We still did that in the late 90s even. I would love to know when and how the mentality changed, as far as I know crime rates have gone down since we were kids.
It’s mostly car centric society paving over every third space imaginable and destroying the walkability of our neighborhoods. We built an outside that is dangerous to be a child in with nowhere for them to go.
Just because that may be the case for your one locality it is not the case for the wider society at large. The disappearance of third spaces and the prevalent lack of walkability is a major social issue throughout the majority of the US.
NotJustBikes has many videos explaining this in detail.
As a former 90s kid, it changed when I grew up and realized how much danger I was in and how many close calls I ignored. Then I saw the crime and disappearances rates back then, significantly higher than now. I got into true crime and saw what happened to the kids that weren’t as lucky as me. As a result, my kids never leave my sight, without being overbearing of course.
“True Crime” isn’t real. It’s based on reality, but everything is turned up to 11. I honestly think it’s one of the larger media issues today. People, like you, watch it and think everyone is a threat. Fuck that. You need to be a little careful, but most people are normal people who want to help each other. If true crime were accurate, it’d show you that most of these abductions are by people you’re friends with or family, not a stranger. Stop being so scared. You’re hurting their development.
As a result, my kids never leave my sight, without being overbearing of course.
As every overbearing parent has said. No one thinks they’re the overbearing parent.
I said I watched it, I no longer do. There are too many problematic things even in addition to what you’ve said. I’m not being overbearing, but you can be sure I’ll be meeting the parents of any sleepover situations. Sexual abuse is rampant, it happened to me and most of my friends growing up. Not taking that chance.
And yet, you are increasing the chances of your children suffering an early death by doing so. You are lowering the average life expectancy of your children.
Kids need unsupervised time free of their parents’ eyes. That’s how kids learn to be independent adults. You give them the chance to act independently and make mistakes while the stakes are still low.
You can’t keep them chained up forever. Eventually they will have to act independently. And when that day comes, if they have no experience being independent free human beings responsible for their own actions? Well they’re going to make extremely poor choices, as they’ve never had any practice in independent living before.
Yes, allowing your kid independence increases the risk that they’ll be abducted at age 12. But it decreases the risk they’ll die of an overdose at 22. And the former is astronomically less likely than the latter.
That kind of criminal impunity is reserved for the rich and powerful. While the crimes of the rich greatly affect society, by raw numbers, they don’t affect crime rates much. The rich may dominate theft statistics in terms of total dollars stolen, in terms of number of individual thieves, the rich are a rounding error.
one of my friends died in 2021 from a car accident. cause of death? covid.
2023 a woman was shot near my home. I have the video footage of the man responsible. Sent to the police even. He was a member of the neighborhood. he was never arrested. never charged. he moved away in 2025. he shot her only because she wouldn’t let him rape her. officially documented only as a shooting.
thousands of crimes being committed in the financial sector, never documented, never investigated.
hundreds of politicians raping children, still allowed to rule over the people. rarely documented, never investigated.
list goes on and on. we are no safer today than we were 70 years ago. only difference is 70 years ago there was a lack of processing evidence and today there’s a lack of “incriminating” evidence.
Depends where you’re at I suppose. Where I’m at in the PNW I see kids wandering out unsupervised all the time. Much more so than I did in Texas. Here I see kids taking the bus and walking about. It seems pretty normal.
Got it, go somewhere away from the house unsupervised. It’s what we did in the 80s!
In the 80s people didn’t randomly call child “protective” services if they saw an unattended kid, it was just tuesday.
We still did that in the late 90s even. I would love to know when and how the mentality changed, as far as I know crime rates have gone down since we were kids.
It’s mostly car centric society paving over every third space imaginable and destroying the walkability of our neighborhoods. We built an outside that is dangerous to be a child in with nowhere for them to go.
The town I grew up in has far more parks and walkable spaces today than it did in the 90s…
Just because that may be the case for your one locality it is not the case for the wider society at large. The disappearance of third spaces and the prevalent lack of walkability is a major social issue throughout the majority of the US.
NotJustBikes has many videos explaining this in detail.
That’s good! Your town is defying the trend. If more towns do, the trend reverses.
Could be that child abductions have gone down because they aren’t free for the picking down every street. Sounds like van pedo heaven.
I remember how free it was, though, being a kid in the 80s. I don’t know where the balance is.
As a former 90s kid, it changed when I grew up and realized how much danger I was in and how many close calls I ignored. Then I saw the crime and disappearances rates back then, significantly higher than now. I got into true crime and saw what happened to the kids that weren’t as lucky as me. As a result, my kids never leave my sight, without being overbearing of course.
“True Crime” isn’t real. It’s based on reality, but everything is turned up to 11. I honestly think it’s one of the larger media issues today. People, like you, watch it and think everyone is a threat. Fuck that. You need to be a little careful, but most people are normal people who want to help each other. If true crime were accurate, it’d show you that most of these abductions are by people you’re friends with or family, not a stranger. Stop being so scared. You’re hurting their development.
As every overbearing parent has said. No one thinks they’re the overbearing parent.
I said I watched it, I no longer do. There are too many problematic things even in addition to what you’ve said. I’m not being overbearing, but you can be sure I’ll be meeting the parents of any sleepover situations. Sexual abuse is rampant, it happened to me and most of my friends growing up. Not taking that chance.
And yet, you are increasing the chances of your children suffering an early death by doing so. You are lowering the average life expectancy of your children.
Kids need unsupervised time free of their parents’ eyes. That’s how kids learn to be independent adults. You give them the chance to act independently and make mistakes while the stakes are still low.
You can’t keep them chained up forever. Eventually they will have to act independently. And when that day comes, if they have no experience being independent free human beings responsible for their own actions? Well they’re going to make extremely poor choices, as they’ve never had any practice in independent living before.
Yes, allowing your kid independence increases the risk that they’ll be abducted at age 12. But it decreases the risk they’ll die of an overdose at 22. And the former is astronomically less likely than the latter.
a reduction in crime rates doesn’t mean it’s safer. it just means that crimes are happening with impunity.
With that attitude we are never going to accomplish anything as a society.
please elaborate on how continuing to do the same thing that got us here is accomplishing anything.
That kind of criminal impunity is reserved for the rich and powerful. While the crimes of the rich greatly affect society, by raw numbers, they don’t affect crime rates much. The rich may dominate theft statistics in terms of total dollars stolen, in terms of number of individual thieves, the rich are a rounding error.
Eh. Violent crime rates are hard to fuck with.
Non violent and overall are easy.
That depends on how you’re measuring it. You’re assuming that crimes aren’t being recorded properly. Why?
because nothing is recorded properly.
one of my friends died in 2021 from a car accident. cause of death? covid.
2023 a woman was shot near my home. I have the video footage of the man responsible. Sent to the police even. He was a member of the neighborhood. he was never arrested. never charged. he moved away in 2025. he shot her only because she wouldn’t let him rape her. officially documented only as a shooting.
thousands of crimes being committed in the financial sector, never documented, never investigated.
hundreds of politicians raping children, still allowed to rule over the people. rarely documented, never investigated.
list goes on and on. we are no safer today than we were 70 years ago. only difference is 70 years ago there was a lack of processing evidence and today there’s a lack of “incriminating” evidence.
Depends where you’re at I suppose. Where I’m at in the PNW I see kids wandering out unsupervised all the time. Much more so than I did in Texas. Here I see kids taking the bus and walking about. It seems pretty normal.