Child Independence

1,182 Views | 17 Replies | Last: 19 days ago by Waco1947
Mitch Blood Green
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I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/
Danielsjackson114
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Only in a liberal shythole you can't let them walk alone but can let them chop off their body parts

The left is the devil, that's for sure
Mitch Blood Green
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Danielsjackson114 said:

Only in a liberal shythole you can't let them walk alone but can let them chop off their body parts

The left is the devil, that's for sure


Virginia is a "liberal ****hole?" Or is it you are a one with synonym imbecile with nothing to contribute?
GrowlTowel
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Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/

I saw this story the other day. What I could not believe is that there was a district attorney that actually prosecuted these charges - which leads me to believe that something else is in play that is not being reported.

Even if allowing the 5 year to wander near a pond is negligent, the appropriate response is the police investigation and even a visit from child protective services - but it would stop there. I just cannot believe a DA (of any political affiliation) would take time and resources to prosecute this offense.
Mitch Blood Green
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GrowlTowel said:

Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/

I saw this story the other day. What I could not believe is that there was a district attorney that actually prosecuted these charges - which leads me to believe that something else is in play that is not being reported.

Even if allowing the 5 year to wander near a pond is negligent, the appropriate response is the police investigation and even a visit from child protective services - but it would stop there. I just cannot believe a DA (of any political affiliation) would take time and resources to prosecute this offense.


My honest answer? No ****ing way I'm letting my 5 year old run around alone. No way. I may let him think he's alone but I will have created a bubble for his safety. We worry about people but truth is that there's lots of danger that isn't caused by intent.
Realitybites
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I suspect that my independence greatly increased after I learned to ride a bicycle well and my friends and I used to do stuff by ourselves. Probably age 7.

Five is pretty young.
Forest Bueller III
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Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/

It was a gated community so there is that. I know when we moved to Winona I was able to climb through the barbed wire fence behind the house and into the woods and get to a pond back behind there, probably a lot closer in reality, than I thought it was as a late 4 early 5 year old. I had a 7-year-old brother who I'm sure went with me. This was not on a street with cars, this was in the country back in the woods. I can't tell someone how to parent, but in the first grade at Chilton we walked to school very often, about half a mile. This is a tough one. It's not 1968 any longer and suburban streets can be dangerous. Actually, walking on a street sidewalk alone at age 5 I would have an issue with.
Waco1947
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Realitybites said:

I suspect that my independence greatly increased after I learned to ride a bicycle well and my friends and I used to do stuff by ourselves. Probably age 7.

Five is pretty young.


Bicycle = freedom. My kids had bikes at 7 and ran all over the neighborhood, but there was some risk.
J.R.
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Waco1947 said:

Realitybites said:

I suspect that my independence greatly increased after I learned to ride a bicycle well and my friends and I used to do stuff by ourselves. Probably age 7.

Five is pretty young.


Bicycle = freedom. My kids had bikes at 7 and ran all over the neighborhood, but there was some risk.

yup. best be home by the time the street lights were on . We were too busy exploring Carrollton's fine sewer system!
Forest Bueller III
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Waco1947 said:

Realitybites said:

I suspect that my independence greatly increased after I learned to ride a bicycle well and my friends and I used to do stuff by ourselves. Probably age 7.

Five is pretty young.


Bicycle = freedom. My kids had bikes at 7 and ran all over the neighborhood, but there was some risk.

We had over an acre so the outside edge of the property was our race track with the bike. Mom and dad didn't let me hit the main road until age 10 or 11. We were on a county road that had traffic blowing through at 60 mph. Not as safe as a suburban road. Once I got to Chilton proper, about a half mile drive it was much safer. But that strip right in front of the house was not safe at all.
Mitch Blood Green
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Forest Bueller III said:

Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/

It was a gated community so there is that. I know when we moved to Winona I was able to climb through the barbed wire fence behind the house and into the woods and get to a pond back behind there, probably a lot closer in reality, than I thought it was as a late 4 early 5 year old. I had a 7-year-old brother who I'm sure went with me. This was not on a street with cars, this was in the country back in the woods. I can't tell someone how to parent, but in the first grade at Chilton we walked to school very often, about half a mile. This is a tough one. It's not 1968 any longer and suburban streets can be dangerous. Actually, walking on a street sidewalk alone at age 5 I would have an issue with.


The biggest threat to my security was my brothers. I'd go see a double matinee Kung Fu flick and have every Bruce Lee move tried on me on the walk home.

3 to 5 boys who just watch a King Fu movie is security. A 5 year old alone? And no movie? There's risk there. Or just watched Old Yeller? Kiss your ass good bye.

Milk carton for that kid.
Redbrickbear
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Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/


Yea

Hate that safety-ism has taken away a lot of childhood freedom.

But then we have cases like in N. Carolina were a family let their kids walk to the store...and sadly one got killed.

