Reply to Looking back, when did things change? When did we stop letting kids wander freely outside?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When moms started all working, daycares exploded.   Kids were no longer raised at homes.  This happened after the 90’s.  Two spouses worked to support the family.  [/quote]

All of these developments disgust me.[/quote]

You’re a disgusting misogynist. [/quote]

But they aren’t incorrect. The ability of children to roam freely was partially dependent on the fact that communities were communities. People knew each other, socialized and helped each other. This community was largely built and maintained by women. Even in the latchkey families there was the knowledge that there were other people around in whom they could depend. When more women started working that community was weakened. If I fell off my bike a mile from my house, I could go to Mrs. jones who would clean me up and call my mom. When the bus didn’t show, there was a mom or dad going by who would have all the kids pile in and drive them to school. When we walked to school the older kids looked out for the younger. One of the biggest losses is the cross gender/age play that we had. You add in a bit of hysteria, new laws about kids being supervised, competition and no one home, you get what we have now. The kids aren’t ok. The parents aren’t ok. [/quote]

Don’t blame lack of community on others. If you want it, you have to find it and/or form it. We have a community in our neighborhood and most of the parents work. We prioritize connecting and supporting each other. Maybe it’s not common to find but it’s not because women work.

And many women worked back in the 70s/80s. Latchkey kids and all. We still had community.

Misogynistic excuses to blame women.

Kids aren’t out as much anymore because they are over scheduled with organized sports and activities. Then, in the remaining free time they get sucked into additive gaming/streaming without commercials/firehoses of video shorts. 
[/quote]

It’s hard to build a community with people who are never around. Not blaming it on women - frankly it is because we don’t value the things that women have traditionally done. This is why we don’t have enough day care providers, nurses, teachers, PT and OT professionals and the myriad other caring professions in which we depend. We have not recognized nor compensated them adequately. I don’t blame women for looking elsewhere but there’s a societal cost to that which we are now seeing. [/quote]

Kids aren't around because they are over-scheduled with sports and activities. Not because *women* are working. 
[/quote]

Part of the reason is because there is no one home to mind the kids. Legislation in MD makes it illegal for anyone under 8 to be unsupervised. As a society we have decided we don’t want kids left alone. Even in states with no age specified, if something happens there is a risk you can be charged. So yes it is partially due to that. The secondary issue is the hyper competitive nature of our country which makes people feel like their kids have to be constantly enriched and achieving to meet success. This hyper competitive situation coupled with the devaluing of caring professions is again why we have a shortage of caring professionals. There was a time that at least people in these roles were given respect if not $, now there is neither. [/quote]

By 4th/5th grade many kids could be home alone.

And if parents are around to drive kids to various sports then they could be at home. 
[/quote]

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