I read an article about a woman who let her nine year old son navigate the
The article goes onto telling how after she was on all kinds of talk shows and radio programs, people inundated her with letters about how they don’t allow their kids to play in their own driveway, or walk to their friends house without calling home with news that they arrived there safely. Her answer to this was and I quote “Playing has morphed into an act of daring, like shark hunting in a hamburger suit.”
Ok, I agree that kids need to be able to play outside, but how is allowing a nine year old unattended on the subway an act of play?
Programs like Oprah shows about human trafficking, and the many amber alerts over the internet has made me into a paranoid parent. I have no plans of taking a cruise because someone may take my daughter off the boat and force her to be a sex slave (Thanks Oprah!)! I do let my daughter go to her friend’s house but usually we drive because they don’t live within walking distance. I have allowed my daughter to walk alone to school for the last three years because it is down the street. No other kids do you see walking to school or playing in our neighborhood.
Here are the stats listed in the article: “Crime against children is down to levels that we haven’t seen since the ‘70s” - Is that maybe because the kids are less accessible? “The typical child abuse case involves an acquaintance of the child” - Again is that maybe because the kids are less accessible except for perverts who know people with kids?
What “play” do you allow your kids to participate in alone? And what do you find to be a bit over the top?
2 comments:
You know Katie, I read the same article and then I also went to the woman's website. At first I thought she was a nutjob, but the more I read the more I realized that yes, the world is a scary place but I think it's mostly because we make it so.
I think it really all depends on your child. The number of their age isn't really what matters, it's their maturity level and can they handle themselves in the situation you are going to put them in, or let them get themselves into? My 9 year old... we don't live where the subway is. But if we end up getting the house we're currently hoping for (HA!) I feel completely comfortable with him riding his bike down to Walgreens with his friends to buy a snack or a soda. My almost 8 year old? Not so much. It also depends on where you are, where the kid is going and what they want to do and with whom.
Ultimately we each have to do what we feel is right for our families and trust that others are doing the same, because what's right for me and my kids isn't right for somebody else and theirs, and vice versa.
Do I sound like a total crackpot now? ;)
No, you don't sound like a crackpot! LOL You sound like a parent that knows her kids and what boundaries each one should have. The mother in the article doesn't sound like a crackpot either, because she knows what her kid can handle. Mine, well, she is a diva. She would cry if I made her find her own way home even at 15! There aren't even buses in our small town. Knowing her, she'd call a friend who has a car!
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