My initial reaction was the same as Lola's when we talked about this: this is silly East Coast nonsense. As Lola said, "Here in Real America, we let the kids walk around outside." But the article includes quotes from people in Tucson and Vancouver, who were socially ostracized or had the police called for allowing their children to walk as far as six houses away unescorted. And THIS, from below the Mason-Dixon line!
In Columbus, Miss., Lori Pierce would like her daughters, 6 and 8, to walk the mile to school by the end of the year. “They want to walk,” she said. “They have scooters.” But she and the girls face obstacles. Mrs. Pierce must teach them the rules of a busy street, have officials install some sidewalks and urge the school to hire a crossing guard.
And Mrs. Pierce faces another obstacle to becoming a free-range mother: public opinion.
Last spring, her son, 10, announced he wanted to walk to soccer practice rather than be driven, a distance of about a mile. Several people who saw the boy walking alone called 911. A police officer stopped him, drove him the rest of the way and then reprimanded Mrs. Pierce. According to local news reports, the officer told Mrs. Pierce that if anything untoward had happened to the boy, she could have been charged with child endangerment. Many felt the officer acted appropriately and that Mrs. Pierce had put her child at risk.
What is wrong with these people? For heaven's sake, let your children play outdoors once in a while without an adult hovering overhead. They can roam around a safely delineated portion of the neighborhood with their buddies and have great adventures. And they can safely get themselves to and from nearby churches, stores, schools, etc., as long as someone knows when they are leaving and should be arriving.
I find this hysteria so ridiculous. Am I the one who is totally out of step with cultural mores these days? Are y'all going to report me to CPS someday when I let my eight-year-old* walk down the hill to Lakeside for swim team practice, or let my ten-year-old* ride his bike to Borders or Graeter's (no major streets to cross!), or let my twelve-year-old* take the TARC somewhere?
* Hypothetical children, that is. Maybe they are easier to risk than live ones?
Actually, I heard today that we not only need to let the children play outside, we need to let them go without sunscreen for a minute because they lack Vitamin D. Scandalous.--Dibbs
ReplyDeleteI say everything within reason...if the mile radius around your house is a tree-lined street with an ice cream parlor at the end of it, I don't see a problem. Also, you have to base it on your child and whether or not he/she is mature enough to handle it. Parents should use their judgment based on their neighborhood and their children...why does the police force need to be involved? Ridiculous.
ReplyDeletexo,
Twinkle