Coddled Kids?

[Jet Gorgon]

One of our local families homeschool their kids. OK. I have noticed these kids never go anywhere without a parent and only play near the house within parental eye-viewing. The boy is about 14, the girl 12.
Another neighbour recently called me to complain about the boy playing basketball on the street when there is a basketball court in a lovely park only a block away. Ya, I told her I know all about it -- if the kid knew how to dribble it wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, she e-mailed the fam about it and got a pretty nasty reply about the vicious off-leash dogs and weirdos in our neighbourhood. I really laughed.
The point is, when should kids be allowed to trundle off by themselves? I wasn't more than about seven when I used to go alone to meet friends at a public swimming pool and I took the short-cut through a ravine. Always walked or biked it to meet pals to play.
What's the standards these days?

[ItsRobsLife]

[nedwalk]

the world is a different and stranger/dangerous place when we grew up,as kids we new who was in our neighbourhood and every one sorta kept an eye on each other, sad to see though these kids live in a more than sanitised world

[Takeovers]

One of our local families homeschool their kids. OK. I have noticed these kids never go anywhere without a parent and only play near the house within parental eye-viewing. The boy is about 14, the girl 12.
Another neighbour recently called me to complain about the boy playing basketball on the street when there is a basketball court in a lovely park only a block away. Ya, I told her I know all about it -- if the kid knew how to dribble it wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, she e-mailed the fam about it and got a pretty nasty reply about the vicious off-leash dogs and weirdos in our neighbourhood. I really laughed.
The point is, when should kids be allowed to trundle off by themselves? I wasn't more than about seven when I used to go alone to meet friends at a public swimming pool and I took the short-cut through a ravine. Always walked or biked it to meet pals to play.
What's the standards these days?

Home schooling seems to be the important point. Some (probably religious) nutters.
They can't risk their children being infected with unfiltered information? What's the risk of being overrun by a car or mauled to death by a dog compared to that?

I let my kids go out when they were 5 and had learned how to behave on the street by me and by kindergarten. Our neighbourhood is not very dangerous fortunately.
It's a risk but a risk worth taking imo.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Agree.

the world is a different and stranger/dangerous place when we grew up,as kids we new who was in our neighbourhood and every one sorta kept an eye on each other, sad to see though these kids live in a more than sanitised world

Dunno. I think there is just more media attention and worldwide access to news like this now is all.

[November Rain]

Dunno. I think there is just more media attention and worldwide access to news like this now is all.

I tend to agree. Don't know what the answer is. Littl'un is out playing on his bike and with his friends for hours every day, but then our neighbours do keep an eye out and the moo-baan is pretty good trafficwise etc.

My sister is far stricter about what her kids do & where they go than our parents were about us, but, again, she lives in a different area to the type we lived in growing up. From the sounds of it. your neighbours kids are being wrapped in cotton wool to the risk of it suffocating them or causing social problems in later life. Couldn't say what the answer is, though...

[blackgang]

They can't risk their children being infected with unfiltered information?

What a fucking bunch of bullshit by a narrow minded person, Hey takeovers, can you actually look thru a keyhole with both eyes at the same time??

I had some neighbors that were home schooling their kids and the kids were about like 10 graders in knowledge and education by the time were 10 years old.
The father was a collage certified professor and the mother a registered ER nurse who worked in town 3 -16 hr days a week, she stayed in town 2 nights a week,
And the father was the one at home with the kids and they also did a lot of cross country ski stuff and in competition were always First or second.
They were my nearest neighbor and their house was about a mile from mine, both remote cabins in the Bitterroot range of the rocky mountains.

When I was a kid growing up I was either with my grandparents or with my dad and he worked days and was home nights, but I was cut a lot of slack to go off camping and fishing and just in general told what I could do and what I couldn't and that was it.
But we lived in a small town in the high country and there was never any talk of child molest or snatching a kid and drug gangs and folks shooting each other to much.
But it is a different world out there now, if you was a queer when i was a kid then I guess you moved to a big city cause you sure as hell was in the shitof you stayed home, no weird shit was acceptable and so everything was safe for kids.

[English Noodles]

Another neighbour recently called me to complain about the boy playing basketball on the street

Why call you and not the parents, oh yeh, it was just to gossip and bitch.

if the kid knew how to dribble it wouldn't be so bad

she e-mailed the fam about it

Sent an email? WTF, why she not do it face to face, if someone emailed me like that it would have gone straight in the trash bin and the email address flooded with shit.

weirdos in our neighbourhood

They have you sussed anyway.

I wasn't more than about seven when I used to go alone to meet friends at a public swimming pool and I took the short-cut through a ravine.

I think your parents were longing for something to happen to you.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ 55555555 Just can't give it up, huh, Noodle-O...wait a minute, you're reach around's lackey now, aren't you?
The lady rang to see if it bothered me. Unlike you, she is courteous, well-mannered and soft-spoken.

