Oh, we're going to hell in a handbasket.

The changes we've been through...and for what? I walked to kindergarten and first grade - 4 blocks. My mom walked me the first few days of kindergarten, then walked me halfway for a few days, and once it seemed I was capable of handling it myself, I walked all the way.

In elementary school I had an eight-block walk. That shortened to a three-block walk in middle school.

In high school, the walk was about a mile. Being a mile from school did not make us eligible for bus service. You had to live 2 miles or more from school to get the bus. So we walked. Some mornings my mom drove me in if I was running late, and by senior year friends with cars drove me in, but I always walked home.

We're sheltering children more and more and more. And yet, studying history convinces me that children are not in any more danger than in the past. Perhaps even less. The one factor that I think has changed significantly is that today, we have neighborhoods that are empty of people all day. When I was young, if something creepy happened or someone got hurt, you could run up to a house and have a fair chance of finding someone inside - a stay-at-home mom, retired people, etc. There were human presences everywhere and generally watchful eyes. In neighborhoods of young and middle-aged professionals today, there is not much age diversity and few people at home all day, and it can be a bit of a ghost town.

Okay, stop me if I've related this story before, but this is how I got to school when I was in 1st grade:

1)Walk two blocks to the nearest main street and catch a city bus to the nearest train station.

2)Take train 1 stop.

3)Transfer to other train, take 2 stops.

4)Walk two blocks to different train station, take that train 2 stops.

5)Walk from train station to school, about 1/4 of a mile or so.

Now, in the morning, my sister and/or older brother were usually with me. In the afternoons, however, they often weren't. At the beginning of the year, my brother was charged with making sure he and I traveled home together, because my parents were justifiably nervous about a 6 year old kid navigating that many transfers correctly and safely.

After about a week, however, I unilaterally decided that I could handle it on my own, and hung out with some other kids after school where my brother couldn't find me. He went home without me, and my parents were not happy when he arrived home alone. But I trotted in about a half-hour or so behind him, having managed the journey just fine, and my parents decided that perhaps I didn't need to be shepherded any more.

(For what it's worth, this was in Tokyo in the early '70s, and violent crime was pretty much unheard of. They were mainly worried about me getting lost, not being abducted or assaulted.)

I wonder if it's like a carpool thing. The one parent volunteered to do this in the morning because he works from home and the other parents send their kids to his house, so they drive the four blocks, nice and heated. He plays their radio station for them. It'd be one thing if the guy had to go to work from there or something, but it sounds like he just drives back home.

When I was very little, I was kidnapped at the mall. My parents found me in the parking lot. Apparently my shrieks were too much for the nabber. I always thought my parents were a little over-protective, but at least they let me walk to school and the bus stop.

But yeah, it's not really about over-protectiveness, it's about SUV dude destroying the environment for the children he's trying to protect.
Put that in yer SUV and idle!

I walked to school or took a bus every year until I got a car, except 2nd grade when I went to a special school that my mum drove me to.

One of the strangest things about living in a city with a subway is seeing the gaggles of elementary school kids riding the train to school without parental supervision.

Oh hellbient, that's awful. Do you remember the kidnapping? Gosh, I'm sorry.

It's not four blocks, it's .04 miles - eight houses. He could see the bus stop from his house. I think it's two kids, maybe three, but they could invite their friends in. I'm going to stop stalking the dude, and who knows about the specific needs of his charges - medical or otherwise - but consider my eyes opened to this apparent trend.

If he wants to keep his kids safe, why can't he just WALK with them the 8 houses to the bus stop?

I think it's more of a "kid wants to listen to radio and sit in the air conditioning/heater" thing. In other words, kids these days are weak and lazy, or something.

Or maybe the kids are getting bullied, and the parents are super-over-protective.

Oh, I thought of another one.

Maybe the guy lives farther away, but his mistress lives 8 houses down.

Oooh! That's a good one, muddgirl! But unless he lives somewhere else in the neighborhood, and is audacious enough to pull into his mistress' driveway anyway, I don't think so. He's got a unique rear window sticker thing. What do you call those? Decal sounds too official, but I guess that's what they are.

No rainbaby, I don't remember a bit of it. I was probably around 2 or 3. Those were different times.
I should get hypnotized and see if anything pops up. If I do I'll report back.

Maybe those kids got something on the man, and he has to do whatever they say.
"Turn up the heat!", "Hot 97!", "Rice Krispy treats!", etc.
Lazy, yeah, maybe. Lazy like a fox.

I used to walk to elementary school by myself every day. A girl who lived closer than me used to get rides from her mother. I've created a map/diagram to illustrate to you just how stupid it was that she got a ride to school. Linkage.

Miko, I really agree with you. And I think that the "culture of fear" or whatever it is that it's called is bad for adults altogether.

With the bus stop thing, when I was pretty young (I think second or third grade), the bus driver turned out to be a pedophile. He was a really friendly guy (I remember), which makes sense because he'd see a kid in a store or some place and wave them over. The kid, seeing someone he knew, would go over to him. So some caution is a good thing, but really, if something is going to happen, it can be in a way you wouldn't think to protect the kid.

The actual numbers of child abductions have not risen. At all. As in, they are exactly the same as they ever were (rare).

The MEDIA ATTENTION has risen 1000%.

Children these days are like little prisoners.

CitrusFreak12, that was awesome! I am now also outraged at that girl's stupid mother.

Parents are afraid to let kids play outside. Kids stay inside and play video games. Kids are driven around in cars because their parents are afraid to let them ride bikes or walk. Neighborhoods are all fenced, and kids can't roam, climb trees, and play the way we did when I was a kid.

In unrelated news, there sure are a lot of fat kids these days. I guess they should go to a gym to exercise.

That sounds snotty, and I don't mean to be too snotty, because I'm pretty sure I'm not a perfect parent. My son played outdoors a lot. I had to learn to let him take some risks, and be adventurous. I occasionally followed him when he went somewhere new, just to set my own mind at ease. He's now physically confident, loves being outdoors, and is in great shape. He loves video games, too.