Are you "Anxious Parents"?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-30-2006
Are you "Anxious Parents"?
1765
Wed, 11-15-2006 - 8:24am

Today's MSN News features this article

Sabina

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:23am
There is no reason for her to go alone. I live right to the busstop and I don't find it a hassle to stand out there for 5-10 minutes. All the other parents are there too.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:31am
My daughter also only had half days in kindergarten. She would go to a sitter either the beginning half or afternoon half. I was worried everyday when she would get off the bus because she had to cross the street to go the sitters house. I know the bus driver would watch her and the sitter was supposed to be at the door too but I know some days she would be changing a diaper or doing something else as my daughter would tell me. I was sooo happy when that year was over.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:36am
My point is that everyone thinks that at age 10 you can just leave them home so you don't have to hear them whine where they don't want to go. When I was a kid, you had no choice. Where your parents went, you went.
Parents nowadays let their children run their lives (not saying you do but I have seen sooo many parents who do whatever their kids want to do).
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:37am
Thank you. I thought I was in the minority here!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:39am
Because everyone thinks that magic age to leave a child home is 10. When I was a kid, you went at all times when and where your parents wanted to go. There were no ifs or buts. What is so important that you can not take your child alone with you?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:42am
At age 10, I personally don't think they should be making the decision of where and when you can go someplace. Kids nowadays are treated like they are adults. Everyone wants "kids to be kids" but they are pushing them to act like adults at such young ages. A 10 year old should not have to be responsible to take care of the house and other kids for a long period of time because they need to learn responsibility.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:44am
Maybe when she is in 5th grade but that is about as early as I would let her. By then, my son will be in kindergarten so she will probably never go by herself!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:45am
I meant by the word "trouble": drinking, drugs, early sexual relations, getting arrested. Not just doing minor kids trouble.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:51am

I don't think there is anything magic about age 10. Most children seem to be ready to handle being alone for a couple of hours at a stretch somewhere between ages 10-12. That says nothing about no longer needing to be parented.

"When I was a kid, you went at all times when and where your parents wanted to go. There were no ifs or buts. What is so important that you can not take your child alone with you?"

That was YOU personally and what your parents chose to do. I assure you that was not my experience or the experiences of all of my friends. The girls at 10 were already babysitting, the boys disappeared off to the playground or woods for hours (so did the girls but the boys didn't usually babysit). By the time I was 11 and starting in 7th grade I commuted by bike to the middle school about 3-4 miles away from home. I was FAR from the only one. It simply wasn't the norm for parent to drop their kids off or pick them up and there were no school buses. No parent thought anything of kids coming home to an empty house sometimes or staying at home when they wanted to run errands. Why? The kids were already on their own for quite a bit of time every day. It really wasn't necessary to drag them out on every last errand that had to be done. My mom was the only one who WOH, btw.

And, no, the kids didn't get into big trouble or end up on drugs or pregnant. Most of my friends ended up at Ivy league universities. The parents were heavily involved in their childrens' lives and had quite high expectations for them (it was a very wealthy city).

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2005
Sat, 11-18-2006 - 9:52am
There are drive by shootings in your neighborhood? Rape has always existed, incest has been there since the time of the bible, sexual predators are nothing new - hello lolita - so once again what is inherently more dangerous now - except that the crimes are now reported and acknowledged? In fact violent crime is less than it was in the 80's and the use of drugs among teens in less than it was in the 70's. I'd say things are actually safer now. In fact when I think of babysitting when I did - I did not have 911 to rely on. I actually had to know the different numbers of the police, fire department, hospitals, etc. Actually, seems safer to me.
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