Comments on: Free Range Kids http://www.hergestridge.com/free-range-kids-520 kill all my demons and my angels might die too Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:46:58 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Arthur Brash http://www.hergestridge.com/free-range-kids-520/comment-page-1#comment-375 Arthur Brash Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:39:08 +0000 http://www.hergestridge.com/?p=520#comment-375 Of course, I don't advocate that each parent send their child on a wild trek without supervision. Well, yes, I probably do, as long as we don't agree on timing the event using something arbitrary like chronological age. I think there is more danger to a child playing outside as a result of all other kids being inside, than technology. (It's a numbers thing.) I imagine "can you help me find my puppy" still trumps anything technology can accomplish. And if not, then chances we are dealing with an individual so dedicated to abducting a specific child, the pope's prayer won't do any good. (Bad example, but I am feeling generous today.) In the end I am already guilty for much of the negative attitude in the air, and therefore partially to blame: Seeing 10 preteens on bikes "loitering" at the park at dusk gives me a cold chill, if my path leads before their noses. I could be justified in some respects, but the negative attitude is likely of my own devising and unfair. I also think that "the good old days" has more to do with nostalgia and past ignorance than a shift in hard, criminal statistics... but here I admit a heavy load of speculation and unsubstantiated opinions. :) Of course, I don’t advocate that each parent send their child on a wild trek without supervision. Well, yes, I probably do, as long as we don’t agree on timing the event using something arbitrary like chronological age.

I think there is more danger to a child playing outside as a result of all other kids being inside, than technology. (It’s a numbers thing.) I imagine “can you help me find my puppy” still trumps anything technology can accomplish. And if not, then chances we are dealing with an individual so dedicated to abducting a specific child, the pope’s prayer won’t do any good. (Bad example, but I am feeling generous today.)

In the end I am already guilty for much of the negative attitude in the air, and therefore partially to blame: Seeing 10 preteens on bikes “loitering” at the park at dusk gives me a cold chill, if my path leads before their noses. I could be justified in some respects, but the negative attitude is likely of my own devising and unfair.

I also think that “the good old days” has more to do with nostalgia and past ignorance than a shift in hard, criminal statistics… but here I admit a heavy load of speculation and unsubstantiated opinions. :)

]]> By: larissa http://www.hergestridge.com/free-range-kids-520/comment-page-1#comment-374 larissa Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:29:04 +0000 http://www.hergestridge.com/?p=520#comment-374 True, independence and self-sufficiency are necessary skills for any human being; but we all arrive there by different routes. (And some people's trains never do quite make it into the station, if you know what I mean...) And though the end result may be similar, the process by which we get to that end result can make all the difference in the world. Parallels between you and Izzy are but situational; Izzy's push to independence was guided and loosely "monitored" (for want of a better word) by his mother, whilst yours was foisted upon you by circumstance, as it were. Giving a child the freedom to play, to explore, to discover on his or her own - to call that child abuse is hogwash. But some of the fears of today's parents are understandable. Nostalgia allows us to hark back to "the good old days" when kids ran about freely all day long and into the night. Dangers existed then, too, of course, but with the times have come advancements in technology and an explosion in the population which have made preying on children much easier and more accessible to the average nut case. Even though it's unwise developmentally and emotionally, part of me can't blame parents for wanting to keep their kids on a leash (metaphorically speaking). [As an aside, I'm totally against those stupid harnesses so many tots are forced into. Your dog at the end of one leash, your child at the end of another? Now that should be called child abuse... But I digress.] In your case, I'm (obviously) glad it all worked out: that you arrived at your destination, and that the experience emboldened you and left you with a positive feeling, rather than leaving a bad taste in the mouth. But at the same time, I think the impetus that pushed you and your sister out your front door is an unfortunate one, a sad situation that no child should have to go through. True, independence and self-sufficiency are necessary skills for any human being; but we all arrive there by different routes. (And some people’s trains never do quite make it into the station, if you know what I mean…) And though the end result may be similar, the process by which we get to that end result can make all the difference in the world. Parallels between you and Izzy are but situational; Izzy’s push to independence was guided and loosely “monitored” (for want of a better word) by his mother, whilst yours was foisted upon you by circumstance, as it were.

Giving a child the freedom to play, to explore, to discover on his or her own – to call that child abuse is hogwash. But some of the fears of today’s parents are understandable. Nostalgia allows us to hark back to “the good old days” when kids ran about freely all day long and into the night. Dangers existed then, too, of course, but with the times have come advancements in technology and an explosion in the population which have made preying on children much easier and more accessible to the average nut case. Even though it’s unwise developmentally and emotionally, part of me can’t blame parents for wanting to keep their kids on a leash (metaphorically speaking). [As an aside, I'm totally against those stupid harnesses so many tots are forced into. Your dog at the end of one leash, your child at the end of another? Now that should be called child abuse... But I digress.]

In your case, I’m (obviously) glad it all worked out: that you arrived at your destination, and that the experience emboldened you and left you with a positive feeling, rather than leaving a bad taste in the mouth. But at the same time, I think the impetus that pushed you and your sister out your front door is an unfortunate one, a sad situation that no child should have to go through.

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