Re: Mother arrested because 10 year old son walked alone to store

On Feb 23, 2025 at 11:04:59 AM PST, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com>
wrote:

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

Feb 22, 2025 at 9:18:41 PM PST, shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com>:

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:44:06 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:

 

Three months ago, a mother took one child to the doctor. While at the
doctor, her 10 year old son, left home alone, walked a mile to the
store. Now, he didn't have her permission but it wasn't a big deal for
the mother as her son hadn't gone anywhere he wasn't familiar with.

 

The cop that showed up at the house arrested her for reckless
endangerment, stating that it was illegal (in Georgia) for a 10 year old
to walk alone.

 

I guess I broke the law as a child more than once.

 

All the time. We weren't just walking down to the store, either.

 

On a typical Saturday, we would set out on our bikes first thing in the
morning and be gone all day. (We had to be gone before dad got going or we'd
end up having to do yard work all day.) Our rule was we had to be home for
dinner before the streetlights came on, but for the rest of the day, our
parents had no idea where we were while we were out in the woods miles away
riding the trails, building forts, playing ball, etc. Today, that would be
(absurdly) chargeable as criminal child abuse/neglect.

 
Yeah. My mother just expected us to return "eventually", but don't be
late for dinner. I rode my bike all over the place. I once rode all the
north on Sheridan Road, which makes it through Kenosha but ends at the
south boundary of Racine.
 
I crossed the Cheddar Curtain and lived to tell about it!
 

The frequent response is, "Well, we live in more dangerous times now", but
that's completely false. Per the FBI crime statistics, it's actually much
*safer* now in terms of child assault/abduction/murder than it was in the
"good old days" of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.

 
Is this specific to being kidnapped by strangers or all child
abductions? I thought abductions by non-custodial parents were steady.
As far as adults in position of authority over the child, or a relative
or adult known to the family, I have no idea.
 
But one aspect of times are more dangerous today, well, if parents drive
children to and from school at a school that was intended to have child
walk, the few children who walk are in danger of being struck by the
SUVs of the parents driving their kids.

Kids in my city aren't allowed to walk or bike or skateboard to school
anymore. The safety lunatics have eliminated that option from childhood in our
town. The kids either have to ride the school bus or they have to be dropped
off in a car. No walking, bike riding or skateboarding, because there's a
pedophile lurking behind every bush. Since several of the schools in town are
either in or adjacent to residential neighborhoods, this has resulted in the
absurd situation where kids who literally live across the street from school
have to be driven 50 feet from their driveway to the school driveway. If the
kid walks out his front door and runs across the street to school, s/he gets
detention.

Government: always making things better.