[In Gastonia, North Carolina, a 7-year-old boy named Legend Jenkins was struck and killed by a car while walking to a store with his 10-year-old brother, resulting in criminal charges against their parents]

I honestly don't know what the right policy is.....not let kids go around unattended....let me go around alone and take the risk that some will be run over by the high traffic volume of modern America.

Its not an easy problem to solve.....
Harrison Bergeron
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Five might be a little young - but a pretty controlled environment.

Shocking a D.A. would take the time to prosecute here.

Is she had strangled them all with workout bands she's be a feminist hero.

We live in a stupid society.
Waco1947
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Harrison Bergeron said:

Five might be a little young - but a pretty controlled environment.

Shocking a D.A. would take the time to prosecute here.

Is she had strangled them all with workout bands she's be a feminist hero.

We live in a stupid society.

That comment is a pretty impressive collection of assumptions masquerading as an argument --always a favorite false argument for many.

And the "she'd be a feminist hero" line is just lazy political nonsense. You can't prove your point by inventing a ridiculous hypothetical and then assigning it to an entire political movement.

"Women would get away with it" and "we live in a stupid society" aren't arguments. They're just assertions dressed up as outrage.
Harrison Bergeron
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Waco1947 said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

Five might be a little young - but a pretty controlled environment.

Shocking a D.A. would take the time to prosecute here.

Is she had strangled them all with workout bands she's be a feminist hero.

We live in a stupid society.

That comment is a pretty impressive collection of assumptions masquerading as an argument --always a favorite false argument for many.

And the "she'd be a feminist hero" line is just lazy political nonsense. You can't prove your point by inventing a ridiculous hypothetical and then assigning it to an entire political movement.

"Women would get away with it" and "we live in a stupid society" aren't arguments. They're just assertions dressed up as outrage.

I think you sort of missed the part where I claimed to be making an argument.

You really need to learn basic reading comprehension - of course you're the guy that runs from specifics and lives in a make believe world where "limited government" = authoritarianism.
J.R.
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sad that isn't available to kids like it used to be. That is where you learn stuff. Oddly enough, I live in a city of 15M people which is defiantly the safest city I have ever been in. Little kids walking around the big city alone , riding pub. transport. I'm 7 and up.
Forest Bueller III
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Mitch Blood Green said:

Forest Bueller III said:

Mitch Blood Green said:

I don't know how old I was when I did stuff alone. It could have been 5 and I dam sure didn't live in a gated community. I have clear memory that I wasn't allowed at home during my moms "stories"

Check out this article from USA TODAY:

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old walk alone. A debate over modern parenting ensued.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2026/09/09/virginia-mom-abuse-charge-5-year-old-walked-alone-parenting-debate/91670047007/

It was a gated community so there is that. I know when we moved to Winona I was able to climb through the barbed wire fence behind the house and into the woods and get to a pond back behind there, probably a lot closer in reality, than I thought it was as a late 4 early 5 year old. I had a 7-year-old brother who I'm sure went with me. This was not on a street with cars, this was in the country back in the woods. I can't tell someone how to parent, but in the first grade at Chilton we walked to school very often, about half a mile. This is a tough one. It's not 1968 any longer and suburban streets can be dangerous. Actually, walking on a street sidewalk alone at age 5 I would have an issue with.


The biggest threat to my security was my brothers. I'd go see a double matinee Kung Fu flick and have every Bruce Lee move tried on me on the walk home.

3 to 5 boys who just watch a King Fu movie is security. A 5 year old alone? And no movie? There's risk there. Or just watched Old Yeller? Kiss your ass good bye.

Milk carton for that kid.

Yea same pretty much, had an older and younger brother we were spaced 2 years apart each, always had a posse with me.
Waco1947
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Harrison Bergeron said:

Waco1947 said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

Five might be a little young - but a pretty controlled environment.

Shocking a D.A. would take the time to prosecute here.

Is she had strangled them all with workout bands she's be a feminist hero.

We live in a stupid society.

That comment is a pretty impressive collection of assumptions masquerading as an argument --always a favorite false argument for many.

And the "she'd be a feminist hero" line is just lazy political nonsense. You can't prove your point by inventing a ridiculous hypothetical and then assigning it to an entire political movement.

"Women would get away with it" and "we live in a stupid society" aren't arguments. They're just assertions dressed up as outrage.

I think you sort of missed the part where I claimed to be making an argument.

You really need to learn basic reading comprehension - of course you're the guy that runs from specifics and lives in a make believe world where "limited government" = authoritarianism.

If you weren't making an argument, then what exactly was the point of the comment?
You made a series of sweeping assertions that the D.A. would be shocked to prosecute, that a woman who committed a completely different and grotesque act would somehow be celebrated as a "feminist hero," and that "we live in a stupid society." Those aren't arguments simply because you didn't label them arguments; they're claims, and claims are still open to challenge.

And telling me I lack "basic reading comprehension" doesn't answer a single criticism I made. It's just an attempt to substitute an insult for a response.
As for your accusation that I live in a "make-believe world" where limited government equals authoritarianism, that's another assertion about my position rather than an argument against anything I've actually said.
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