Another head-shaker in Booju.

[velvetpage]

I'm continually amazed at the lack of understanding of some basic statistics. No, the world is not any more dangerous now than it was when you were a kid. No, kids are not more likely to be abducted, raped, murdered, or anything else. No, data from 25 years ago are not less accurate in terms of whether or not crimes were reported, though the convictions may be less accurate because of new methods of collecting data since then. No, I do not believe that the stats on stranger abduction have stayed almost exactly the same for the entire time governments have been collecting such stats, purely by coincidence, or that the oldest stats were wrong just because they're old.

I mean, really people. The chances of your child being abducted by a stranger at any point in their childhood are about one in twenty thousand. The chances of them being abducted by a non-custodial parent, if they have one, are one in a few hundred. The chances of them being abducted or hurt by Mom's new boyfriend, if she has one while they're kids, are about one in fifty. And the chances of you looking like an overprotective helicopter parent while you scream about stranger danger in a livejournal community are nearly 100%.

Get over it and let your kids develop age- and ability-appropriate independence, already.

Comments

[merlyn4401.livejournal.com]

No, no, because if you do THAT, you are playing ROULETTE with your child's life OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Please tell me you're snarking that somewhere. It's priceless.

[merlyn4401.livejournal.com]

See my journal.

[merlyn4401.livejournal.com]

It's up in sf_d.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

What got me is that you have the education AND the experience on the subject. YOU DO WIN. Those ARE learnings! When it comes to age appropriate activities for a normal child of that age, a teacher of that age who was taught about development of that age group, and has repeated exposure with a pool of children of varying backgrounds of that age group, THAT WOULD BE THE PERSON WHO WOULD KNOW.

I, in fact, do not have that knowledge about 9 year olds except Kayleigh, because of Finbar's quirks. Nothing MAJOR but I do have to adjust for his different (not slower or faster just different) development.

(Fascinating results from his latest battery of testing, btw, I should post about it.)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I loled at that. I even qualified my answer with the kids I have taught whom I WOULDN'T trust in that situation. Whether or not you trust your kid in that situation should be about their ability and age, not your own neuroses.

[lovmelovmycats.livejournal.com]

What is up with people and their fear of pedophiles? Sure, pedophila is nasty and bad, but it's pretty darned rare. I'm a zillion times more afraid of Lizzie falling off something and injuring herself, little daredevil...
Maybe when she's a few years older, and able to go to the park by herself, maybe then I'll develop abduction fears. I don't know.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid, the playground equipment they allowed (which health, safety and lawyers have got rid of now) such as the "battering ram" mass swing and rocking horse, the "witches hat" roundabout and the fact that the play surface was asphalt meant that going to the park was definitely an adventure....

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly afraid my kids will be abducted. They're far more likely to get hit by a car, so I'm taking pains to teach them to walk safely on sidewalks, or to get lost when they're out, so I'm teaching them their address and phone number. You know, things that little kids are supposed to know to keep themselves safe from/get themselves out of common situations.