My 5th grader is 10 as well. There are several kids in our neighborhood who come home alone after school for a few hours until thier parents get home. DH and I work form home, and homeschool so we have been the "parents on deck" for the neighborhood on more than one occasion. We also allow our 10 year old to stay home for short periods of time (an hour or less). A neighbor usually knows we are gone and is keeping an eye out for her, or she is required to stay in the house. We have cell phones so she can reach us if she needs to, and she knows darn near all of our neighbors if there were any sort of emergency she could not handle.
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
~Albert Einstein
What about: iceskating, gymnastics, swimming, diving, volleyball, track and those are just off the top of my head when it comes to wearing uniforms or costumes that are of the not-so-subtle sex appeal side variety.
Not to mention that if MORE of those things happened while a parent or adult was in the home it might be LESS dangerous for the child to be home alone!
But since the statistics don't give that information, one doesn't know.
I have to agree some with Sild, in regards to young dancers. At least from what I see around here. In the recent university Homecoming parade there were a number of dance studios and cheerleading groups with very, very young girls in it. Their moves were ENTIRELY inappropriate. 5 yo girls should not be shaking their chests and grinding their hips. It was disgusting. However, when the university dance team came through they were doing real, artful dance. They performed moves that looked like a professional dance team. My girls have taken dance, and may do so in the future, but there is only one studio in town that I would ever take them to because they teach something more in line with the university team. Oddly enough, they were also the only studio in town that didn't walk in the parade.
As for cheerleading-I remember that from high school as I had friends on the squad. It *is* hard and dangerous and there is no way my girls would be on a squad without males on it. Why? Because I've seen entirely too many girls nearly hit the ground head first because their TINY female co-cheerleaders were not strong enough to catch them. I remember one girl from high school who was literally caught by her hair about one inch from the floor. Male cheerleaders tend to be very large and very strong.
Mobility isn't necessarily the reason for the skimpy outfits though. My HS squad wore sweatsuit uniforms in cold weather, and still managed to do all their jumps and flippy things. The outfits were formfitting and stretchy but the girls were still covered up.
I realize all children mature at different ages, many 10 year olds are very mature, but imo they are not mature enough to be left at home alone. That last link support my views as to exactly why I feel the way I do.
I will not be living in illinois whan my 10 year is 12.
MTV and VH1 is off-limits in my house for the dds. I will sometimes watch CMT, but even some of those videos annoy me. They're not nearly so sexual though.
I was approached too, about 10-11 years old, walking home from school. One part of the route was a long quiet street with villas on either side, hidden behind clipped hedges. A guy in a car followed me slowly. As he held the backdoor of the car open, he coasted next to me trying to convince me to get in the car. Nobody had told me what to do, but I ignored him at first, then told him no. Meanwhile I calculated that I was about to pass in front of a friend's house, so there, I decided, I would turn into my friend's driveway and pretend that I lived in that house. I figured that would be sufficient to scare him off (possibly parents at home). Just before I got to my friend's house the guy gave up and drove off. I never told anyone. After that incident, I always walked on the other side of the street, so that a car would not be able to sneak up on me again, a habit I kept for decades.
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That's good, but again, your stats don't support that.
PumpkinAngel
In our area, cheerleading isn't just done by the girls however.
PumpkinAngel
What about: iceskating, gymnastics, swimming, diving, volleyball, track and those are just off the top of my head when it comes to wearing uniforms or costumes that are of the not-so-subtle sex appeal side variety.
In both men and women.
PumpkinAngel
Not to mention that if MORE of those things happened while a parent or adult was in the home it might be LESS dangerous for the child to be home alone!
But since the statistics don't give that information, one doesn't know.
I have to agree some with Sild, in regards to young dancers. At least from what I see around here. In the recent university Homecoming parade there were a number of dance studios and cheerleading groups with very, very young girls in it. Their moves were ENTIRELY inappropriate. 5 yo girls should not be shaking their chests and grinding their hips. It was disgusting. However, when the university dance team came through they were doing real, artful dance. They performed moves that looked like a professional dance team. My girls have taken dance, and may do so in the future, but there is only one studio in town that I would ever take them to because they teach something more in line with the university team. Oddly enough, they were also the only studio in town that didn't walk in the parade.
As for cheerleading-I remember that from high school as I had friends on the squad. It *is* hard and dangerous and there is no way my girls would be on a squad without males on it. Why? Because I've seen entirely too many girls nearly hit the ground head first because their TINY female co-cheerleaders were not strong enough to catch them. I remember one girl from high school who was literally caught by her hair about one inch from the floor. Male cheerleaders tend to be very large and very strong.
I realize all children mature at different ages, many 10 year olds are very mature, but imo they are not mature enough to be left at home alone. That last link support my views as to exactly why I feel the way I do.
I will not be living in illinois whan my 10 year is 12.
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