tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post1868551295690495006..comments2024-03-28T23:22:41.774-05:00Comments on TYWKIWDBI ("Tai-Wiki-Widbee"): Free range parenting punished - updatedMinnesotastanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-9858100779021894952023-03-20T05:02:23.452-05:002023-03-20T05:02:23.452-05:00The cruel insanity of the US system is gloriously ...The cruel insanity of the US system is gloriously self-reinforcing. 'Gainey says the cops “just kept going over that, you know, there’s pedophiles,” which sounds to me like the kind of problem that perhaps there’s a better approach to than whisking kids off playgrounds and arresting mothers...'<br />Yeah, and in order to make sure there's people classed as paedophiles everywhere, make even some encounters between slightly underage teens into serious federal offences. Then you can blight the teen's life, and use their presence as an excuse to come down heavy-handed on free-range parents, and then take the kid into 'care', where their risk of abuse is significantly higher, and then repeat the cycle. I think the mix of prudery, ignorance, intolerance and heavy-handed law enforcement they've managed to lumber themselves with is probably worse than you could have got if you'd deliberately set out to design it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-80680494448250427662023-03-19T14:18:48.344-05:002023-03-19T14:18:48.344-05:00US society becomes increasingly incomprehensible t...US society becomes increasingly incomprehensible to me.<br />In the sixities, I walked to Kindergarten on my own. And every day I see children walking to or coming home from primary school, about two kilometres from here. Nothing bad happens to them.<br />Here in Germany it is expected that a healthy, normally developed child is able to do that after having made the way accompanied by an adult for a few weeks.<br />Being able to confidently move around your neighbourhood is an important part of growing up.Martinanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-31485784620056654472023-03-15T15:08:53.019-05:002023-03-15T15:08:53.019-05:00Childhood has been institutionalized. I see pro-L...Childhood has been institutionalized. I see pro-Life and Pro-choice parents as all "needing" to go to work--often in inane capacities clearly of less value than full-time parenting. As the stay-at-home family was aborted, I think an angst arose in the minds of parents who were less bonded to offspring and therefore motivated to compensate with over-control: helicopter parenting is oddly in juxtaposition to the surrendering of a three week old baby to a rotation of daycare providers. I think of Sarah Palin, rabidly anti-abortion, but happy to leave Trig behind and run for VP. Isn't that an emotional abortion? Crowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615681320852482003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-9213154919312759782023-03-14T05:18:58.944-05:002023-03-14T05:18:58.944-05:00I really wonder how the free range vs helicopter p...I really wonder how the free range vs helicopter parenting groups would align with the pro and anti abortion groups. I'm curious if the groups would align one way or the other or would be split with some from each camp going to each side of the issue. I know what I mean but not sure I'm communicating correctly.<br />The last thing I want is failure to communicate. ;o)<br />xoxoxoBruceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-66551464712524209922023-03-13T08:09:31.831-05:002023-03-13T08:09:31.831-05:00Oh, America. If only the parents had had the fores...Oh, America. If only the parents had had the foresight to give the kid an assault rifle, everyone would have been cool with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-74174603039495507122023-03-13T02:22:41.857-05:002023-03-13T02:22:41.857-05:00Japan has a long running TV series where children ...Japan has a long running TV series where children as young as 3 or 4 years are sent off on errands where they have to take public transport and buy a bunch of stuff. There are adults keeping track of them discreetly but the kids don't know this. If they get lost or stuck somewhere, the kids will have to figure it out by themselves. I presume American audiences would consider this a horror show :) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Enough!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-36780392270463798012023-03-12T05:11:25.069-05:002023-03-12T05:11:25.069-05:00Some people lose their minds if a 10 year-old is a...Some people lose their minds if a 10 year-old is allowed to explore the world around him, but think nothing of handing over a 2 ton machine to a 16 year-old after a minimal training period and a 15 minute test. <br /><br />I was a free range kid in Miami (Opa Locka) in the early to mid 60s. Good times!Bicycle Riderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13389553121647269895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-27322797553336574532023-03-11T09:52:13.950-06:002023-03-11T09:52:13.950-06:00When my dad was 8 years old, he and his younger br...When my dad was 8 years old, he and his younger brother were put on a ship somewhere in Europe (not quite sure of the port of departure) to move to Canada where they were met by a relative and taken to their home temporarily, waiting for their parents to arrive and settle. They lived with their mother for 3 years in Toronto while their father was assigned to work on a farm in Saskatchewan somewhere, to earn his place as an immigrant to Canada. On board the ship, there was very little, if any, adult supervision except by the crew who took them to their room, which they likely shared with a bunch of other kids and strangers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-58523817298027649262023-03-10T23:11:55.299-06:002023-03-10T23:11:55.299-06:00Back in the day, it either was not so treacherous....Back in the day, it either was not so treacherous...or if so, we didn't know about it. We hear so many horror stories today that it's very hard for your imagination to not think of many horrific things that COULD happen....