What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
196 Comments
- SaxxonPike, on 10/11/2007, -3/+173You've got to owe it to the media, which is making people paranoid. Emphasis on kidnappings, etc...
- xerus, on 10/11/2007, -17/+166Yeah man, the other day I caught some guys knocking and running at my door. Instead of being 8-year-olds, they turned out to be Dr. Phil. What the hell?
- FyreGoddess, on 10/11/2007, -1/+127This is so true. I was talking to my 13 y/o son the other day about the places I would explore on foot when I was his age and I realized that he has a lot less independent mobility than I did. It spurred me to start trying to remedy that and give him, not just more freedom to roam, but encouragement as well.
- EochaidRiata, on 10/11/2007, -1/+115Murder rate lowest since 1965.
Violent crime rate lowest since 1969.
Rape rate lowest since 1978.
Robbery rate lowest since 1968.
People should be letting their kids run free since crime is the lowest in over a generation, certainly much safer than when any current parents of adolescents were growing up. The only thing that has changed is the 24/7 news channels that have to find a new child rape to cover every day.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm - CanceledCzech, on 10/11/2007, -3/+116Yep. I recently misplaced my cellphone, and therefore I am prohibited from going anywhere past a half-mile radius of my house, more or less. Oh, my age? 17...
- poornbroken, on 10/11/2007, -4/+82the human condition has not changed for centuries; what has changed is media coverage.
- rhabd0mancer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+74In my neighborhood, the terrified soccer moms actually drive their precious children from the garage to the curb, where they sit idling in their SUVs while waiting for the bus.
When did America turn into a nation of p***ies? - Jambi, on 10/11/2007, -2/+64Trust me when I say that as nice as the Internet can be, it's a poor substitute for real experience.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+64When I was a kid, I used to take my bike and ride into the next town. That ***** was hardcore, because it took at least 4 hours to get back. A couple of times I got home at 11:00 at night. I had way more freedom than these "constantly supervised" kids have these days.
- aikahanyou, on 10/11/2007, -2/+62The only reason I enjoy the freedoms I do as a teenager was because my mother felt it was hypocritical to deny me the same freedom that she had as a kid. So, I'm the only teenager I knew that's allowed to take the subway downtown (anywhere from a half hour to an hour trip) all alone, and I had the freedom to go as far as my bus pass would take me (which was hours away from where I lived) because my mother had done the same thing when she was my age.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+63Face it you are raising inmates in a sick prison society.
The risks of abduction have been drilled into your brains for decades by the so called free press.
Better to die free and human than some sick state approved and constructed automatons...... - veggiemoore, on 10/11/2007, -1/+56I was just noticing this. I'm 17, and I remember being able to ride my bike or walk for kilometers around my house, from dawn to dusk.
But just the other day, my aunt, who lives in this huge 100% secure nouveau riche suburban hell in Charlotte, was saying "You know, I don't even let my 8 year old off the lawn. It's just not safe these days!"
My generation's getting pretty ***** up. - Sell, on 10/11/2007, -0/+54When I was a young boy my bicycle and me were travelin' fools. I moved around a lot and the first thing I would do in a new town is ride my bike around until I got reasonably lost, but not too much, and would love to find my way home. That's how kids find all the shortcuts in their neighborhood. And exploring in the woods and following creeks and streams.....good times.
My encourage my son to go outside and explore all the time, short of telling him to go get lost :) - xerus, on 10/11/2007, -4/+52What do you mean "funny?" Like a clown "funny?"
- PhantomBantam, on 10/11/2007, -2/+43Meanwhile, we're told that generations just keep getting crazier. Is it creating a positive feedback loop? Less freedoms means more acting out when 18 (followed by reform in late 20s) means more evidence of people getting crazier, which means less freedoms for the next generation. Just a hypothesis.
- ZWarren69, on 10/11/2007, -2/+37Eoch you said it best, media spins things to make a state of fear.
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Zeitgeist_The_Movie - Buddhaismybuddy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+31When i was a kid i lived on a mountain and was able to roam through the woods all day long.
now i live in the city and there is nowhere to roam...
I feel sorry for any kid that has to grow up in a city.
- ApeInago, on 10/11/2007, -0/+29cuz they rape you! EVERY ONE OF THEM
- chaoswings, on 10/11/2007, -1/+29"the human condition has not changed for centuries; what has changed is media coverage."
-poornbroken
I agree entirely, the truth of the matter is that for the most part people are good natured. If they weren't there would be anarchy..there wouldn't be enough cops to stop us all.
The media has us believing that if an old man walking down the street asks for directions. Then apparently it means he's evil and trying to abduct you...when this is clearly not the case. - dmegivern, on 10/11/2007, -6/+34It's true. We won't let our 7-yr old outside without parental supervision. I got to run around outside at a much younger age, and I think it was good for me. However, there was a "funny" old man up the street from us who tried to approach me when I was 5, so there were risks then, too.
