Free-Range Children (Page 3): Sorry, This are real incidents. It was reported by all of the major local network news programs, the press, and probably CNN, MSNBC I can't confirm that...

sye Loc: The Old Dominion Near DC

tomw wrote:

I have gotten all the way to here, and I'm still not certain if the original post was real or a belated April Fool. Maybe this is more of the same.

Sorry, This are real incidents. It was reported by all of the major local network news programs, the press, and probably CNN, MSNBC I can't confirm that CNN and MSNBC did- in fact - report this news because I refuse to watch those 2 POS news "agencies", but why wouldn't they ? Their writers and editors love to report "shocking TV news" - in their honest opinions. I would even believe it if they already convicted the parents in the CNN and MSNBC world view.

mdfenton

I respectfully suggest that Didereaux and all others who characterize followers of the Tea Party as twirly-eyed nutjobs who avoid thinking (his words) spend some time doing some research to learn specifically what the Tea Party stands for, which is, SURPRISE! LESS CONTROL OF OUR LIVES!! http://www.teaparty.org/about-us/

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

George II wrote:

My question would be why? If a dog harms a child the dog is usually put down. Why do we not do that to predators that harm or molest children?
Growing up I went out after a respectable hour (after breakfast) and stayed out all day until lunch then repeated the process after lunch. I guess all that is left of the good old days is just a memory. Sad, so very sad.
Just reminiscein the "G"
"Regulae Stultis Sunt"

I've read in some countries that the child molesting problem is remedied by using a flat rock and a hammer on the offender's member, and associated parts. Primitive, but effective in cutting down on repeats.
--Bob

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

phlash46 wrote:

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

This is all comparing apples to oranges...back when you were a deputy and I was a copper things were different. Today, if a PD doesn't respond to a complaint or request for service they are hung out to dry...especially if something, God Forbid, happens to the child. The police are under attack from the media, the public and even within their own organizations. The crap that happened in Ferguson, MO., would hardly have made the news in our day...today it is the thing to do to attack the police and their procedures/policies. I cannot fathom why it took five hours to contact the parents, but then we don't know all the story...only what the media wants to garner for sensationalism. I suspect that the PD had procedures in place that required them to contact social services...then wait for one of their staff to respond...fill out a statement for social services...have all this approved by a supervisor....THEN...when social services decides to return the kids to the parents...and maybe that might be delayed to have an interview with them....the kids are returned home. In later years of my career, it was not unusual for a call involving the welfare of kids to last five to seven hours because of everything required by my agency and any others involved in the investigation. Hell, I handled Homicides quicker than a child welfare call.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

dennis2146 wrote:

As I saw this on the news I started to recall my own parents and what my two brothers and I were allowed to do as we grew up. My early recollections of about 3-4 years old were of playing in the front yard of a small town with my mother in the house somewhere. We also had the run of the street and the wooded/open field areas up the street. I then remember being maybe 7-8 years old and spending the summer with my grandmother. After my grandmother showed us the way my brother and I would walk to and from a summer bible school in the much larger town of Lockport, NY. Grandma would give us money to stop at the local drug store to buy Hires root beer on the way home. While child molesters were around in the 50's we were never bothered and we never had any problems. I suspect the same is true today. Sure there are child molesters around but my guess is that 99% of children are not bothered.

Let's move on to when I was a deputy sheriff in Southern California. On one occasion I happened to be working the graveyard shift and noticed a 3 year old little boy, wearing only a diaper, walking the main street, about 4:00 AM, of a good sized town. Of course I stopped and asked him where he lived and of course he had no idea. I put him in the patrol car and notified my dispatcher. About an hour later the boy's parents woke up, noticed he was missing and called the Sheriff's Office. I dropped him off with the happy parents and called it a day to finish my reports. No arrest was made, no call to protective services to have the case looked at by the District Attorney's office for later prosecution for child endangerment. That was it. The S.O. never heard anything else from the family insomuch as they were good upstanding parents in the community and had not willfully endangered their son.

We do NOT need the government getting into every single problem that happens in a family. At some point common sense simply must trump government interference with parents raising their children the way they want to raise the children.

Dennis

As I saw this on the news I started to recall my o... (show quote)

I agree with everything you said and did. The 3-year-old probably figured out how to unlock the door and got out. That doesn't mean the parents are bad parents. They just needed to put an additional lock higher up on the door, such as one that flips, or put grips on the doorknob which makes it hard for a child to open a door. If they don't lock their doors at night, for whatever reason, this would be a good reason do to so.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

My sisters and I were "free range" children, as were all the other kids in the neighborhood. We were outside and not glued to TV sets (computers and video games today).

I quite often took long walks several blocks away from my home. I met several nice dogs along the way. One was a big sable rough collie. I would sometimes take my own collie for long walks and visit my school friends. Sometimes it was a mile or more away.

That didn't please my mom. I guess one of our neighbors saw me one time and told my mom where they had seen me. When I got back from this little jaunt, as I was giving my collie some water, my mom came up behind me and gave me a light, little swat on my bare legs with a lightweight twig. Boy was I surprised. It was a long time before I walked that far again, but I did do it.

My husband also was a "free-range" child. He and his brothers would even ride their bicycles from Fremont, California, where his family was living, to the beach several miles away. There was no problem.

