I don’t know how this has changed over time, but these figures sure seem strange. I played on my own in front of my house when I was five, but today’s parents think you need to be 10—and a substantial fraction think you need to be over 12 to play in front of the house unsupervised.
Like Kevin, I played in the front yard on my own when I was five, often for hours with no supervision. All my friends — some with much more engaged parents than mine — did the same.
I was going everywhere I could get to on my bike alone by the time I was 9.
Anyone who did not do this was considered a real weirdo.
It’s such an odd thing that as safety has increased paranoia has also increased.
Behaviors and child-rearing practices that were utterly normal in the 1980s and prior now get you thrown in jail.
Oh, I had been playing in the yard without adult supervision for several years when I was 10 years old. My parents were much more protective than yours and we lived in a suburb.
Behaviors and child-rearing practices that were utterly normal in the 1980s and prior now get you thrown in jail.
Or sued.
It’s such an odd thing that as safety has increased paranoia has also increased.
For whom, though? There’s also an increasing norm that only you can discipline or say anything to your kid, and others can’t say shit, because at best they are busy bodies and at worst they are potential child snatchers.