S/O the article on criminal charges for leaving kid in car

Re: S/O the article on criminal charges for leaving kid in car

• boogerbearoriginal member

  June 2014

  I read that a month or so ago and I thought it brought up some good points. We actually talked about this whole concept - parental oversight vs. not and where to draw the line - at work yesterday and it was interesting hearing from some of the 65+yr olds and their experiences growing up.
  
  One thing that I think gets brushed over sometimes, is that the problem with kids being left to their own devices is that some kids are mean/bullies/etc. and it's not all sunshine and splashing in the stream fun. Kids get beat up, picked on, molested, etc by each other.  It feels like the "free range" type people don't mention those things.  I don't worry about my LO getting kidnapped by some random stranger (god helps whoever takes him, haha) I worry about him getting picked on in school or doing something stupid/reckless and hurting himself.
  
  Honestly I think finding the line between letting kids have independence and protecting them is really hard. And as a culture we seem to have shifted to valuing keeping our kids safe above all else. Unfortunately, like was pointed out in the other thread, accidents will happen in seemingly safe situations too.  My older LO is currently sporting a black eye because he fell playing in our living room and hit his eye on the window sill since our front window extends down to just above the floor (if that makes any sense lol). 
  

  
  
  

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• sdlaura member

  June 2014

  I totally agree with this point you made, @Booger+Bear:

  Honestly I think finding the line between letting kids have independence and protecting them is really hard. And as a culture we seem to have shifted to valuing keeping our kids safe above all else.

  The comments on the article that the editors chose to print in the following month's magazine issue were very good.  Most of them were totally in agreement with the article and thought it should be required reading for all parents, while one parent said that even if you want your kids to be able to run around outside and play, there are no other kids for them to play with, since all the other kids are super scheduled all the time.  Then one guy said that the downside of being allowed to play in the woods was that he was molested by the older boys.  It's one of those things where maybe 95% of kids will benefit from more freedom, while 5% (or whatever) will suffer damage.

  I already have trouble with how much freedom to give my daughter, and she's not even 2 years old.  Like, our house is reasonably child-proofed, so how many minutes is it OK to leave her alone while I go upstairs to do something, you know?  I imagine it's a struggle to find that line for all parents.

  BFP #1 9/2010 (lost our baby at 21 weeks) BFP #2 8/2011 (ectopic pregnancy) BFP #3 10/2011 (chemical pregnancy) BFP #4 12/2011 (Abigail born 8/15/12) BFP #5 5/2013 (Griffin born 1/23/14 with heart defects, now repaired!)

  
  

   

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• MissDemeanor member

  June 2014

  Yesterday I was buying dog food in a huge heavy bag. In and out in less than 2 minutes. But because baby, I'm fairly sure it was 20. There should be more drive through things. I think my FFFC a while ago was that I wish we lived in 1950's Pleasantville so baby would be safe if left alone.

  
  

  This article does have me thinking about how much we do because it's right, and how much we do out of fear of what other people would say.

  

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• Soap1 member

  June 2014

  When I have all the kids with me, I will totally run inside to pick something up and leave them in the car as long as I can see the car the whole time.  The car is always running via remote start (the keys aren't in it) and locked.  I do not think I'm taking a risk that's any greater than bringing them in would be.  In fact, I'd be more worried bringing them in - one of them could dart into the parking lot as I'm trying to wrangle all three.
  
  I think it's absurd that there's some minor possibility I'd be brought up on criminal charges for that.
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  

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