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Comment by nine_k | Hacker News Reader

Re kids: did curfews and age limitations exist in your childhood? I'd love to allow my child to go out for an ice cream all by herself, but at 9, she's not yet legally allowed to be alone on the streets.

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I remember biking around town when I was 8. My son is 6, I find it hard to imagine that in two years I (and others) would let him bike around freely.

I wonder why this changed. Is it that people have become more aware of dangers? Or perhaps parents are having fewer children and being more protective?

You should let him ride his bike freely and not give into your fear-based biases. I'll bet if you look up crime statistics, your town is probably safer now then it was then.

So why would you keep him from exploring and learning how to take care of himself alone and with friends?

More aware of dangers? More likely, more afraid of perceived dangers which are actually very small - and I admit that the same happens to me, even if rationally I know that I should be less worried.

Car density plays into this a bit.

I know that my hometown has a LOT more cars than it did when I was growing up in spite of the fact that the population has actually declined.

And car accidents is probably one of the statistics that hasn't declined.

Definitely. Car injuries have stayed roughly the same per capita.

And it seems like many communities have quietly lost pedestrians (it seems like baby boomers are atypically car-dependent compared to the generations before and after them but they're a huge generation and the biggest one in many places).

And now they're in their 70s are far more likely to be involved in in-town crashes (while highway crashes may be weighted towards young men at high speed, residential crashes tend to be old people pressing Gas rather than Brake, or Reverse rather Forward)

6 is different than 8. My 8 year old rides to the library.

it’s because from internet you immediately and constantly get bombarded with millions and millions of news every single day about what happened in far away places

More news sensationalisation.

It seems to be a common occurrence for people who grew up in a denser, more kid-friendly post-war suburb next to a walkable downtown, but are now raising kids in a new, barren, sprawling suburb surrounded by stroads and next to a 7-11.

The laws vary a lot so check what applies for you http://www.freerangekids.com/laws/

Wow, you have to be 14 to be home alone for a lengthy period of time in Illinois? That's stupid. Maybe like, overnight, or for any meals that require substantial cooking, but my parent left me home alone with my younger brother way before then.

It's not very hard to make breakfast or lunch, and any issue that would need a parent to solve is probably something they would have to call 911 or bring us to the hospital for anyways.

“any minor under the age of 14 years whose parent or other person responsible for the minor's welfare leaves the minor without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety, or welfare of that minor;”

Actual text of the law implies a lot worse neglect than the website interprets. In fact if you turn it around it seems shocking. A guardian can leave a 15 year old without regard to their health & well being.

The trouble is that the law is initially interpreted by social workers with a rather sour attitude. Thus "without supervision" could be that you were inside and they were on the lawn, and "unreasonable period of time" could be 5 minutes, and the rest of the law is also met if you assume that there is a pedophile around every corner trying to snatch a kid.

Utah recently had to redo some similar laws to prevent them from being abused.

The pedophile around the corner is a very rare case, the majority of abuse happens inside the family. Best way to fight this is of course social care and support.

If she can run away from a rapist/mugger she can run away from a cop

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