffic enforcement, more required training which includes focusing on sharing the road with non-cars....) many communities spend more time on things to prevent kidnappings which are already incredibly rare (the article goes into many examples.) And mattmcknight has an excellent point.
anatoly 17y ago
All good points, thanks. I guess I don't have a good handle on how much it's kidnappers vs cars in a typical parent's mind. I have some intuitions, and they seem to differ from yours, but I can't back that up with anything. And I probably did underestimate cars as a factor, being used to living in a large city with orderly traffic lights all the way.

kscaldef 17y ago

Well, I might let my 7 year old walk the 3 blocks to school on her own (or with the neighbor kids) except for the last street crossing onto the school grounds, which I'm not comfortable letting her cross on her own because of the crazy scene from all the other parents dropping their kids off in cars. (Ironic, isn't it?) So, I walk with her to make sure she gets across that street safely. (Before you ask: there are 6 potential street crossings onto the school grounds. The school can only afford to staff one of them with a crossing guard.)

anatoly 17y ago
Where I grew up it was common to have the school organize a rotation of somewhat senior kids to act as (unpaid) crossing guards (standing in small groups) on the major crossings within a few blocks of the school. They'd stand there in the mornings and sometimes right after school. Does this sort of thing ever happen in the US?
- kscaldef 17y ago
  Yeah, it does. And having seen those kids blindly step into the road without looking, as if their reflective vests would magically stop the cars, I'm not sure that it makes me feel that much better. :-(