The Off Topic Topic

[Tamas]

Luton 

I haven't seen much of it but it seems a byword for crime and shitiness.

MK I only saw the outskirts but it looked quite alright there. Straight and open roads felt very un-British indeed but I thought I could live with them.

[Syt]

Milton Keynes has Bletchley Park, so that's at least something.

Luton I only know from playing old football managers on C64.

[viper37]

Georgia Mom's Arrest Sparks Nationwide Parenting Debate


I keep seeing these kind of stories from the US.  So weird for a man my age.

Our boys were riding their bikes to the local corner store to buy candy long before they were 10.  The United States has gone crazy.

I think that mentality is in Canada too, but as usual the US takes it to the next level.  Growing up I rode my bike everywhere, to the mall, arcade, etc. always outside in the summer.  You just don't see kids outside as much as they used to be anymore.  Although I think screen time is also to blame.

I'm a believer in the idea that kids need to learn to take acceptable risks by having some independence, and the helicopter parenting is to blame for all the anxiety these days.

What I see here is some parents doing anxiety, probably reinforced by medias.

But not police giving tickets or arresting parents.

For example, one of my stepsister lives right next to the elementary and high school of her kids.  By walking distance, it was 5 min walk to get to school.  But she had to drive nearly 8 minutes all around the block while the girls where young because she didn't want them to cross the high school turf, even the students there arrived only much later.

[Duque de Bragança]

Georgia Mom's Arrest Sparks Nationwide Parenting Debate


I keep seeing these kind of stories from the US.  So weird for a man my age.

Our boys were riding their bikes to the local corner store to buy candy long before they were 10.  The United States has gone crazy.

I think that mentality is in Canada too, but as usual the US takes it to the next level.  Growing up I rode my bike everywhere, to the mall, arcade, etc. always outside in the summer.  You just don't see kids outside as much as they used to be anymore.  Although I think screen time is also to blame.

I'm a believer in the idea that kids need to learn to take acceptable risks by having some independence, and the helicopter parenting is to blame for all the anxiety these days.

What I see here is some parents doing anxiety, probably reinforced by medias.

But not police giving tickets or arresting parents.

For example, one of my stepsister lives right next to the elementary and high school of her kids.  By walking distance, it was 5 min walk to get to school.  But she had to drive nearly 8 minutes all around the block while the girls where young because she didn't want them to cross the high school turf, even the students there arrived only much later.

I have seen parents doing that in Portugal as well, creating traffic jams, but kids can't walk 5-10 mins, even in safe areas. 

[crazy canuck]

Yes, helicopter parents seem to be universal.  As Viper said, in the US it seems to be mandatory.

[Oexmelin]

Honestly, though, as a pedestrian, streets in North America have become more dangerous. Cars are much bigger today, drivers much more intolerant of shared usage, neighborhoods have become a lot more car-centric. This obviously does not explain the general rise of anxiety about kids well-being, but I think it contributes to it.

[crazy canuck]

I guess you are too young to remember the boats people drove in the 70s 

[Bauer]

Neighborhood design is part of it too.  Houses are closer together, there are more basement suites, streets are narrower, and there are more parked cars.

If I want to live in a neighborhood of my youth I literally need to move into one built during my youth.

[crazy canuck]

Houses are a lot bigger now.  But again, my frame of reference is growing up in the 70s. 

There are condos now, but I am not sure how that makes things more unsafe.

[Josquius]

I guess you are too young to remember the boats people drove in the 70s 

I believe the 70s were a pretty weird blip?
Certainly it's known that cars have bloated a lot over the past century. A car today is much bigger than one of 30 years ago.


I do blame cars. More and bigger cars are about.
My parents still live in the house I grew up in. I used to play in the street as cars were nearly always parked In driveways. It was weird if they weren't.
These days most households have multiple cars and even if not often find the drive too much of a hastle so they just block the street.


My kids school has a fairly small catchment area. Not many parents will be from over 10 minutes away. Still so damn many driving. Some in pickup trucks.
And showing little regard for parking on the path or using the school car park that you have to cross to get into the school.

Incidentally I recall reading the other day there is a movement to ban cars around schools en masse at drop off and pick up time. Hope it comes to pass.

[crazy canuck]

You youngins.  You have no idea what a big car actually looks like.

[Syt]

Houses are a lot bigger now.  But again, my frame of reference is growing up in the 70s. 

There are condos now, but I am not sure how that makes things more unsafe.

Big cars were not quite as popular in 70s Germany outside of the "usual" suspects (Mercedes, mainly ), though I recall in the early 80s our local taxi company still held onto 1970s Opel which went "big" (ca. 5 meters long, big for Germany at the time ) with their Kapitän/Admiral/Diplomat range and a more "American" look.

[Sheilbh]

Honestly, though, as a pedestrian, streets in North America have become more dangerous. Cars are much bigger today, drivers much more intolerant of shared usage, neighborhoods have become a lot more car-centric. This obviously does not explain the general rise of anxiety about kids well-being, but I think it contributes to it.

Yeah also I think the sort of cars that are popular now are really, really dangerous for kids because of how tall they are. I imagine especially in the US.

[Josquius]

You youngins.  You have no idea what a big car actually looks like.

https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/cadillac-eldorado-1976-cabriolet-vs-ford-f-350-2016-4-door-pickup-crew-cab/

Again the 70s were a bit of an aberration and though these cadillacs and other similar designs existed in NA they weren't so dominant as SUV types and increasingly pickup trucks today.

[HVC]

I guess you are too young to remember the boats people drove in the 70s 

I do blame cars.

Yeah, but you say that about everything

Law enforcement involvement is extreme, but with a nation of 300 million a few weird news stories a year does not a trend make.  I still say it's just scarcity of kids thing making people more hyper focused. There have been big cars in the past. Hell common children's toys were damn near designed to maim and kill kids so it's not like life is more dangerous now. That and 24 hour news built to scare people into engagement.