It's good to protect our children, but they need some freedom. Our 3 children had free run of the neighborhood and they did fine as "free-range" children.

I don't think the government should be involved in this. There's no neglect or abuse, or whatever, involved. These are parents allowing their children to be kids and not glued to video games.

Hooray for them!!!!

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

I sometimes wonder if the drugs that these kids get into at such an early age would hold such attraction if they had other things to do in their lives. We heard about drugs when we were kids, but we had more important things to do in our lives, like deciding what we were going to do for the day as a group. Would we go fishing, hiking, catch snakes, play baseball, football, ride our bikes, ice skate, or if it was a rainy day, congregate at one house and play games like Clue, Monopoly, Parchese, Chinese Checkers, etc., read comic books or go to the movies. We would pull soda bottles out of trash cans on Fridays and cash them in to have enough money to go to the movies which was .25 at the time and that included 2 movies + cartoons. That ate up a whole rainy afternoon from 12:30 to 4:30. But, we did things together and our neighborhood group ranged from age 7 to 12.

stonecherub Loc: Tucson, AZ

Wow! I either gotta quit reading these things or get stronger heart pills.

Many posters seem to have an idea that child molesters are getting away with murder, actually (not literally). I'm a "libertard" so I'd like to see the evidence for that. My recollection is of innocent people thrown into prison in a wholly bogus moral panic over "Day-care child abuse."

Then, there's the usual, "The lefties want the government to do everything (including watch the kids)." I live in the failed one-party state of Arizona where the right-wing "limited government" has three functions: facilitating wealth transfer to the already rich, punishing people (cut the schools, build another prison), and bringing back "punishment pregnancies." Ask someone who came of age in the '40s and ' 50s, if you don't know what that is.

And, finally, the "cloud of kids" is gone! Every one of us who remembers fondly a carefree childhood of running out the door in the morning and returning in time for dinner, has forgotten that we ran into a mass of other kids. When you went on vacation with your parents, what was the first thing you did when you got someplace? Look for other kids!

Those kids are still around but not in places where they can play and explore together like we did. That's the tragedy of the modern world.

Cykdelic Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM

Somewhat counter-intuitive, child predation is actually decreased quite a bit (about 60% or more since 1992). Social media and media in general just highlight it more.

We ran rampant as kids.

I agree the cops should have contacted the parents immediately and that the cops should not have been called in the first place.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

Heck, I was one of those "free range" children since I was five years old. All over Los Angeles County.
During summer vacation, I'd wake up in the morning and eat breakfast, and then go wherever I wanted to go, just as long as mom saw me once a day.

Cykdelic Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM

shelty wrote:

Heck, I was one of those "free range" children since I was five years old. All over Los Angeles County.
During summer vacation, I'd wake up in the morning and eat breakfast, and then go wherever I wanted to go, just as long as mom saw me once a day.

Same here.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

My brother and I were "free-range children in the '40s and early '50s - our children were "FRC" in the '60s & 70's too bad my grand children were not as fortunate as to live in an area (crowded city life of CA) suitable for them to be as "FRC" as their cousins in rural No. ID.- I think the stories my brother and I told encouraged our children and scared our grand children.

To have FRC I feel is a mater of training them how to be "Safe FRC" - a recent example is when I young boy was grabbed his sister screamed constantly and chased them and attracted help.

SHUTERED Loc: SO. CAL.

dennis2146 wrote:

Obviously you are correct but short of a revolutio... (show quote)

Sorry friend, but here you are wrong. We DO want a revolution, but of the same type that has been slowly
invading every niche of society with complete and total disregard for any common sense. It has got to the point, as we all know, that government now mandates what our kids can eat for lunch at school, and also how to solve math problems in the most convoluted manner, defying any logic. If we have the gall to impose the ability on our kids to enjoy childhood, and play together, we suffer the rath of Child Protective Services / Police. All this to further enhance the beurocratic empire building of our government.
Yes WE DO WANT a revolution! A return to logical thought and minimal government interference. :thumbup:

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

SHUTERED wrote:

Sorry friend, but here you are wrong. We DO want ... (show quote)

Hooray for you!

OldEarl Loc: Northeast Kansas

My wife and I had a discussion on this. Her culture was more controlled--her parents believed in families doing things together. I grew up in a situation where I would come home, grab my dog and carbine, and disappear until dinner--when the weather was warm I'd get the fishing rod. If I did not get home for supper I made my own and did all the dishes.

After we got married I got the third degree the first time I came home from school, grabbed my camera and headed out. I got the "tell me where you are going and how long you will be gone" routine. And we had the first of many philosophical discussions on the matter.

I passed the "Bears of Blue River" book on to my son which is not an approved book in the university community we lived in. He took it to heart. He and a friend swam the river a quarter mile from the house and got grounded. I was elsewhere that week.

Our culture has changed. When I was roaming the semi rural area, everybody knew me and my dog. If there had been a problem they would have intervened. When I nailed the skunk and left it lying in the ditch I heard about it when I got and my uncle and I went back to cover it with sand but the turkey vultures got there first. Now, nobody knows anybody. And there are too many social workers.

There is an African saying, "It takes a village." Social workers and school psychologists are not part that village.