Is it truly more unsafe to be a kid these days or is it just perception?

Question

A friend moved into a neighborhood similar to the one I grew up in. They drive their kids between houses and watch their every mood while, when I was their age, I disappeared into the grove of woods behind the school regularly (but never by myself).

I remember meeting a guy with a Raccoon who I was not afraid of, but all my friends did not trust him (thank goodness for THAT) but other than finding a dirty mag and a firepit in the woods - we were trauma free.

What makes now different? Factually. I mean there have always been predators and bullies - what makes NOW so much worse that our kids stay indoors so much?

In that way I miss the 80's, man.

i meant "watch their every MOVE not MOOD

Answer 1

I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between now and then, but it seems like the world has gotten a little crazier. I mean people will do just about anything no days and it wasn't like that back then, and if it was it wasn't as wide spread as it is now. It's just a crazy sick sad world that we live in today and you can't even trust your kids with people that you know anymore.

Answer 2

There are more predators and bullies now than there were years ago. I'm not an overly religious person, but when God was kicked out of school, when a trip to the principal's office quit meaning a paddling kids started thinking nothing they did had any consequence. They either grew up to be pedophiles or politicians. When I was in 6th grade I would take a ferry by myself across the bay to San Diego, walk down Broadway to the YMCA and take judo classes. There is no way in hell any responsible parent would do that today and expect to see their child again. It's become a sick world.

Answer 3

The media and the government are what makes now different.

In the UK, about half a dozen kids are abducted by strangers each year -- most often by childless women for non-abusive purposes -- and this figure has remained pretty much constant over the years, from back in the days when it used to be normal for any adult to discipline any child up to the present. The vast majority of child abuse (of all flavours -- sexual, physical and emotional) happens within the circle of family and close friends.

Nowadays, the media make a big fuss over any incident. The government no longer trust adults to look after their own children. And an entire industry has grown up, devoted to protecting children from whatever nightmares the marketing people can dream up.

Answer 4

Its not neccessarily more dangerous now. The media presence in america has grown vastly in the last 10 years or so. They focus and incessently harp on the negative, trying harder and harder to report on worse and worse things that happen to people. If you looked at raw numbers, they probably are not that different. The problem is this feeds into the problem - alienated kids who see school shootings and all the attention the shooters get may become copycats. The media glamourizes violence and evil, which generates more of it, which give them more content to push more fear.

I think its an illusion though - No I don't think its more dangerous nowadays if you were to actually look at numbers. Nothing frustrates me more than hearing one of these arrogant, ivory tower newsmen make a dismissive glib statement like 'The World is so messed up!'. The world is not messed up, but small portions of it are - and the entire world will seem messed up if you incessantly seek out the worst of the worst.

Answer 5

I walk my kid to school because I don't like people knowing his routine while he's alone (he's 9). Other than that, he's free to walk through the woods or around the block to see his friends by himself. I encourage the buddy system or for him to call when he gets to his friends house.

I don't think it's any less safe. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and the scariest word was "kidnapping". Still is, I guess.

I guess internet predators didn't exist when we were kids. I don't allow internet in my son's room. And soon I will be putting blocks on the computers due to porn being so easy to find. Also, chat rooms kind of wig me out. but not too bad.

Answer 6

Hay , I grew up in the 50's and it is definately only perceptions that have changed.; there are no more peadophiles etc now than there were then - I can remember at the age of 5 being told not to talk to anyone that I did not know and never to accept sweets from strangers or help people who said they had lost a pet because "there are some very funny people out there who do nasty things to children". We played out on the green and in the spinney but always with other children and never out of sight of our house. SO my mum made sure we were safe but did not make us paranoid and we had a really nice childhood. However, we did not see unpleasant motives in innocent behaviour which seems to be the norm in the UK these days. But then I reckon that evil is usually in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 7

You can thank the Media for scaring the Moms, who are the first line of contact with every child. Rather than teach the children common sense, they just plain taught every child to be afraid of everyone, and its creating a warped, angry society.

Last week, I was at the grocery store, minding my own business shopping the aisles, when I looked down and saw a mother and her child. The child was 15 ft away, standing next to her mother, smiling brightly and warmly, and I smiled back, thinking that was a sweet and loving child.

The mother looked up, saw me smiling at the child and grabbed it and turned and glared at me viciously, as she pulled the child down the aisle, all the while staring at me.

I was so depressed and sickened by the event, not to mention shocked. This is what society has come to when a person cannot smile at another person. You tell me, how long before THAT child ends up as screwed up as her mother?

Answer 8

It's far more dangerous for kids nowadays...I think of some things my children used to do that I would never let my granddaughter do at the same age..

Answer 9

unfortunately we receive more info in one week than our grand parents received in one year and 85% of it is negative.
kids have greater chance of being main mangled crush or killed driving around town than being snatched BUT that doesn't SELL newspapers so to speak.
most people couldn't do a week with out their negative junk info fix.
most kids are being trained / nuetered by 'professionals' daily. society in P.C. USA is breding backbone out of most of our youths.

Answer 10

perception. Thanks to the media, everything is trying to get you, and your little kids too. You don't think that it was less dangerous than during the 20's or during WWII? The dangers around us never went away, they are just applifed.