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- Nov 16, 2013
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This helicopter parenting these days seems to be a US phenomenon. Kids are no more in danger of being kidnapped by strangers than they were then. There has always been traffic and crazy drivers, kids learn not to play in the street where that is happening but go to a friend's house who maybe lives in a cul-de-sac or on a quiet street where they can ride their bikes or skates without being in obvious danger. Or stay on the sidewalk. Still, things happen and parents did not immediately run to a lawyer to see whom they could sue for damages.
I remember my sister in 1971 being afraid that her sons (pre-schoolers) would be stolen because they were so good-looking (actually no more than any other child). I let mine run around as far as my voice or whistle would carry and they had to be in when the street lights came on. They fell out of trees, scraped their knees, got splinters, fought and made up with their friends, tore their clothes and got them dirty, caught frogs, bugs and crickets in a ditch, went to the park at the end of the street and as of first grade went to school by themselves or with a horde of other kids, went to the store by themselves to pick up a few items mom forgot. But you're right, now somebody would call CPS saying your child is unsupervised (how else will they learn to be self-reliant?) and that you are not a good parent and the people at CPS have no good sense either. This is even worse in well-to-do neighborhoods where children have "play dates" instead of knocking on a friend's door and ask if the friend can come out to play and if not then go the next friend's house or apartment. Everything is supervised and organized, the children are stifled from exploring anything on their own. Nothing good is going to come from that. It's turning into a real "nanny state" with somebody constantly hovering over children, teens and even adults who do not know, because they have not learned, on how to deal with the grown-up world. This is really sad.
I remember my sister in 1971 being afraid that her sons (pre-schoolers) would be stolen because they were so good-looking (actually no more than any other child). I let mine run around as far as my voice or whistle would carry and they had to be in when the street lights came on. They fell out of trees, scraped their knees, got splinters, fought and made up with their friends, tore their clothes and got them dirty, caught frogs, bugs and crickets in a ditch, went to the park at the end of the street and as of first grade went to school by themselves or with a horde of other kids, went to the store by themselves to pick up a few items mom forgot. But you're right, now somebody would call CPS saying your child is unsupervised (how else will they learn to be self-reliant?) and that you are not a good parent and the people at CPS have no good sense either. This is even worse in well-to-do neighborhoods where children have "play dates" instead of knocking on a friend's door and ask if the friend can come out to play and if not then go the next friend's house or apartment. Everything is supervised and organized, the children are stifled from exploring anything on their own. Nothing good is going to come from that. It's turning into a real "nanny state" with somebody constantly hovering over children, teens and even adults who do not know, because they have not learned, on how to deal with the grown-up world. This is really sad.