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Post by Cranky on Jan 10, 2019 20:16:12 GMT -5
I was thinking about the Nostalgia thread and I brought up when I got my first bike at around 7-8, I became an "explorer".
Back then, I don't know if it was just my parents, but my father was fairly permissive in that he trusted us and that we would take care to not get into trouble...AND avoid trouble. By 10, he had no restriction on where I went, with the usual "be careful and make sure you get back by dinner time". I even remember him giving me a quarter when I went out to play, which was equal to $5-$7 today to buy some chips, Coke and a comic book. (Yup...5 cents for chips, 10 for MayWest, 10 cents for Coke and 10 cents for a comic book. Spend wisely!)
To be sure, from a very early age, around 6-7 years old, I got the "world is hell and you have to be careful" talk. Avoid "evil people", cars can maim or kill you, never trust or assume what the driver will do, always carry two dimes to make a phone call and never go out at night in isolated or questionable areas.
Fine, that was my parents.....my wife and a friend I spoke to yesterday, all baby boomers, it was close to the same. Not as trusting, but still, they would go out in groups and their parents weren't overly concerned or restrictive.
Sooo....the discussion is....how did your parents treat/trust you?
How did you bring up your children?
Is it safer or worse now for kinds? Or simply the same with a lot more awareness and noise?
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Post by franko on Jan 10, 2019 20:27:43 GMT -5
Or simply the same with a lot more awareness and noise? this. what's worse than helicopter parents is helicopter neighbours. wife operates a home daycare. takes the children to the park to play (2-4 year olds). let's them run around in the park, and swing on the swings. and "well-meaning" people will rebuke her for not being close enough to them because they might fall (!!!). these people doen't even know her and they are telling her what to do and how to do it. fwiw, hockey was a go on the side streets, cars would slow down and we'd move out of the way, the car would pass and the game would continue . . . and sometimes parents would come out and join us. the rules: "let us know if you're leaving the street, come in at meal time, be in by dark". |
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Post by Cranky on Jan 10, 2019 20:57:34 GMT -5
Or simply the same with a lot more awareness and noise? this. what's worse than helicopter parents is helicopter neighbours. wife operates a home daycare. takes the children to the park to play (2-4 year olds). let's them run around in the park, and swing on the swings. and "well-meaning" people will rebuke her for not being close enough to them because they might fall (!!!). these people doen't even know her and they are telling her what to do and how to do it. fwiw, hockey was a go on the side streets, cars would slow down and we'd move out of the way, the car would pass and the game would continue . . . and sometimes parents would come out and join us. the rules: "let us know if you're leaving the street, come in at meal time, be in by dark". If she needs some help, I can advise her how to tell them where or do to themselves to go is several languages. Fluently.  Where you allowed to go beyond "visual range"? At what age? |
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Post by franko on Jan 10, 2019 22:00:11 GMT -5
If she needs some help, I can advise her how to tell them where or do to themselves to go is several languages. Fluently. she speaks English and glare, fluently. I can't remember not being "free to roam". vague recollections pre-school, but even from 6 year old I would wander, ride bike, whatever. biggest trouble I ever got in was when I was 11 or 12 -- went to a movie one night, discovered it was a double bill, wound up getting home after midnight (walking); "where were you?" asked my mom when I got in; "there were two movies", I said' "oh, we were worried, try to let us know next time" she said as she went back to her drink and visit with neighbours (ya, she was worried all right). |
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Post by Polarice on Jan 11, 2019 11:09:15 GMT -5
I was thinking about the Nostalgia thread and I brought up when I got my first bike at around 7-8, I became an "explorer". Back then, I don't know if it was just my parents, but my father was fairly permissive in that he trusted us and that we would take care to not get into trouble...AND avoid trouble. By 10, he had no restriction on where I went, with the usual "be careful and make sure you get back by dinner time". I even remember him giving me a quarter when I went out to play, which was equal to $5-$7 today to buy some chips, Coke and a comic book. (Yup...5 cents for chips, 10 for MayWest, 10 cents for Coke and 10 cents for a comic book. Spend wisely!) To be sure, from a very early age, around 6-7 years old, I got the "world is hell and you have to be careful" talk. Avoid "evil people", cars can maim or kill you, never trust or assume what the driver will do, always carry two dimes to make a phone call and never go out at night in isolated or questionable areas. Fine, that was my parents.....my wife and a friend I spoke to yesterday, all baby boomers, it was close to the same. Not as trusting, but still, they would go out in groups and their parents weren't overly concerned or restrictive. Sooo....the discussion is....how did your parents treat/trust you? How did you bring up your children? Is it safer or worse now for kinds? Or simply the same with a lot more awareness and noise? I was free to roam once I learned how to ride my bike. Then again I grew up in the country where there were about a dozen kids my age to play with, baseball, football, hockey, fishing, hunting etc. We built tree houses, forts in the woods etc....what a great time to be a kid. The rules were easy, behave yourself, be respectful of the neighbours, do your chores before you left to do whatever, be home for supper and be home by dark if you went out again. Being in the country had it's advantages when it came to having freedom, even in today's world. Though it would be hard to imagine an 8 year old getting his first 22 though these days. lol |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jan 11, 2019 13:39:30 GMT -5
Mom and dad were from the Yarmouth/Comeauville area of Nova Scotia ... we had rules in the house, but it wasn't over the top ... my parents didn't sweat the small stuff ... we had to walk a few blocks to get to the outdoor rink and I had friends that lived 'a few miles' away and I was allowed to walk/bike to them ... used to go to the Ottawa Exhibition with my friends every year ... walked home from Landsdowne Park all the way to Churchill Ave (not sure of the distance) all by myself ... I had bus fare so if I pooped out I could always hop on the bus ... moved to the other side of the west end and used to take the bus back to Westboro to hang with the friends I grew up with ... I was 15/16 at the time ... fast forward to Dis Jr ... we didn't put a lot of rules on him ... we never once locked him out of the internet ... as he got older his friend base got larger and more spread out and if he wanted to see them it was no problem ... some of those friends are in the village he now lives in and they have their bonfires and beer ... I suspect he was doing that when he was young, too ... we also got more flexible with curfews so long as we knew where he was ... if he came home late and we didn't know where he was he'd hear about ... that said, though, he could be 15/16 and I'd have some concerns if he took the buses by himself in Ottawa these days ... kids still do it and Dis Jr would be one of them ... Kingston is not without it's bus trolls too, but the risk is a lot less ...
Cheers.
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