Do you think people are missing out when raised in too controlled environments?

[bjsaust]

In my experience (as a parent of an 8 and 10 year old in a rural city), kids all seem to ride bikes still, just much less. As in they can ride them, they just don't as much.

The helicopter parenting impulse is real, and as someone with an overactive imagination, something I struggle to avoid. I keep reminding myself that if they get injured, well, that's part of growing up and learning. Especially when they were younger I'd try to avoid situations that could result in serious injury though. Stranger danger is still a real concern, but then it kind of feels like society has adapted for that. I just don't seem to see that many situations where it's a big concern, as long as kids have been educated. I dunno, that might be wishful thinking.

[BananaStand]

Stranger danger is still a real concern, but then it kind of feels like society has adapted for that. I just don't seem to see that many situations where it's a big concern, as long as kids have been educated. I dunno, that might be wishful thinking.

It's both a big concern, and not. It's wishful thinking, and not.

I saw this thing on TV where a guy went up to parents at a playground and said "I'll bet I can kidnap your kid". Every parent there was like "you're on!" - assuming that their kid was so *educated* about stranger danger

All this guy did was saunter past the kid with a puppy on a leash, and the kid was like "oooh nice puppy". Then the guy was like "Oh you like puppies, well I have some more in my van, wanna go play with them?" And the kid went with him every fucking time. Parents shit their friggen pants.

So chances are your kids are not as *educated* about stranger danger as you might think. Therefore it should be a massive concern.

On the other hand.....The odds of your kid ever encountering the *real* Mr. PuppyVan are almost zilch, so it's tough to be concerned.

[BananaStand]

Back in the day...1990....when I was 10, I went to the movies. My parents gave me $10, and that was to cover tickets and a drink for my kid brother and me. He was 7. Along for the ride were my two cousins of similar ages. We all got dropped off, and left there, unsupervised.

Somehow that was fine. Yet I'm thinking now, would I let my oldest two kids just to to the movies by themselves? My instinct is no. But I'm not coming up with a great reason. I just feel like it's better if I sit through some shit kids movie and make sure my kids don't die. Yet now that I've typed that out, I realize how irrational it is.

Anyway, we're there waiting for the movie to start. The theater is almost empty. Some guy in a trenchcoat comes by and starts talking to us....

That's another thing that's changed. I'm a grown man, and if I saw a group of unattended kids sitting in a movie theater (or anywhere), the last thing I would do is talk to them. That's fucking creepy.

...anyway, the guy says he's from the local paper, and he's there to cover all the fanfare surrounding the massive blockbuster release of the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. He would like to take our picture for the story....

....totally not creepy right, lol???

anyway, we're fired up to be celebrities so we all start staring wide eyed at the screen, looking like we're mesmerized by nunchucks, pretending to be watching a thrilling action movie (even though the screen is still blank).

He snaps some pics, and leaves.

We go home and tell our parents and they all shit their friggen pants. We all got in serious trouble for talking to strangers. And then they're frantically calling every newspaper around to see if this guy was legit.

He was. we were in the paper. it was glorious. There were 4 of us there so I'm taking 25% credit for the success of the TMNT franchise.

I don't know what that means. Does that mean it was a safer time back then because parents could trust their 10 and 7 year olds at the movies by themselves? Or does this incident prove how stupid our parents were at the time?