<br /><br />We can be too careful--that's another way to "hurt" a kid. But because of my vivid imagination, I can think of all sorts of heartbreaking things that could happen. And it does not make life easy as my son comes of age...and I will no longer have quite the role I have now.AaronShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01263323475384069306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-74424028360575186192023-03-10T17:52:14.855-06:002023-03-10T17:52:14.855-06:00I grew-up in a 1960s free range neighborhood, as d...I grew-up in a 1960s free range neighborhood, as did my cousins who lived in a more urban area. This freedom was lost when the neighborhood "village" lost its mothers to capitalism. No longer was there a steady parental resource or presence in the fabric of the neighborhood, allowing for the coming and going informality in unstructured play and exploration. All had to be brought under the umbrella of a scripted child care regime compatible with the "need" to abandon the neighborhood most days of the week. The latchkey child of the 80s became the fully programmed and institutionally supervised child of today. I never see kids in our parks without an adult minder. Mostly kids are "gaming," which is supposedly safe and socially acceptable. Not long ago, I saw a study from the UK. Med students had to be taught eye-hand coordination due to being deprived of practical childhood experiences with tools, etc. https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46019429 Crowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615681320852482003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-33122118946384393752023-03-10T17:14:19.017-06:002023-03-10T17:14:19.017-06:00I grew up in "old town" Rockville, MD in...I grew up in "old town" Rockville, MD in the '60s. I walked to schools (elem, jr, & sr). My bro and I built a tree fort in some woods a mile away; carried the scrounged lumber by hand. I took DC transit (alone) in to Bethesda for guitar lessons, and later down to Constitution Hall for some Nat Geo lectures. A buddy & I took the commuter train into DC to visit the patent office as a jr hi project. Another buddy & I took the train in for Johnson's inauguration. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-90909093964979069972015-04-14T21:23:28.358-05:002015-04-14T21:23:28.358-05:00It happened again to the same family:
http://abcne...It happened again to the same family:<br />http://abcnews.go.com/US/maryland-free-range-kids-police-timeline-events/story?id=30303998<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-kids-and-our-parenting-police-state/2015/04/13/42c30336-e1df-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.htmlxcentrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15204805297770659537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-42915827301276036392015-01-18T05:41:06.217-06:002015-01-18T05:41:06.217-06:00Sounds completely crazy to me... is this another t...Sounds completely crazy to me... is this another typical US thing? <br />I only saw these things very rarely in Germany and mostly with kids that had some actual medical problem (extreme allergies or some form of ADHS/autism) and might need assistance by their parents at any moment. Seems a bit more common today, but still not as prevalent as it seems from this article.<br /><br />At age 8-12 I walked about 1km (15min) to school every day and from about age 12 rode my bike about 6km or used public transport in winter - never got lost nor too late for school except when the bike broke (it was rather old and a bit rusty, but it was mine ;o)<br />My best friend lived in a small village around 20km from my home... he came to school by bus as well and it visited him at least twice a week. It was around one hour on various trams and buses with all kinds of people (punks and grannies, mostly). One day, me and another friend wanted to go there, but the bus for the final leg of the trip didn't come, so we went 3km (2 miles) through the forest (no real walking paths!) and over cow pastures (luckily, no cows, but a lot of fences) in a terrain we didn't really know except for the general direction and the name of the village we tried to find. Took us about 2 hours, but we got there, and according to the adults "looked like we've been in the jungle for 2 weeks"... nobody asked any questions except what took us so long, if anybody was hurt and whether we did anything illegal on the way - we didn't, except some trespassing on random empty pastures.<br />Similar adventures happened all the time and we didn't even have mobile phones back then. And our parents never said a word, as long as we still did our homework and were home for dinner. If we hurt ourselves, we got bandaged up, told to be more careful next time and sent on our merry way. And they were and still are the most loving and caring parents you could find. If anything serious happened, they'd move heaven and hell to help us - they just didn't care very much for a few scratches and some dirt. <br />We were also taught which fruit were poisonous, but if we found an apple or pear tree full of fruit, we ate what we could get (some dirt, too, I guess) and sometimes got the runs afterwards... but none of us has had hay fever or any serious food allergies and even today I don't get more than a light cold once a year. If you let on of those children that were raised in a perfectly clean glass bubble do what we did, they probably wouldn't know a deadly nightshade from a cherry tree or succumb to pollen allergies in minutes.<br /><br />...and, by the way: all this didn't happen in a rural community in the 60s, but in and near a half-million people town 10-15 years ago. And none of us ever got abducted, bought any drugs, got seriously hurt or ever had any problems the police.