Anonymous wrote:My neighborhood is a ghost town. There are never kids out playing. They are all in after-care or structured activities every freaking day.

Weekends should be parents mowing/gardening/socializing while kids play, ride bikes, use their imaginations and get super dirty. Now parents think it is normal to pay other people to do the mowing/gardening so they can spend more money being a chauffeur for a zillion activities including "invite everyone to an impersonal birthday party 20min away" and "year round club sports that are a must for getting into college." And lets not forget all the tutors, piano lessons, day camps, sat prep courses and so forth. I feel bad for all of our kids. They know little independence and have no freedom to use their brains, imagination and critical thinking skills. It just seems like from birth the goal is to mold them into someone ready for college and adulthood. And we wonder why teen suicides are on the rise. They can not handle criticisms, they don't want to be held accountable for anything, they were groomed to believe they were perfect. They have zero interpersonal skills and street smarts and are little balls of stress. It sucks.

Anonymous wrote:My neighborhood is a ghost town. There are never kids out playing. They are all in after-care or structured activities every freaking day.

Weekends should be parents mowing/gardening/socializing while kids play, ride bikes, use their imaginations and get super dirty. Now parents think it is normal to pay other people to do the mowing/gardening so they can spend more money being a chauffeur for a zillion activities including "invite everyone to an impersonal birthday party 20min away" and "year round club sports that are a must for getting into college." And lets not forget all the tutors, piano lessons, day camps, sat prep courses and so forth. I feel bad for all of our kids. They know little independence and have no freedom to use their brains, imagination and critical thinking skills. It just seems like from birth the goal is to mold them into someone ready for college and adulthood. And we wonder why teen suicides are on the rise. They can not handle criticisms, they don't want to be held accountable for anything, they were groomed to believe they were perfect. They have zero interpersonal skills and street smarts and are little balls of stress. It sucks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^PP here - I find it very strange (and sad) that people don't know neighbors who live two doors down. Seriously?

Its because most of my neighbors in Bethesda send their kids to private school so I have no idea who any of them are. 6-7 blocks away is the closest neighbor I know, since they send their kids to public school. Im to middle-class to have anything in common with my neighbors.

Anonymous wrote:^^^PP here - I find it very strange (and sad) that people don't know neighbors who live two doors down. Seriously?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how uptight parents can be. Social media and 24hr hyped-up news really have done their jobs of making you all paranoid. I walked 2 blocks to a school bus stop by myself until I met up with others starting in K. There was never a mom at a bus stop after the first day. Ever! It was no big deal because we all played outside on our own already. Today every mom/nanny is at the bus stop and many even drive to the bus stops. Now if I let my 7yr old walk home the 8 houses alone, I look like a negligent mom.

Another thing that has changed is parents working longer hours and many people not knowing and not having friendly relationships with their neighbors. It's different when you don't know the people 2 doors down -- which you usually did when I was coming up and I am 48.

We know everyone in our neighborhood, as do our kids. They know where to go if they need help.

Silver Spring 20910

That is lovely -- I live in SS too and know a lot of our neighbors but I know a lot of people around the DMV that do not know a lot their neighbors. Geez Christmas -- not everyone's experience is the same. And, yes, a lot of things about how people relate to their neighbors, how many kids you see running around outside after school, yes they have changed since 1974. I was just denoting that things have changed a lot, was not saying at what age kids should be allowed to be unsupervised.
sheesh

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how uptight parents can be. Social media and 24hr hyped-up news really have done their jobs of making you all paranoid. I walked 2 blocks to a school bus stop by myself until I met up with others starting in K. There was never a mom at a bus stop after the first day. Ever! It was no big deal because we all played outside on our own already. Today every mom/nanny is at the bus stop and many even drive to the bus stops. Now if I let my 7yr old walk home the 8 houses alone, I look like a negligent mom.

Another thing that has changed is parents working longer hours and many people not knowing and not having friendly relationships with their neighbors. It's different when you don't know the people 2 doors down -- which you usually did when I was coming up and I am 48.

We know everyone in our neighborhood, as do our kids. They know where to go if they need help.

Silver Spring 20910

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how uptight parents can be. Social media and 24hr hyped-up news really have done their jobs of making you all paranoid. I walked 2 blocks to a school bus stop by myself until I met up with others starting in K. There was never a mom at a bus stop after the first day. Ever! It was no big deal because we all played outside on our own already. Today every mom/nanny is at the bus stop and many even drive to the bus stops. Now if I let my 7yr old walk home the 8 houses alone, I look like a negligent mom.

Another thing that has changed is parents working longer hours and many people not knowing and not having friendly relationships with their neighbors. It's different when you don't know the people 2 doors down -- which you usually did when I was coming up and I am 48.

We know everyone in our neighborhood, as do our kids. They know where to go if they need help.

Silver Spring 20910

So if your kid fell off their bike a few blocks away, they would know the person that lived there? 20yrs ago, yes. Not today. Most people are away from their homes than inside of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how uptight parents can be. Social media and 24hr hyped-up news really have done their jobs of making you all paranoid. I walked 2 blocks to a school bus stop by myself until I met up with others starting in K. There was never a mom at a bus stop after the first day. Ever! It was no big deal because we all played outside on our own already. Today every mom/nanny is at the bus stop and many even drive to the bus stops. Now if I let my 7yr old walk home the 8 houses alone, I look like a negligent mom.

Another thing that has changed is parents working longer hours and many people not knowing and not having friendly relationships with their neighbors. It's different when you don't know the people 2 doors down -- which you usually did when I was coming up and I am 48.

We know everyone in our neighborhood, as do our kids. They know where to go if they need help.

Silver Spring 20910

Anonymous wrote:I love this article. It rings very true to me. Neighborhoods have gone to shit thanks to overworking and over scheduling.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2015/03/03/would-you-call-911-on-another-parent/?postshare=6491425698008868

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how uptight parents can be. Social media and 24hr hyped-up news really have done their jobs of making you all paranoid. I walked 2 blocks to a school bus stop by myself until I met up with others starting in K. There was never a mom at a bus stop after the first day. Ever! It was no big deal because we all played outside on our own already. Today every mom/nanny is at the bus stop and many even drive to the bus stops. Now if I let my 7yr old walk home the 8 houses alone, I look like a negligent mom.

Another thing that has changed is parents working longer hours and many people not knowing and not having friendly relationships with their neighbors. It's different when you don't know the people 2 doors down -- which you usually did when I was coming up and I am 48.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20150312/80788942-a504-4285-92ba-7b6215236003

Attempted kidnapping of toddler:

"The incident began after Michael Wright left his three children with a baby sitter in Sprague on Sunday while he went to work. The children — Brenden, 10, Delicia, 8, and the toddler — were playing unsupervised in a city park near the sitter's house."

Again, the reason why events such as this make international news is because they are so rare.

[/b]It was from WA state. This just happened days ago. [b] Rare or not, the older kid should not have been responsible for a toddler.

Yes, it happened in WA state & I read about it on a British news site. So it was international news.

It happened just days ago. Since then likely hundreds of car crashes have occurred, some of them fatal & involving children. Yet I'm guessing you're still allowing your children to ride in cars.

Yes, of course. And the truth is that most of the safety things we do are for things that never happen to us personally. My kids have never had a bike accident - yet wear helmets. I've never been in a car accident - yet as an adult I'll wear a seatbelt even in the back seat. The point is the likelihood of an injury or accident or horrific event, the point is that we all make choices because of what MAY happen. Are you saying that the 10 year old was old enough to watch his toddler brother?