dlq04

Scoots, I agree Totally. I am sure there are pockets in this country where "bad things" have gone way up but on the whole I believe it is a safer country. The endless 24 news of what's the latest bad story and is there video to support it has driven fear into the hearts of parents, when its not supported by the facts. And, the knowledge that not just your mom but other moms were nearby at your buddy's house was a nice factor.

boltonblue

I'll ask everyone, what did you do when you got home from school?
for me it was " out it's a nice day why are you in the house? go find something to do or I'll find something for you!!"
we knew what that meant, eventually it would get dark or you'd be called in for dinner by a bell or a whistle.
We'd be out for 3, 4 sometimes 5 hours. By our early teens with bikes... who knew where we were. And OMG without a cell phone to call home.
My wife said they used to hop the train and go into boston.
I can remember walking with my older sister who was 9 when I was 4 to go to the corner market a half mile away.

I don't think it is anymore dangerous today than it was back then.
I think it is just better publicized and we hear about it more now.

cosmomiller

I agree for the most part. The only thing I might add is the lack of bicycle locomotion for many youth today. Everything is set for driving. On the island where I grew up, you were driven by your parents only in in really inclement weather or your project for class required transportation.
On my trips to the Netherlands it is so nice to grab a bike and go ANYWHERE! Many of us keep a bike there permanently. You can bike into the far reaches of your physical limits and know that you can always jump on a train with the bike to get back home. All over cities in Europe, it is the preferred, for me, means of getting around. (We share bikes and post combos. However the rent a bike thing is really doing well.) The big difference between the US is the Dutch have real dedicated bike lanes, not the re-do painted on a car street bike lanes we have. It is what I had as a kid and now it has been supersized in Europe.The only place it does not seem to work well is Italy, especially Rome.

My hometown, Coronado, is still the same, however. Perfect for flip flops, skateboards, bikes or schlepping.

dlq04

Seems many of us had the same experience. Stage 1 - walk and play where ever. Stage 2 - a bike and the freedom to really explore far away places. Stage 3 - a car and total freedom plus room for 2!

cosmomiller

Kinda funny really, in that now we are empty nesters; we blast off and do what we want since we are empty nesters. We return home and get the classic on the phone machine from the KIDS: Where were you guys? We were so worried! It's nine o'clock and you are not answering your phones! Hope you are alive! Call me when you get in! Etc, etc. What a crack up!

dlq04

We have a couple we do a lot with and their one daughter is like that. We laugh about. As soon as she finds out they are going out with us she's on them - don't drink too much, don't stay out too late, etc. Thankfully our own kids know we are old enough to take care of ourselves.

windhund116

Like the saying goes... "insanity is hereditary, you get it from your kids." Even when they've grown up.

freq

Kool story.

engifineer

If I was sitting in the house as a kid and dad walked by, I got the "While you are not doing anything ... why dont you ..." sentence, ending in some work he needed done In other words, go out and play, or I will put you to work. This was rarely an issue, because I viewed sitting in front of a TV as something to do while eating lunch or when I could not go out and do anything else. I was pushed more to leave the house, go out, do something, use my imagination ... get hurt now and then ... and I grew up very close to my parents as a result (amazing how that works huh?).

I also completely agree with a parent being home all day. Can be the man or the woman, but having a parent at home to me is a HUGE part of raising a kid. Unfortunately finances these days do not always support that for many, but you cant have TV and school raise the kids and expect good results. And while correlation does not equal causation, there is certainly a lot of correlation between the lack of a parent being home and the way society has gotten. And if you look at certain parts of our culture in cities, the groups with no dad around at all hands down tend to have a LOT more issues with violence in their youth. A well rounded family is valuable and important and far too many kids do not have it.

Being pushed to go out on your own and make your own mistakes, but knowing you have a mom or dad at home in case something goes off the rails, is good for kids.

engifineer

Go tell kids in school that they are as safe there as we or our parents were. Let me know how that goes

Yes, we are safer from a lot of illnesses (which is put into statistics used to show today is as safe or safer than 50 years ago)
Yes, there was probably as much kidnapping (perverts in a van type of thing) and child abuse 50 years ago, just not as well known.

But kids are WAY more violent, and thus are not protected from the main threat to them, which is their peers, because they are all in school together. The statistics used by some (not directed at you bolton) to show the world is just as safe as before come from our generation trying to avoid the fact that we have messed up the kids to the point they are more violent than any adult. People use those statistics as denial and thus they blame everything but humans and the way we raise kids for the issues. ... school shootings are not heard about every day just because things are more publicized, they are more heard of because they are happening all the time when they were not heard of decades ago.

For us adults, things are pretty much the same as before in some areas ... better in terms of chances of dying from disease ... but I would still argue less safe than before from other humans. Violent home invasion robberies are a great example. How many of those were happening 50 years ago? Now, you could probably find a few instances here and there back then, and since the population was lower, argue that statistically you are just as safe since the per capita occurrence is lower. But that is if you are OK basing how safe you are on random luck. If you confine those violent acts to the areas and neighborhoods they occur in the statistics I think would be much more gloom and doom. For example, you are probably less likely to be struck by lightning than getting a food borne illness... unless you live on the only hill in KS in thunderstorm season and like to stand outside with a metal pole in your hand :P