[Bubba]

the world is a different and stranger/dangerous place when we grew up,

It's not; it's just as dangerous as it has always been. The perception that it is a more dangerous place has grown though.

[barbaro]

One of our local families homeschool their kids. OK. I have noticed these kids never go anywhere without a parent and only play near the house within parental eye-viewing. The boy is about 14, the girl 12.
Another neighbour recently called me to complain about the boy playing basketball on the street when there is a basketball court in a lovely park only a block away. Ya, I told her I know all about it -- if the kid knew how to dribble it wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, she e-mailed the fam about it and got a pretty nasty reply about the vicious off-leash dogs and weirdos in our neighbourhood. I really laughed.
The point is, when should kids be allowed to trundle off by themselves? I wasn't more than about seven when I used to go alone to meet friends at a public swimming pool and I took the short-cut through a ravine. Always walked or biked it to meet pals to play.
What's the standards these days?

Over-protective weirdos. Helicopter parents.

Maybe they are Xtian?

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Yep, she is a born-againer (even worse). Thirtyish, no longer works and has a litany of health and neighbourhood complaints. I invited her for coffee once and ended up having to lock my gate -- she was over several times a day. I don't like folks invading my space like that. She rang and I told her I was scared of the nasty neighbour she told me about.
Will wait to hear back from the nice lady. Her fat old kitty comes to visit now and then.

[barbaro]

^ Yep, she is a born-againer (even worse). Thirtyish, no longer works and has a litany of health and neighbourhood complaints. I invited her for coffee once and ended up having to lock my gate -- she was over several times a day. I don't like folks invading my space like that. She rang and I told her I was scared of the nasty neighbour she told me about.
Will wait to hear back from the nice lady. Her fat old kitty comes to visit now and then.

Born again? OK, she's an Evangelical then.

These are some of the most judgmental and nutter types, I've ever known.

She might be trying to leech onto and bond with someone.

Best thing you might want to do is keep a polite and respectful distance, and say "hello" when you cross paths.

It sounds like you are already doing this. Best of luck.

Nutters, they are.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Yep, she's a nutter. The trash guys spilled some open garbage on the road in front of her house last week and she was hysterical. Blamed everyone on the block. Did she clean it up? Nope. She complained to me when I went to pick up my bins and then started in on her hubby when he strolled up -- he swept it up.

[barbaro]

^ Yep, she's a nutter. The trash guys spilled some open garbage on the road in front of her house last week and she was hysterical. Blamed everyone on the block. Did she clean it up? Nope. She complained to me when I went to pick up my bins and then started in on her hubby when he strolled up -- he swept it up.

OK, good. She has a lap-dog. The hubby.

Hope you keep a "polite distance."

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Always polite. She started frothing at the mouth, I said "excuse me, must go" and split.

[barbaro]

^ Good.

Too bad, she's right next door (it seems).

Peace.

[Happyman]

Born again? OK, she's an Evangelical then. These are some of the most judgmental and nutter types, I've ever known. She might be trying to leech onto and bond with someone. Best thing you might want to do is keep a polite and respectful distance, and say "hello" when you cross paths.

This may be slightly off topic but it brought back memories that I thought you may appreciate .


My Ex - living in suburban Wolverhampton- had one of those rent the house next door a few years ago.
Made her life a misery and also that of her friend who lived the other side of the nutters house. And also pissed off most people around with here constant stuffing leaflets through their doors and preaching to them in the local supermarket checkout queues.
After a few months the girls ( who are both keen 'green finger' gardeners) planned , and executed , what I think was the perfect plan to get rid of her .

They both relaid the flowerbeds in their front gardens over a weekend when the nutter was away 'evangleizing' (sp) by making a flower bed in the middle of their lawns in the shape of a pentangle !! The centrepiece of each was one of those electric "candles" that flicker - wired up by one of my mates.

When the nutter came home late on the Sunday evening she threw a total 'wobbly' - ranting and raving so loud that another neighbour called the police .
The one who came also knew that she was a pain in the arse, and told her that she was allowed to practice her beliefs and so was everybody else - go indoors or else he would have to issue a 'breach of the peace' ticket . She did.
Next morning however the plants had been pulled up and the lights broken !
Ex and her friend called the police, who attended promptly, and the three of them - over a cup of tea ( and trying not to laugh too much ) got it sorted .

Nutter was visited by the station Sargeant along with her land lord, and she was given two choices - be charged with criminal damage, or reinstate the flowerbeds and apologise !

The landlord ( of non-English origin ) and if you know Wolverhampton you know he came from one of the 'stans', nearly shit himself being in such close proximity to the custodians of the law, and said he would get the flower beds remade ( he did in 2 days) and told her to get out by the end of the week !!!

[ItsRobsLife]

weirdos in our neighbourhood

They have you sussed anyway.

I wasn't more than about seven when I used to go alone to meet friends at a public swimming pool and I took the short-cut through a ravine.