On the positive side, our son has a lot of parental attention. - CanceledCzech, on 10/11/2007, -1/+27There is nothing I hate more on this planet that the news media.
- manova, on 10/11/2007, -1/+27The media may have caused it, but it is the other parents that reinforce it. You don't want to be that parent that all of the others talk about because you don't "care" what happens to your kid. It starts from birth when other parents start judging other parents. You have to breast feed, you have to buy an SUV, you have to keep a constant eye on the kids, you have to take them to 100 activities, etc. If you don't do this stuff, you're a bad parent, and god forbid, if something did happen to your kid, then others (other parents, child services, courts, 24/7 news, etc) will tell how you didn't do these things, therefore you were a bad parent, and it was your fault your kid got hurt. Watch how quickly any editorial news show jumps to the parents anytime something happens to a kid and you will see what I mean.
- poornbroken, on 10/11/2007, -0/+26i grew up in a city. it was fun as heck! there was alot of socializing, and with a little research, you can learn the public transportation. there were the back alleys, and the people... so much to experience and see!
- norman619, on 10/11/2007, -1/+26Yeah today parents have had the ***** scared out of them by the media. I grew up in the 80's in southern california when drive by shootings and other forms of gang violence were common. My parents let me and my brother roam and nothing happened. I never got shot or kidnaped. Yeah me my younger bro, and buds did all kinds of fun and looking back now pretty stupid things but they were part of growing up. Rights of passage. It's sad that these things are denied to the current crop of kids all because of a false sense of increased danger in our society. The media needs it to be dangerous to boost raitings. If it's not dangerous they will make it look like it is.
- Perkange, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24I grew up in the 70's just outside a small southern town. At 8, I was riding my bike along a two lane road called US Hwy 70 which cuts East/West across the entire nation. We dammed up creeks, walked for miles along railroad tracks, shot fireworks and BB guns (at each other), flew kites with over a mile of string on them, built real motorized go karts with our very own hands!
My kids love hearing those old stories of my adventures. Sadly, that's all they have. Just my stories. None of their own.
Otherwise, my wife and I would be accused of neglect. - regexp, on 10/11/2007, -1/+24"Child-napping pedophiles" haven't increased. Only the perception (fueled by media??) of them have increased. It this complete irrationality that blows my mind.
- marklittle, on 10/11/2007, -1/+23One of the numerous reasons kids do not roam is because of police. Just the other day I saw an officer give a kid a ticket for riding his bike on the sidewalk and not wearing a helmet. I guess the kid would have somehow been safer if he disobeyed his parents and started to ride in the busy 50 miles an hour street? The court system is so law happy that even children are given tickets for simply doing what kids do.
My Grandfather use to tell stories about how he'd go hunting in the woods with his friends when he was a young man. If you did that today, ohh man. The parents would be arrested, the kids would be arrested, and in all the confusion your dog would probably be shot to death.
Not blaming police for the entire problem, but they do not help it. - regexp, on 10/11/2007, -2/+24Personally I don't understand the paranoia around kids today. My nephews are growing up in the same house that I grew up and are allowed to roam as free as I and my brothers did when we were their age. And yet I know people who won't let their kids out of their yards. Hell - my cubemate talks to his kids 3 or 4 times a day about any little issue. What is it? Kidnappings and harassment (offline at last) of children have not increased in the last 30 years so what is the problem with you parents?
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+22I didn't have to be home until the street lights came on.
That was before the 24 hour news cycle. - bdbr, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18I flat out refused to bow to the paranoia. When my daughter was young, she was free to roam around the nearby neighborhoods and play. Of course, we taught her about traffic safety and not talking to strangers, things like that. Unfortunately there were only a few other girls who could come out and play because all the other parents were terrified of such things.
Of course, she survived just fine, just like we all did. - Cyberdactyl, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17If you're over 45 you can probably remember thumbing (hitching a ride) either occasionally, or as I did, constantly as one of your major sources of transportation from about 13 to 17.
Now. . .to see ANYONE thumbing is rare. - silverchrysalis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17not only is it fear of traffic and predators, but fears of what is the status quo. most of the other mothers on my block keep their kids inside or within twenty feet of the house, and tend to be critical of the moms who aren't as stringent.
i don't know if its just the middle class, but there is this mindset that if you don't keep a constant worrying eye on your child that you're a bad mom. then you see the kids being turned out by this, and they're usually whiny scared kids who need mommy around all the time. - GnuTzu, on 10/11/2007, -10/+27Suffer the children...
I'm among those that as a matter of principal refuse to have children.
And then, there are those that tell us that because of our principles we are exactly the kind that should have children.
