tzijlstra Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Click (safe link, no worries) I am always amazed how I never see kids on their own anymore. I was always outside in the eighties. As a six year old I used to walk to my friends' house after school with him and then walk home on my own for dinner, altogether about a kilometer and a half. The tweet I lifted this from talks about child obesity, but I think it is symptomatic of so much more, what about the fear-society we seem to be living in? What does it say about our media and the way it is impacting on our society? What world are we letting our kids grow up in? one that is similar to child prison, where the only window on the world is what they hear on the telly and read on the internet? We blame modern technology for so much, but shouldn't parents blame themselves for actually giving in to these statistically completely irrelevant fears of child-snatchers and traffic deaths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winner99 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 As a child I used to walk a 80 mile round trip in 45 minutes on a Saturday morning to buy my nan some bread and dripping from the local shop and that was an easy day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I agree, to some extent. There is no more child abuse by strangers than there ever was; we are just more aware/ neurotic about it. The only thing which would stop me allowing my kids the freedom I had to wander round unsupervised is the amount of traffic on the roads now and the speed some people go at. But it's not just the freedom to play out which kids are being deprived of. My husband teaches Chemistry and he has to reassure new Year 7s (11 year olds) that it's OK to strike matches (to light a Bunsen). Most of them have never been allowed to, and some refuse, saying it's too dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bludragonfly Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 As an 11 year old (mid 70's) I used to walk 1.5 miles into Rotherham to catch a bus to Sheffield, walked through the hole in the road to catch a bus on Snig Hill to go to King Edward Vll Hospital on Rivelin Valley to visit my Grandma and then leave visiting at 8pm to do the return journey. All this in the dark as she was in hospital for about 6 weeks in Nov/Dec I didn't have a problem with it. My parents didn't have a problem with it. Not one person that knew about this journey thought it was wrong; in fact people thought I was 'a good girl' to go visiting like this Would I let a 11 year old boy or girl do this now? No I would not! Would you? (ignore the fact the 'hole in the road' and the hospital are no longer there) The world is a very different place now. I know there will be someone who will report on crime stats from then and now and even if the actual rate of crime is similar what we have now is the perception of crime AND different types of crime ie the number of crime incidents per 1,000 people might be similar (or not) but the type of crime eg knife crime distorts this figure. This makes me more wary and as a result more protective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The only thing which would stop me allowing my kids the freedom I had to wander round unsupervised is the amount of traffic on the roads now and the speed some people go at. Yep, the street I grew up on is way busier now than in the early 70s. Back then the road was quieter during the day than it is now at 2 or 3 in the morning today. Lots more cars, lots more home deliveries by couriers, home grocery shopping etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoGo_dancer Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 From the age of 14 I was allowed to catch a coach from Sheffield to South Wales twice a year to visit my Dad in the school holidays. My mum put me on and made sure the driver knew I was on my own, then we'd change at Birmingham, I'd ring both sets of parents on the payphone and the driver would tell me where to wait for the next coach, then my Dad would collect me at the other end. It gave me a great sense of independance and at age 17 I even went to Ibiza on my own, met up with some friends and got back in one piece. There are some first year students on the tram every morning who I wouldn't trust to walk to the corner shop unsupervised! There is a serious lack of common sense and self-awareness these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzijlstra Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Would I let a 11 year old boy or girl do this now? No I would not! Would you? The world is a very different place now. I know there will be someone who will report on crime stats from then and now and even if the actual rate of crime is similar what we have now is the perception of crime AND different types of crime ie the number of crime incidents per 1,000 people might be similar (or not) but the type of crime eg knife crime distorts this figure. This makes me more wary and as a result more protective I don't know if I would let them travel to the other side of Sheffield or not, I don't have kids, but I'd happily let my eleven year old go into Hillsborough on their own, go to the park to play or shop with their pocket money or whatever and they sure as hell could make their own way to all the clubs and things they'd want to be on. I really don't care about the crime-statistics, they are statistics. If all kids