At 12:57 PM 1/13/2003 -0600, Paul T. O'Leary wrote: >I guess my more general question is, how has this happened? >Has that much changed? Yes. There is the assumption of "stranger danger" - ie. that your child could be snatched from the streets, beat up, exposed to bad influences, or otherwise harmed if out there alone.
One of the elements that increases the feeling of "stranger danger" is that people do not know the members of their community. They don't know the members of their community because they drive everywhere. They drive everywhere because they don't feel safe. Get it? Also - even 25 years ago, there was a large percentage of families that had one parent staying at home and/or watching out for other neighborhood kids. SOMEONE, even if ut wasn't your mom/dad probably saw you passing by every day. This allowed your parents to feel more comfrtable letting you walk alone. Again - this comes back to knowing the neighbors and a sense of community. But there are other elements: >Are students further from their schools geographically now? Yes, they are. Larger lots, wider streets, bigger parking lots make things - including schools farther away. Building neighborhood schools that are part of the community in every way is not the norm any more. There are many reasons for this, but schools just aren't where they used to be in relation to kids. There is also a general feeling in the country that you are a bad parent if you let your kids run around unsupervised. Again, we get into circular arguements: * Parents drive their kids to school because "there's too much traffic for them to walk. It's unsafe" * Parents driving their kids to school create traffic. * Parents see all the cars/SUVs/vans on the way to school - thinks it's dangerous * Traffic congestion around the school reinforces the idea of traffic danger * If there is congestion, there will be a push to widen the street or build a bigger parking lot/drop-iff zone. * Traffic then goes faster because there is less congestion. * You get the idea. School buses mean kids have to walk to the corner and stand there waiting for the bus. Moms/dads are too busy to walk with them and/or "it isn't safe" for the kids to walk to the stop alone. Driving means you can see your kid right to the door - even if you endanger someone else's kid. That child obviously has bad parents because s/he didn't get safely delivered. Also - crossing guards are no longer funded beyond the elementary school level. Or they don't exist at all. Or drivers ignore them. There is no longer a social understanding that one MUST slow down in a school zone and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. It just isn't part of our culture anymore. Whew! And all that from someone without kids. Walking kids are an indicator specicies of livable communities in the same way that bicyclists are. When you don't see them, you know there is something seriously wrong. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