I think your parents were longing for something to happen to you.

Out of ammo.

[Takeovers]

They can't risk their children being infected with unfiltered information?

What a fucking bunch of bullshit by a narrow minded person, Hey takeovers, can you actually look thru a keyhole with both eyes at the same time??

I had some neighbors that were home schooling their kids and the kids were about like 10 graders in knowledge and education by the time were 10 years old.
The father was a collage certified professor and the mother a registered ER nurse who worked in town 3 -16 hr days a week, she stayed in town 2 nights a week,
And the father was the one at home with the kids and they also did a lot of cross country ski stuff and in competition were always First or second.
They were my nearest neighbor and their house was about a mile from mine, both remote cabins in the Bitterroot range of the rocky mountains.

When I was a kid growing up I was either with my grandparents or with my dad and he worked days and was home nights, but I was cut a lot of slack to go off camping and fishing and just in general told what I could do and what I couldn't and that was it.
But we lived in a small town in the high country and there was never any talk of child molest or snatching a kid and drug gangs and folks shooting each other to much.
But it is a different world out there now, if you was a queer when i was a kid then I guess you moved to a big city cause you sure as hell was in the shitof you stayed home, no weird shit was acceptable and so everything was safe for kids.

Sure there are some people home schooling and giving their children a balanced upbringing.

But many times home schooling is done to avoid the children having contact with ideas and lifestyles different of what the parents want to imprint in their children. Homeschooling and denying outside contacts are a clear sing. That has been confirmed for this case in the discussion on this thread so my suspicion was spot on.

[Jesus Jones]

the world is a different and stranger/dangerous place when we grew up,as kids we new who was in our neighbourhood and every one sorta kept an eye on each other, sad to see though these kids live in a more than sanitised world

I wouldn't say the world is more dangerous, just that bad news is never too far away. And unfortunately that's what sells papers etc. I do agree about the neighbours though. I rememeber as i kid knowing the majority of the family names on the street, and if there was a problem or a child was absent it would get around the neighbourhood. I remember countless times being scolded by a neighbour because i was out latter than i should've been.

The family, communities and the way new homes and dwellings have been designed, has made people become compartmentalised.

[Takeovers]

the world is a different and stranger/dangerous place when we grew up,

It's not; it's just as dangerous as it has always been. The perception that it is a more dangerous place has grown though.

I believe the world has become more dangerous for children in many ways. There is less open space where children can roam. When I was a kid we could play in the street and just step aside when a car approached. That is now impossible.

But you are right as many parents have become overprotective and safety has become all important. You need to struck a balance.

[kingwilly]

Born again? OK, she's an Evangelical then. These are some of the most judgmental and nutter types, I've ever known. She might be trying to leech onto and bond with someone. Best thing you might want to do is keep a polite and respectful distance, and say "hello" when you cross paths.

This may be slightly off topic but it brought back memories that I thought you may appreciate .


My Ex - living in suburban Wolverhampton- had one of those rent the house next door a few years ago.
Made her life a misery and also that of her friend who lived the other side of the nutters house. And also pissed off most people around with here constant stuffing leaflets through their doors and preaching to them in the local supermarket checkout queues.
After a few months the girls ( who are both keen 'green finger' gardeners) planned , and executed , what I think was the perfect plan to get rid of her .

They both relaid the flowerbeds in their front gardens over a weekend when the nutter was away 'evangleizing' (sp) by making a flower bed in the middle of their lawns in the shape of a pentangle !! The centrepiece of each was one of those electric "candles" that flicker - wired up by one of my mates.

When the nutter came home late on the Sunday evening she threw a total 'wobbly' - ranting and raving so loud that another neighbour called the police .
The one who came also knew that she was a pain in the arse, and told her that she was allowed to practice her beliefs and so was everybody else - go indoors or else he would have to issue a 'breach of the peace' ticket . She did.
Next morning however the plants had been pulled up and the lights broken !
Ex and her friend called the police, who attended promptly, and the three of them - over a cup of tea ( and trying not to laugh too much ) got it sorted .

Nutter was visited by the station Sargeant along with her land lord, and she was given two choices - be charged with criminal damage, or reinstate the flowerbeds and apologise !

The landlord ( of non-English origin ) and if you know Wolverhampton you know he came from one of the 'stans', nearly shit himself being in such close proximity to the custodians of the law, and said he would get the flower beds remade ( he did in 2 days) and told her to get out by the end of the week !!!

great story!

[NickA]

When I was a kid we could play in the street and just step aside when a car approached. That is now impossible.

Depends where you live. Can certainly do it where I live in both Thailand and the UK

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Ya. I remember the songthaews packed with kids and some boys hanging off the back coming home from school. The kids raced around the whole neighbourhood and everyone took care of them. Kids at my house or my kitties at theirs. Kids at the beach with the dogs, grownups buying chicken sticks or corn cobs for the local brood. Only kid that went missing was one that fell asleep at a neighbour's house.