<br /><br />And we weren't that special for that time and age. Of all the children in my general age group, maybe 5% had extremely controlling parents (never more than 100m away), 40% were brought everywhere by car and had to be home at eight, but could still mostly do as they pleased and the rest were like us - sometimes crazy, but smart enough not to get into real trouble. <br /><br />Parents can't protect their children all the time, but they can teach them how to protect themselves. Children are not stupid, they're just inexperienced and need to be taught how to live independently, because that's what everyone needs to do at some point in their life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-16704564812899728382015-01-16T15:12:29.479-06:002015-01-16T15:12:29.479-06:00I had an idiot house guest report my children at r...I had an idiot house guest report my children at risk once becasue they ate lunch on the floor and there were tools out all over the place... Tools were out all over the place because we were fixing the porch roof and the kids getting to take their lunches in to the living room to eat in front of the T.V. while we had company was a treat for them. <br />The youth services worker that showed up tried to find problems that just weren't there (we had cats and a litterbox in a small house, some food in our refrigirator was over 3 days old, all petty meaningless issues), I complained to a social worker I knew and she contacted the youth service worker's boss who reviewd the report and found the entire thing to be error filled ad with non-relevant issues and that woman got reassigned (and eventually left the department). <br />We don't have to stand-by and let selfimportant drones and overstepping laws destroys our families, towns, and nation. It takes a population that is not passive or complacent and is involved with the system. If you aren't at civic meetings and town hearings I assure you someone else is.<br />Stand up for yourselves, your community, and your nation.JDsivrajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674833512849495283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-17408096270534117912015-01-15T23:32:15.378-06:002015-01-15T23:32:15.378-06:00In Indiana, DCS has done an absolutely horrible jo...In Indiana, DCS has done an absolutely horrible job of removing kids from situations where they themselves placed the children, resulting in several well-publiczed cases resulting in death of the children. I won't give all parents a free-ride -- some obviously have no business caring for kids -- but I've got damn little respect for a government agency so carelessly run.Steve Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00450550786810074858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-34782863002464848102015-01-15T13:25:47.078-06:002015-01-15T13:25:47.078-06:00Geez, Louise! We had no restrictions on where we ...Geez, Louise! We had no restrictions on where we could go, as long as we were home by dinner time! <br />No cel phones, either. And we walked clear across town for school in 7th & 8th grade (mid to late '70s)<br />***sigh***bobbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14353836074794786357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-14457071286181653562014-08-19T20:48:17.930-05:002014-08-19T20:48:17.930-05:00Pearls Before Swine cartoon added to the post.Pearls Before Swine cartoon added to the post.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-61551123216828302602014-08-08T13:44:24.402-05:002014-08-08T13:44:24.402-05:00It yielded it's secret location up to the goog...It yielded it's secret location up to the google search string:<br /><br />wander site:tywkiwdbi.blogspot.comnolanddahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708768497461983779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-1028104870671002142014-08-07T10:44:24.808-05:002014-08-07T10:44:24.808-05:00Thank you Dan. In retrospect the problem is that ...Thank you Dan. In retrospect the problem is that I posted the original as virtually a "res ipsa loquitur" without including in the text any of the key words (walk, range, bicycle, neighborhood) that I later searched.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-41397849923749597412014-08-07T10:29:39.598-05:002014-08-07T10:29:39.598-05:00And just to complete the circle here is your origi...And just to complete the circle here is your original post on the topic : <a href="http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/07/tale-of-our-times.html" rel="nofollow">12 July 2009</a>nolanddahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708768497461983779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-10216557742949520982014-08-07T09:39:54.426-05:002014-08-07T09:39:54.426-05:00Map from the link Dan found now added to the post....Map from the link Dan found now added to the post.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-15495638402590641002014-08-07T09:21:53.158-05:002014-08-07T09:21:53.158-05:00I should mention Dad was 12 in 1930...I should mention Dad was 12 in 1930...Steve Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00450550786810074858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-17695816661438197322014-08-06T23:13:17.028-05:002014-08-06T23:13:17.028-05:00What a sad place America has become..... In the 5...What a sad place America has become..... In the 50's, in Brooklyn, my mom would send us out to play, I was younger than Ten..... and the only stipulation was, make sure you're home for dinner when your father gets home from work at 6:00..........Zarathustrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18304963843720567083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-90223625147345962292014-08-06T18:41:43.821-05:002014-08-06T18:41:43.821-05:00I find it frustrating, but they're doing it to...I find it frustrating, but they're doing it to curb their own liability in our current society. I happened to go visit my old high school recently. The front entrance has been remodeled so that anyone coming in the front doors *has* to go through the office to get into the school. On top of that, the other entrances to the school are typically locked from the outside even during school hours.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08320772524965491330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-46063269195721270302014-08-05T19:53:09.614-05:002014-08-05T19:53:09.614-05:00In the late 50s I walked about 6 blocks to school ...In the late 50s I walked about 6 blocks to school and walked home for lunch (If it wasn't raining heavily). I free ranged about the same distance. This was normal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com