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As a kid, my friends and I mostly had free rein. Be home by dinner time or dark were the most common rules. When school was in session, we'd have a few hours to run around the neighborhood. In the summer it wasn't uncommon to find us riding bikes to the next town miles away. Parents didn't ever know where we were going or what we were doing. As long as we were home on time there was no issue.

With all the random encounters of other kids out and about, you learned all kinds of skills. How to explain a black eye to your parents without getting anyone in trouble, how to judge a person's character, what was "cool" and what wasn't. It was different from being at school, because we were all without supervision and true colors revealed themselves. It was a learning experience everyday.

I'm guilty of being way more over-protective of my kids than my parents were with me. Looking back I think I've been conditioned by media to make my kids' lives less fulfilling. I feel shame.

As a kid, my friends and I mostly had free rein. Be home by dinner time or dark were the most common rules. When school was in session, we'd have a few hours to run around the neighborhood. In the summer it wasn't uncommon to find us riding bikes to the next town miles away. Parents didn't ever know where we were going or what we were doing. As long as we were home on time there was no issue. With all the random encounters of other kids out and about, you learned all kinds of skills. How to explain a black eye to your parents without getting anyone in trouble, how to judge a person's character, what was "cool" and what wasn't. It was different from being at school, because we were all without supervision and true colors revealed themselves. It was a learning experience everyday. I'm guilty of being way more over-protective of my kids than my parents were with me. Looking back I think I've been conditioned by media to make my kids' lives less fulfilling. I feel shame.

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[–] • 3 pts

Look at statistics. The majority of pedo-rapists are minorities, and we have exponentially more of them now than we did even in "my time," the mid to late 90s, and even then I was armed with a knife and taught how to defend myself with it as a little girl.

Teach your kids how to defend themselves and make them aware of the danger. I would never get anywhere near a strange car or person, I knew adults would never need my help and knew to fight dirty and aim for the nuts if someone ever got me.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

Yeah that's true, also mental illness and community cohesion is much different now than it was back even in the 80s. All the neighborhoods I knew as a kid where 90-99% white in 1987-1995 and starting about 5-8 years ago they are majority chink, nigger or spic. And even the chink areas(Irvine, CA) are becoming 10-20% nigger now. It's not the same world anymore.

[–] • 0 pt

This. If it's the house across the street, or literal next door or something. Sure go out. If I'm out mowing the lawn and can see the entire block, great have fun.

No longer would or should be allowed like when I was 8 years old going multiple miles away from home.