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I grew up in The Netherlands (until I was 8) and Switzerland (until I was 12), at age 12 I moved to the US. In The Netherlands me and my friends had quite the

I grew up in The Netherlands (until I was 8) and Switzerland (until I was 12), at age 12 I moved to the US. In The Netherlands me and my friends had quite the range. We were allowed to go down to the soccer field half a mile away, I remember walking to see friends half-way across town. In Switzerland I had a very similar range, and by the time I was 10 I was taking the tram to school (in Basel, other side of the city). I was allowed to roam as much as I pleased so long as I was back home by certain times. I remember spending hours with friends in Basel. When I got to the US I had the same amount of ability to roam around. I am now 27 years old, and I am watching all these parents hover over their kids, and it makes me afraid for society as a whole. All that roaming and being outside and away from the house just made me who I am, not afraid, and gave me a huge sense of self-worth, confidence and self-esteem.

david-given 12y ago
I'm British, but I live in Zürich; it's awesome to see random packs of kids roaming around doing stuff on their own. I think there's two main things which make this possible: firstly, the amazing public transport system, which means that it's basically impossible to get stuck everywhere; also the culture that adults are not scary, which means that they feel comfortable talking to adults (and vice versa). Admittedly, they mostly talk in thickly accented Schweizerdeutsch, which I don't understand a word of, but they're still talking. In the UK it's dangerous for an adult even to make eye contact with a child. Another interesting observation is that packs of children here that I've observed are, IMO, well behaved and polite. I have yet to see anything like the adult/child antagonism that you see in the UK. They're obviously doing something right here, while we're obviously not.
makeitsuckless 12y ago
Kids in the Netherlands have a range of many miles thanks to bicycles. Growing up in the Hague, we didn't only roam the entire width and breadth of the city, but we went for long cycling trips through the dunes and countryside to Wassenaar or Hoek van Holland, about 10 to 15 kilometers out of town. And I wasn't even an adventurous kid, being a nerdy bookworm most of the time.

david-given 12y ago

I'm British, but I live in Zürich; it's awesome to see random packs of kids roaming around doing stuff on their own. I think there's two main things which make this possible: firstly, the amazing public transport system, which means that it's basically impossible to get stuck everywhere; also the culture that adults are not scary, which means that they feel comfortable talking to adults (and vice versa). Admittedly, they mostly talk in thickly accented Schweizerdeutsch, which I don't understand a word of, but they're still talking. In the UK it's dangerous for an adult even to make eye contact with a child. Another interesting observation is that packs of children here that I've observed are, IMO, well behaved and polite. I have yet to see anything like the adult/child antagonism that you see in the UK. They're obviously doing something right here, while we're obviously not.

makeitsuckless 12y ago

Kids in the Netherlands have a range of many miles thanks to bicycles. Growing up in the Hague, we didn't only roam the entire width and breadth of the city, but we went for long cycling trips through the dunes and countryside to Wassenaar or Hoek van Holland, about 10 to 15 kilometers out of town. And I wasn't even an adventurous kid, being a nerdy bookworm most of the time.