I'm hearing more than just a few european parents freely let their children wander off alone

[surgeon_general]

I defense of parents who leave their kids in cars unattended: Many leave them with a loaded gun so they can defend themselves.

[Bor]

sometimes miles and miles away from where they live...expecting them to have the knowledge to take care of themselves and get back home safely

some say this is a good idea and allows the child to experience the wide world on their own and if they get scraped or injured then it's a vital lesson on what they shouldn't do

others say it's insane and can greatly endanger the child due to threats such as wild animals and kidnappers

how do you feel about parents like this?

First of all europe is a VERY big place with many different countries and many different kinds of parents. I live in Denmark and that is very different then Italy and Polen etc. Where are these stories coming from? How old are these kids? This story lacks so many details it is difficult to answer.

[heretic]

Letting school aged children wander around their own damn town used to just be called "parenting." It would have been weird in my day (and I'm only 38) for parents to follow their kids around all day, once they were 7 or 8 and showed some sense. Only people who buy into the lie that it's more dangerous now than it was 20 years ago thint this is strange. Crime is down, and stranger abduction is rare. I walked my younger siblings to the park all the time. That family in Maryland is just letting their kids grow up normally.

QFT. There is a perception that things have gotten far worse (lots of news reports feed into this), but the numbers actually say the opposite.

BTW, pushing 41 here.

[Kieran_Frost]

sometimes miles and miles away from where they live...expecting them to have the knowledge to take care of themselves and get back home safely
some say this is a good idea and allows the child to experience the wide world on their own and if they get scraped or injured then it's a vital lesson on what they shouldn't do
others say it's insane and can greatly endanger the child due to threats such as wild animals and kidnappers

how do you feel about parents like this?

It's perfectly normal and healthy to let your child learn independence and responsibility. From about 10 I would walk to school (about 2 miles) with my friend. We'd always be off with our group in the park, walking alone from our houses. It good and necessary to let kids explore and BE KIDS! I'd hate to have over-bearing parents who molly-coddle me.

That said, I don't think it's any different in Europe than America. Some parents let their kids play out in the world, some fear and over-protect them.

[Gordonstar]

If I ever have kids, I'll implant a computer chip subcutaneously so I can track their every move via an app.

Very good. Still most parents are not aware most kids do drugs or raunchy stuff on YouTube. We need shock devices on them.

Bye.

[CSTowle]

You can track cellphones, track their car, and look up their internet activity. You can be a pretty nosy parent nowadays if you want to be. Probably not healthy for your kids (or you), though.

[emac1790]

Europeans shouldn't let their kids wander off. Didn't they learn anything from Hansel and Gretel?

[Mister Mets]

There are two factors in the general discussion.

The first is the question of how much leeway parents should be given to make one of the most fundamental choices possible: How to raise their children. It's one thing to question the wisdom of a decision. It's another to make it a prosecutable offense. You could look at it from the other perspective, and consider how neighbors should react when they see what they believe to be a child in danger, although many of the supposed risks are drastically overblown.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...29e_story.html

The second factor is that location matters. What works in one place might not work in another. If an area has ten feet of snow most of the year, or is built for driving rather than walking, sending children out alone is a different decision than in a hypothetical European city where a playground may be half a kilometer from a kid's house. It's not enough to come up with one set of rules for everyone in the world.

[weetomuncher]

A rather strange thread. Pretty hard to generalise everyone in Europe like that...

That would be like saying hillbillies from Alabammy and street gangs in LA are the same because they're American...

[Shinglepants]

I have a 2 (and a half) year old daughter and to be honest I can't see me letting her stray too far from home before she's around 13-14 and even then I would need to know where she is going and with who. I guess a lot of it would depend on what her friends were like too.

There are a few people in my life who I feel were given too much freedom too soon and either experienced things/or developed habits that affect them negatively as adults. I'd want to protect the kid from that whilst not being too overbearing.

My Mum was a little over protective. I was barely allowed out of the garden till I was around 8 at which point I had to stay on the square. Wasn't allowed into the city centre till I was around 14-15. I think I turned out OK though!

[dancj]

My son is 13 and fairly free to go out if he wants to - but he never does - except for the 1.5 mile walk to and from school. I wouldn't have him going out alone after dark yet though.

My oldest daughter is 11 and she can go out with friends if she wants to.

I think that's around the right balance.

[MikeP]

*shakes fist* Damn Europeans!

[PretenderNX01]

That would be like saying hillbillies from Alabammy and street gangs in LA are the same because they're American...

Yeah that's the thing, Europe has many countries in it but even one nation like the USA has many sub-cultures and each state is going to have safer and rougher areas and in them different cities.

There are cities I think a kid can be fine in in my state and cities where I don't think so at all

[Paradox]

Heh, the first post comes off to me like an over-the-back-fence housewife's gossip. "Why, I hear over in EUROPE, they just let their children run FREE AS A BIRD! Can you IMAGINE? SCANDALOUS!"