No Wonder Kids In This Country Are Neurotic Little Fucks

[Minimalist]

They can't do anything, anymore.

http://www.newser.com/story/201340/paren...alone.html

Cops Called After Parents Let Kids Walk Home Alone
Maryland couple says they want kids 10, 6 to learn independence

A climate-science expert and a physicist for the NIH say they're trying to teach their kids how to be independent and self-reliant. So they're baffled why they're being investigated for neglect by Maryland's Child Protective Services for allowing their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter to play at a Silver Spring park, then walk a mile home—alone.

[vorlon13]

I'm a big fan of John Rosemond, despite not having kids of my own.

[rexbeccarox]

Geez. Good thing I didn't grow in Maryland. My parents would have been screwed.

[CapnAwesome]

We live in the safest time in the history of the United States. Why are people so fucking paranoid and sanitized?

[Chad32]

Gone are the days when you can leave kids unsupervised. What if a pedophile came by? 10 should be old enough to be a litle responsible for yourself, but supervising a 6 year old may or may not be a little much. Kind of depends on the 10 year old, perhaps.

I rode my bike to school by myself when I was young, and that was a good mile or two.

[Minimalist]

You reminded me of this.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED
The 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

I can't believe I made it all the way to 65.

---

What if a pedophile came by?

There is a real shortage of priests now. They can't be everywhere.

[CapnAwesome]

Gone are the days when you can leave kids unsupervised. What if a pedophile came by? 10 should be old enough to be a litle responsible for yourself, but supervising a 6 year old may or may not be a little much. Kind of depends on the 10 year old, perhaps.

What do you mean gone are the days? We have the lowest murder rate in the history of the United States and in lots of other areas we are living in a safe time period.

[Roxy904]

Hey, as a professional 13-year-old, can I please mention that we aren't all idiots, overweight, friendless, etc.* Some of us are actually ok.

*Disclaimer: I am aware that no one called every single child idiots, overweight, friendless, etc. I am merely pointing something out.

[IATIA]

Geez. Good thing I didn't grow in Maryland. My parents would have been screwed.

As kids, we might be 5-10 miles from the house at night. And for those of you ready to respond, I was raised in Ohio and night fell real fucking early during the winter. As a 12 year old, I had a paper route. 3:00 in the morning by myself.

[Losty]

We live in the safest time in the history of the United States. Why are people so fucking paranoid and sanitized?

It's a good question. I had a hard time letting my daughter walk to the bus stop alone...it was visible distance from my house...I look at them...my babies...and I read all these horrible things that happen to kids and I remember things that happened to me...
Being a parent is fucking scary