[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?