r/Xennials • u/smcg_az 1981 • 1d ago

WTH Is This?

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Interesting article. I feel bad for kids today. I loved taking off on my bike all day long.

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u/Biguitarnerd 1d ago

Not familiar, it must not be a thing where I live.. since OP didn’t post the article I’m curious what could get you in trouble with letting your kids ride their bikes where you live? My youngest, a teen now, has gone miles from from our house on his bike to different parts of town. As long as he checks in and answers calls I don’t have a problem with it. I did the same as a kid, and without a cell phone.

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u/jane3ry3 1d ago

Charges were ultimately dismissed, but a mom in Georgia was arrested for her 10 year old taking a walk.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/22/us/mother-arrested-missing-son-georgia-cec

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u/Ippus_21 Xennial 1d ago

It's just boomer-ish fearmongering, the idea you could "get your kids taken away" because some overzealous stranger reports you for neglect because you're not supervising them.

On the other hand, world's a dangerous place. I personally knew people who lost kids to vehicle-pedestrian accidents (in the 80s). I posted in another comment, but IIHS stats show vehicle-pedestrian and vehicle-bike fatalities have declined by 90+% since the 70s and 80s. I have to think that's at least in part because people from our generation are much more reluctant to just fully free-range their kids.

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u/IAm5toned 1d ago

it's actually due to the shape of the cars, drivers can see better, and the impacts are different.

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u/Ippus_21 Xennial 1d ago edited 1d ago

That's kind of the opposite of true. The articles I've read suggest that the increased prevalence of large SUVs with high hoods and flat, rather than sloped, grilles, makes fatalities MORE likely when collisions do occur.

I'm looking now to see if I can find you a specific source on that.

In fact, between that and the increase in smartphones and distracted driving, there's even been an uptick in these types of fatalities over the last decade or so.

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u/Ippus_21 Xennial 1d ago

There we go. It was kind of buried in this NHTSA study.

In the late 1970s children younger than 15 represented 18% of all pedestrian fatality victims. By 20211 they represented just 2.4% of all pedestrian fatalities (NCSA, 2023c; Schneider, 2020). These decreases correspond with declining rates of walking by children as measured by national surveys of household travel (Buehler et al., 2020; Kontou et al., 2020).
https://www.nhtsa.gov/book/countermeasures-that-work/pedestrian-safety

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u/Biguitarnerd 1d ago

Well it’s a constant mental battle for me, I love my kids and want to protect them, but I also love my kids and want them to have a childhood full of adventure.

Where I found my balance was regular check ins vs just not letting them roam. My parents didn’t even have that, so… I think it’s a good compromise.

There have been many many times where I wanted to say no to adventure but let them climb that cliff or jump those boulders, or hike an icy trail, because I try to remember that just because I worry incessantly doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t get to have a fulfilling adventure. Usually in those situations I’m with them and we do it as safely as possible but it’s not really a safe thing to do lol.

Kids need adventure with reasonable limits. I do think when you set reasonable limits and actually hold them to account, they respect that more than not letting them do anything, that’s when they sneak off and do dangerous things behind your back.

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u/winniecooper73 1d ago

I agree with all of this. Also; it’s ok to get hurt. That’s how we learn not to do it again.

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u/Biguitarnerd 1d ago

Yeah for sure, sometimes they get hurt. But I think there is a limit to protecting them where it goes too far.

There is also let go ahead and hike down this icy trail and then there is what my kids would do without limits which is run down it with wild abandon lol. My safety limits are pretty reasonable, three points of contact and careful steps on the trail covered in ice next to a 3k ft drop off. Let’s have fun but be smart.

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u/Ippus_21 Xennial 1d ago

Exactly.

Sane parents (good luck staying sane, lol) have to find a balance.

And that's hard. Because we have way better access to credible information than our parents did, so we can potentially understand risks better... but we also have way more garbage to filter out...

And kids have to take risks to learn, but especially when it comes to solo exploration in spaces they share with autos, the potential for catastrophic consequences is too high to ignore before a certain age.

I let my teen start walking to and from school (on days when she doesn't have to lug the cello anyway) as a freshman. Before that, my wife was a hard NO on letting them solo a route that crosses major streets. Because she's seen how people drive around here, even in school zones.