[throwaway1492]

My daughter will be nine next month. My kids have freedom and do a lot of stuff, but I don't let my kids out of my sight. I'm benign about it so they don't notice. People say I'm a helicopter parent. Those people can piss right off.

[huimang]

This is the safest era we've ever been in. Stifling independence over incredibly rare hypothetical situations is not the way.

[myth_drannon]

Too many cars, teenagers driving and on the cellphone. I'm not afraid from violence but from cars.

[zabzonk]

how does hovering over your child prevent either of you being hit when a car mounts the pavement?

[ip26]

Have you seen how oblivious young kids are around cars? It’s not about a runaway car driving down the sidewalk.

[myth_drannon]

Well, in many suburbs there is no pavement (in Canada at least). Children play and too many times they just run into the street or just walking and without thinking move 1 meter sideways. Also some playgrounds are very height like 2-3 meters and children fall from it (like flat with back and head on the sand). Anyways, maybe I need a therapy to calm me down.

[ip26]

Nine is widely considered too young to stay home alone, let alone wander the world alone.

[LocalH]

This is a modern invention. Kids of that age routinely explored the world on their own in the before time. Then social media happened, and everyone thinks that everyone else is a risk. Everyone thinks they're doing good when they call the cops upon seeing a child by themselves.

[M95D]

I went to kindergarten alone every day at age 6. Almost everybody on my street did that. It was a 1 km walk. At age 7 I walked every day alone to school 2 km away and I remember it took exactly 25 minutes.

[amanaplanacanal]

I walked to school by myself starting at age 6. Everybody I knew did. Is the world more dangerous now than it was in the 1960s?

[zabzonk]

how the heck are your kids going to manage in later life?

[jjallen]

By being adults like the rest of us?

Being a kid is not the same as being an adult

[inanutshellus]

Funny thing is, last week I read an article about people hiriing "concierge service" for their children once they're in college, because their children can't function without handholding. I couldn't find the article I read but this is a similar one:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-the-ultimate-...

[hiatus]

I don't think anyone equated being a kid to being an adult. Your experiences as a child shape the adult you might become. If you are used to a parental safety net always catching you or preventing you from harm, what will happen when the net is removed?

[zabzonk]

if you have a big daddy controlling your life for 18 years or so, then i suspect you will not be "adults like the rest of us".

[Scarblac]

They don't magically turn into adults the day they turn 18, you need to let them learn how to become one in small steps.

They learn in part by trying things out and messing up, and they won't do that if they're constantly being watched.

[hiatus]

You likely grew up in a period of more danger than your kid. Did you parents behave as you do now? Did you turn out okay?

[quesera]

I agree with your sentiment, but your statement is pure survivor bias.

[MadSudaca]

It’s tough. Presumably, your parents or grandparents didn’t have to raise their kids in an environment where they were constantly barraged with horrific news stories such as these.

[jncfhnb]

Does your daughter have to piss off too?