What a paradox.
This article has given me an idea of how protective a parent I would have been--and what a terrible tyranny that would be.
How sad. - mizzrym, on 10/11/2007, -3/+20So you're saying you are an example of the problem with today's parenting then?
- Mtdewrulz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18It's totally the sensationalist media. If you look at the crime statistics it's actually close to as safe in America now as it was in the 50's and 60's but you'd never know it by watching the news. I plan on allowing my children to make mistakes and learn from them... they will not be sheltered little pussies like 90% of kids these days.
- vwvwvw, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17I know parents that won't leave their kids alone with their soccer coach.
- twinkieee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17Let's face it, we are paranoid these days.
We were MADE paranoid.
We are so afraid our kids will get raped or drunk or high or have sex or make a decision on their fricking own....
Something made us paranoid like this, TV. TV news.
We as a people need to stop listening to the ***** that comes out of the media. TV is a life sucking ***** hole. - digboy99, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16Wait a second. Why isn't it reasonable to argue that the reason crime rates are so low is that society is more careful about getting into risky situations? Less opportunity for problems means less problems, right?
- tbone8978, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17soccer moms and protesters have ruined america
- regexp, on 10/11/2007, -3/+18Is that funny "haha" or funny "ewwww"?
- redfan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15"I can't recall ever hearing about a child being buried alive by some sick inbred."
You didn't have the pleasure of listening to Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, and Glenn Beck doing half-hour specials on the child kidnapper du jour either. - xstarsprinklesx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14It's not just that the world is more dangerous today, but that people are less likely to look out for kids that aren't their own. For one thing, people move around a lot more than they used to so in a lot of neighborhoods, people don't even know their neighbors. For another, people are terrified of lawsuits, etc. and so are less likely to interfere in other people's lives. It's very different from the "old days" when kids would be out wandering the neighborhood and parents would be secure knowing other people were looking after them, or would generally keep them in line.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13Politicians.
- tidu, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13This could easily contribute to obesity. Instead of allowing kids to roam free, they are confined to their back yard, until mommy or daddy wants to go inside and watch TV or catch up on their work on a sunny saturday afternoon.
- AdonisEffect, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12@poornbroken (#7214340)
It's a trade off.
You can connect to the internet and effectively disconnect from your immediate surroundings, but get a sample of whatever you want.
Or you can go outside and experience much less of the world, first hand. - OokieWonderslug, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10When I was a kid had USGS topo map that I marked out all my adventures on. My bounds were the map and I lived near the middle of it. It was not a small area and when I got to be 13 my limits were how far I was willing to go. Hitched a ride on a slow moving train once that sped up. Took me over 3 hours to walk home.
In contrast my kids (now aged 17 and 19 then 10 and 8) were limited by the range on their "family radio" receivers. About 2 miles. Long as I could get in touch with them it was all cool.
But now everything around here is "POSTED". There are fences and signs and people with no sense of decency who make everything out of bounds. There were atv trails everywhere. You could go miles to the nearest towns on them. Now they are all gone. Gone to greed and selfishness. Developers came and ruined the woods with poorly built overpriced shacks. The land that didn't get developed was bought by rich folk who fenced it in and then prosecute those who happen across their newly created artificial boundaries. It's insane. There should be laws that prevent people from destroying established trails and places where people meet in the woods. Kids around here couldn't roam if they wanted to. There's just no place to go anymore.
- calibanman, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Just a few months ago I was told I was a terrible parent for leaving my kids in the car while I went into a store...
The summer I was 8, I used to ride my bike about five miles to the a rougher part of town, where there was a Science Fiction bookstore and a Sears (those from Minneapolis, MN, will know where I'm talking about). I was gone for hours and hours exploring. When my bike got stolen, I walked. In certain ways, it was the best summer of my life. I encourage my son to do the same stuff, once he's prepared himself.
You've got to be street smart, but I would think that with cell phones and even GPS such things are on the whole probably safer. I got lost quite a few times after I'd spent all my money and didn't have change left. - eatsushi, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10I seriously don't get why parents are holding back.. I mean, they have cell phones. If they get in trouble, call them!
- ATHEISTinHELL, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10The difference between your generation and ours is cable news. That is it, oh, and lower crime rate.
- sv650touring, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Same here, except in the 80's. I have pictures of me and my buddy (both elementary school age) with BB guns, machetes, "survival" knives, etc, all decked out in camo to go on another fruitless "hunting" trip in which we wander around a nearby field and eventually give up and just shoot at pinecones, and if we were lucky, dragonflies. My life today seems so boring by comparison.
Can't wait to see how a generation of kids brought up on "time-outs" instead of whippings, and being constantly disinfected and medicated by their over protective parents turns out... *cough* MySpace *cough* -
Show 51 - 100 of 196 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is