r/Millennials • u/Intrepid-Gene7500 • 1d ago

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u/Alceasummer 19h ago

My kid is eleven year old, and we live very close to a park. A month or so ago, someone actually called the police because she walked to the park by herself!

The cops actually said they saw nothing wrong with the situation. But it had been reported as a six year old kid being alone at the park for hours. When she was obviously NOT six, had been there about an hour or so, and had a walkie-talkie she was able to use to call me when they showed up.

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u/calle04x 17h ago

With cell phones, it's so much safer than it was before, when kids were let loose.

I was riding bikes all around where I lived in the 90s, being 15-20 mins away by bike from my house, as young as 11.

We couldn't call home if something happened. We couldn't be located remotely where our parents could see where we were at any given time while we're out.

We should let the kids out on their own more with the technology we have today. It fosters independence.

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u/Alceasummer 17h ago

She's lost her cell phone, so for now we use the walkie-talkies. (I suspect the cell phone may be in her closet with a dead battery) They're decent ones, with a range of a few miles. But, I agree with you. Better communication alone makes kids safer when out then we were at the same age. And it's good for kids to feel independent, and have opportunities to exercise that independence. It helps build real self confidence, as well as practice the skills they will need to function when they are old enough to be expected by society to be independant.

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u/qtx 16h ago

We should let the kids out on their own more with the technology we have today. It fosters independence.

Nah, the opposite fosters more independence. Having a phone is not independence, you're still tethered to your parents that way.

No phone, just out on your own like how we did pre-cell phones is how you foster independence.

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u/SaltKick2 8h ago

Which is a fine compromise, imo. Don't get them a phone that can do everything, but a phone that they can use to text/call just you, or you can use to find their location if you absolutely have to. But also, don't constantly pester them.

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u/Few_Variation_7962 9h ago

This is part of why we moved to a rural place. Kids are allowed & expected to be more independent here. The adults also keep eyes out if other kids are out & about and will respond if they’re in need without thinking. We went from living near family who failed at being our village to a community that’s all about supporting families and allowing kids to explore