I wouldn’t have a problem with groups of kids walking together to school. I walked along for at least 700m, about 8 or nine blocks, from my home to Jean Vanier school when I was young, but I think it’s too dangerous for kids to walk in the city these days.
Crime rates in Chicago versus Switzerland? Maybe fewer of “them” - the ones Boo-Boo keeps asking about - in Switzerland?
“my daughter” mentioned 5 times but no mention of any other children, or husband. Modern, and not good as a norm.
We walked to school. From Kindergarten.
It seemed stupid to drive my kids to school, but we did it. Like everyone.
The back road through the woods we used to walk home from school some sunny days?
Now it’s four lanes through a half-dozen huge condo developments with traffic lights every quarter mile.
It’s the same in Japan...there’s a point where they almost force the kids to go to the store on their own and get something. A lot of times they have someone trail them just to be safe, but the idea is sorta like forcing the baby bird out of the nest to make them more independent. Helicopter parenting has weakened us in my opinion.
Ask her what she thinks about Trump, then explain that the inability of kids to SAFELY walk to school is the alternative.
Slightly off-topic, “parent” was a noun for HUNDREDS of years.
The verb form of “parent”—in particular, its gerund “parenting”—was first employed in the United States in the late 1950s according to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. However, Fitzhugh Dodson’s 1970 book, “How to Parent,” is credited with introducing the verb to a wide audience.
Anyone who uses the word “parenting” or “parent” as a verb should be tarred and feathered.
Hard to believe this is true.
Someone in her suburban neighborhood would have called Social Services.
On their first visit, Social Services would strongly imply that this lack of supervision is criminal child neglect.
I noticed this change in American culture over the last 40 years. It is not good. It is partly driven by the media which parents consume, constantly keeping them in fear over extremely rare events and risks.
In Brooklyn I walked about 5 blocks to school starting from kindergarten when I was 5. Everyone did. My friends and I would go out and play in the morning and not come home until dark. Our parents had no idea where we were. We rode our bikes miles from home. It was normal in the late 50s early 60s. My mother told me that women would go to department stores and leave there infants in strollers outside unattended. It’s different world. My kids barely let their kids out of their sight.
But when it comes to parenting culture, I still struggle to accept the lack of freedom we give our children, perhaps because it’s the very thing we say our country stands for.
Just so.
I know we boomers all walked to school or rode the bus independently or whatever. Now we keep our kids from experiencing that independence and the responsibility it builds.
I do acknowledge that places like Chicago are not the same as in the 60’s-80’s but still...we coddle children until they become the selfish whiney and obnoxious little demons we abhor.
“children as young as five walk or bike to school alone. If there is ice on the streets, they fall and get up again.”
You mean, like we did?
Of course, those were better days, and safer. Pervs hadn’t inundated civilization.
I see a yes and a no to this article. The no part is this is Chicago. I’d never live there in the first place.
The yes part is I agree with kids learning independence and doing more on their own. They are valuable learning experiences that can be carried into adulthood making them more apt to be successful in employment or in their own business. That rugged individualism is what made America so successful before the left reversed it all.
As a 7 and 8 year old boy I walked about 5 blocks to school everyday, except during the cold winter.
Over the years I have witnessed the pussification of America. It has really gotten bad.
The quarter famous person, “life is tough. Wear a helmet.”
Switzerland is distinctly less “diverse” than much of Western Europe. Therefore its a lot safer to let your 7 year old walk a few blocks on their own. I wouldn’t be willing to risk it in Chicago - even in a nice neighborhood.
Apparently she won’t drive the child to school because of the environment and pollution
I started walking alone a half a mile to kindergarten when I was five and continued to do so throughout my grade school yers. However, this was when my state of California had two Republican US Senators and a Republican governor, and both Los Angeles and San Francisco had Republican mayors. Different galaxy.
When we were growing up, during summer our parents would tell us, “Get out of the house and be back for dinner.”