in this city were allowed to walk around freely car-drivers would be a hell of a lot more careful in side-roads, the chance of driving into a kid these days is practically nil, great statistic, but if it means that kids have to live in solitary confinement than it all of a sudden isn't all that clever any more. The society we live in has become so risk-averse it is disgusting. And I am part of it, I tell my wife to be careful when she goes to town with the tram, or when she walks down to the shop. It sickens me. ---------- Post added 06-01-2014 at 21:53 ---------- From the age of 14 I was allowed to catch a coach from Sheffield to South Wales twice a year to visit my Dad in the school holidays. My mum put me on and made sure the driver knew I was on my own, then we'd change at Birmingham, I'd ring both sets of parents on the payphone and the driver would tell me where to wait for the next coach, then my Dad would collect me at the other end. It gave me a great sense of independance and at age 17 I even went to Ibiza on my own, met up with some friends and got back in one piece. There are some first year students on the tram every morning who I wouldn't trust to walk to the corner shop unsupervised! There is a serious lack of common sense and self-awareness these days. I had my first holiday with a mate when I was twelve, we cycled 15 kilometres down the coast on our home-made custom-bikes (to test them of course) pitched a tent and had a great time, never knew a mate of my father was three stands down in a caravan keeping a good eye on us, nor that my friend's mum was cycling behind us, we never noticed her. At 16 me and friends went camping at every opportunity we had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I was walking to school on my own at 9 and playing down the park at a similar age. For my 10th birthday I was bought a Swiss army type knife by my uncle. If I had bought one for my nephews 10th my sister would have been non-plussed and generally she's quite sensible. Bus into town at 11 or 12 (not Sheffield though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceBB Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 At age 13 in the 70s, my parents allowed me to travel unaccompanied all the way from Leeds to Marseille on the train and ferry, to stay with my French penfriend for the summer. I had to cross London (somewhere I'd only been once before) via the Underground, find the right train and repeat the process in Paris before boarding the train to Marseille. To my dismay the Gare du Nord was full of building works and diversions for pedestrians and I missed my connection, along with an American couple in their 50s who couldn't speak any French. Fortunately I could, so I found out for us when the next train left for the south (it was 8 hours later!), sent a telegram to my host family (who had no telephone!) and spent the day sightseeing with the Americans and translating for them. In return for this they bought me meals and entrance to the Eiffel Tower, etc. They could have been raving paedophiles, but they weren't. I got down to Marseille safely and on my return to Yorkshire I told my mum all about it. When she heard about me missing the train, all she said was, 'That was a bit daft of you, but at least you got to see Paris, you lucky thing'. My kids can't believe I was allowed to make this journey alone at that age and if I am honest I would have been very apprehensive about allowing them to do the same - had they ever wanted to at that age, which they didn't. They've all turned out pretty adventurous now though (they're in their early 20s aand have travelled extensively, often alone). But it never occurred to me (or my parents) that it was an odd thing for me to want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 As an 11 year old (mid 70's) I used to walk 1.5 miles into Rotherham to catch a bus to Sheffield, walked through the hole in the road to catch a bus on Snig Hill to go to King Edward Vll Hospital on Rivelin Valley to visit my Grandma and then leave visiting at 8pm to do the return journey. All this in the dark as she was in hospital for about 6 weeks in Nov/Dec I didn't have a problem with it. My parents didn't have a problem with it. Not one person that knew about this journey thought it was wrong; in fact people thought I was 'a good girl' to go visiting like this Would I let a 11 year old boy or girl do this now? No I would not! Would you? (ignore the fact the 'hole in the road' and the hospital are no longer there) The world is a very different place now. I know there will be someone who will report on crime stats from then and now and even if the actual rate of crime is similar what we have now is the perception of crime AND different types of crime ie the number of crime incidents per 1,000 people might be similar (or not) but the type of crime eg knife crime distorts this figure. This makes me more wary and as a result more protective I've just signed a Nights away passport for some of my Scouts. Aged 11 and 12, six of them camping on their own about six miles away. They have to get a train and bus there, pitch their own tents, cook their food and whatnot. My biggest worry is someone objecting to the knives they will be using to skin the rabbits for dinner... most children these days are a good deal more sensible than people think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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