The more things change, the more they stay the same.

(07-24-2015 03:08 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  It is just common sense to now keep a closer eye on our children. It is not the 60s and 70s anymore. I do however think that allowing kids freedom within boundaries is fine. One of the problems we now have in America is the lack of neighborhoods and neighbors. Now people barely know their next door neighbor. It is sad.

Have they really changed that much? Sure, neighbors aren't al that familiar with each other today compared to then but just because you think you know someone doesn't mean you do really know them. There were just as many pedos back then. They are your neighbors and friends it is just that with 24 hour news, these things get reported more often.

(07-25-2015 07:52 AM)geosnooker2000 Wrote:  I guess I'm not saying that you shouldn't know WHERE your kids are, you should just let them be out of your "line of sight" every once in a while to let them feel responsibility.

Agreed

(07-24-2015 10:50 PM)geosnooker2000 Wrote:  

(07-24-2015 10:04 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I was out every day from sun up to sun down. I refuse however to let my kids roam without me knowing where they are at all times. If something ever happened to them, I'd never forgive myself.

That's not a "life".

To each their own...

(07-25-2015 02:28 PM)RobertN Wrote:  

(07-24-2015 03:08 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  It is just common sense to now keep a closer eye on our children. It is not the 60s and 70s anymore. I do however think that allowing kids freedom within boundaries is fine. One of the problems we now have in America is the lack of neighborhoods and neighbors. Now people barely know their next door neighbor. It is sad.

Have they really changed that much? Sure, neighbors aren't al that familiar with each other today compared to then but just because you think you know someone doesn't mean you do really know them. There were just as many pedos back then. They are your neighbors and friends it is just that with 24 hour news, these things get reported more often.

I'd link it if I could find it, but I remember a few years ago an opinion piece some local guy wrote. It started out as a lament over the death of trick-or-treating. When he asked parents why the didn't take their kids, the answer was pretty much the same: too many weirdos out there.

So, dude starts drawing massive amounts of data from across the country over the last 50 years. Turns out kids don't disappear at a greater rate than they did 50 years ago. In fact, it's less. A LOT less.

He cited the same reason you did. 50 years ago, if a kid disappeared 5 miles away, you might not have heard about it. Now, with the 24-hour news cycle and social media, you hear about every damn kid in country.

(07-26-2015 07:08 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 02:28 PM)RobertN Wrote:  

(07-24-2015 03:08 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  It is just common sense to now keep a closer eye on our children. It is not the 60s and 70s anymore. I do however think that allowing kids freedom within boundaries is fine. One of the problems we now have in America is the lack of neighborhoods and neighbors. Now people barely know their next door neighbor. It is sad.

Have they really changed that much? Sure, neighbors aren't al that familiar with each other today compared to then but just because you think you know someone doesn't mean you do really know them. There were just as many pedos back then. They are your neighbors and friends it is just that with 24 hour news, these things get reported more often.

I'd link it if I could find it, but I remember a few years ago an opinion piece some local guy wrote. It started out as a lament over the death of trick-or-treating. When he asked parents why the didn't take their kids, the answer was pretty much the same: too many weirdos out there.

So, dude starts drawing massive amounts of data from across the country over the last 50 years. Turns out kids don't disappear at a greater rate than they did 50 years ago. In fact, it's less. A LOT less.

He cited the same reason you did. 50 years ago, if a kid disappeared 5 miles away, you might not have heard about it. Now, with the 24-hour news cycle and social media, you hear about every damn kid in country.

Maybe it's less because people started watching their kids better.

There's a happy medium in here somewhere, between "not let them out of my sight" and "throw them out the front door after breakfast and not see them again until dinner."

I've tried to raise my kids to be situationally aware while not being afraid of their own shadows.

(07-26-2015 07:08 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(07-25-2015 02:28 PM)RobertN Wrote:  

(07-24-2015 03:08 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  It is just common sense to now keep a closer eye on our children. It is not the 60s and 70s anymore. I do however think that allowing kids freedom within boundaries is fine. One of the problems we now have in America is the lack of neighborhoods and neighbors. Now people barely know their next door neighbor. It is sad.

Have they really changed that much? Sure, neighbors aren't al that familiar with each other today compared to then but just because you think you know someone doesn't mean you do really know them. There were just as many pedos back then. They are your neighbors and friends it is just that with 24 hour news, these things get reported more often.

I'd link it if I could find it, but I remember a few years ago an opinion piece some local guy wrote. It started out as a lament over the death of trick-or-treating. When he asked parents why the didn't take their kids, the answer was pretty much the same: too many weirdos out there.

So, dude starts drawing massive amounts of data from across the country over the last 50 years. Turns out kids don't disappear at a greater rate than they did 50 years ago. In fact, it's less. A LOT less.

He cited the same reason you did. 50 years ago, if a kid disappeared 5 miles away, you might not have heard about it. Now, with the 24-hour news cycle and social media, you hear about every damn kid in country.

Of course this is the case. Violent crime has been going down for decades, but being human, we don't realize that because due to the media cycle and ubiquitous nature of national news, we hear about it more than ever. Same with pedophiles and child abductions, there is absolutely no rational reason to believe it is more dangerous out there now for kids than it was before every convicted sex offender had to report where they were living and priests were being shuffled around like a deck of cards.

(07-26-2015 01:19 PM)Smaug Wrote:  There's a happy medium in here somewhere, between "not let them out of my sight" and "throw them out the front door after breakfast and not see them again until dinner."

I've tried to raise my kids to be situationally aware while not being afraid of their own shadows.

Yep.

Teach em to swim and ride a bike and kick the miscreants out the door. We're all better off for it.

Maybe child abductions are down because there are no children out anymore.