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Comment by eigencoder | Hacker News Reader

I like the feature, but I don't like the assumption at the beginning.

> Come September, he will have to walk across town to school on his own. But if he's going to be walking around out in the world without me, then a tracking tag won't cut it. He is far too young to have unfettered access to the internet and social media platforms, but what if he gets lost? A classic Nokia, supplying just texts and calls, won't come to his aid. Maps and satnav require a web connection.

What if he gets lost? With a classic Nokia, he could still call someone and get help. Or, he might (heaven forbid) just need to ask someone for help. Or walk around until he remembers where he is. These are all good skills to learn.

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Only issue is that kids going outside alone has become highly stigmatized in society to the point where doing so gets you jailed and charged[0].

The kid will grow up to almost always be able to contact most any human in the world. Knowing how and when to do that is probably going to be a more useful skill.

0: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/is-it-a-crime-to-let-you...

Side note: As above article states, after this arrest SB110 was passed to specifically outline what is reasonable for this situation.

> has become highly stigmatized in society

When making claims like this, please remember that this is a very international group of people and scope your point appropriately: "has become highly stigmatized in the US"

This is not a problem in large parts of Europe (can't comment about elsewhere). The reason this scoping is important is because the solutions are different for "this is a problem in all of society" compared to "this is a problem in the US".

the idea of tagging my kid with a tracker like they're a wild bird being tracked is repugnant

Just a suggestion, be more mindful when you make comments involving other people's kids.

(which is generally a no-no unless you're invited to)

On the internet is fine, but I've been to places around the world where a comment like that would result in black eyes, missing teeth, etc.

What did they actually say about some's kida?

Knocking out someones teeth would necessitate filing charges

Oh, absolutely! I would just prefer to avoid all of that.

you should be having words with people who would turn to violence on such a short fuse then, not me and my comment that didn't even say anything about anyone elses kids

I'm very curious as to what places of the world that would be.

Oh, it's a very long list. It could be anywhere actually, by "place" I didn't mean something like a specific city, but more of a place in a city where that situation would most likely unfold.

Anyway, I don't want to derail the conversation too much, this is a very interesting topic but it is off-topic.

If you want to keep talking about it send me an email! Info on my profile :).

Eh, people who write about their parenting in the internet are opening it for comments

Kids are living beings. If people don't want to hear about how they paint their car that's one thing. But if they don't want to hear any comments on how they treat a fellow human that's very concerning

Wow, you didn't even read the comment you were responding to

This stuff truly makes my head spin. How do these people think humanity came to be, to today? Do they understand we in historically safe times? I thought the pendulum was swinging back on helicopter parents but some adults, some HN adults, have more money and tech-bias than common sense, or self-awareness, or any awareness of what they're doing to the children. And then remarking that they get around those restrictions. DUH?! Jesus, do some people here struggle this much to remember their own childhoods???

If it bleeds, it leads. That is, our media has hyped up violence in society as it’s become more rare, and politicians use it to scare people into thinking we need to go back to the good old days.

We had some friends over last form the US. One 11 yr kid in the group was bored and said: ok I’m gonna go home now, I need the keys please.

He walked home by himself - maybe 500 meters… For us Europeans it was nothing to notice really, but the Americans were absolutely shocked.

I don’t think you can profile this as American. Are they conservative suburbanites? My kid walks to/from school longer than that. Many kids take public transit in big cities. Rural kids may ride a motorbike much further.

Well, it is a pretty American thing for this to be the case. Americans have been arrested for letting kids walk 500 meters on their own before (in certain neighborhoods)

Like Europe, the US has a pastiche of laws across states and municipalities, and varying levels of enforcement. My state has laws protecting free-range children.

You’re probably right that only in the US do people freak out over unaccompanied kids, but I wouldn’t say that’s true of most of the country.

And I've been where the Americans had some friends over from the US, and the 11/12 year olds grabbed some rifles and said they'd be back tomorrow. The Americans barely noticed, the Europeans flipped.

America is big, and parts of it can be very different.

One 11 year old with a rifle is probably fine, but two with rifles is just asking for trouble haha

Looking back at my scout camps, it's amazing that a group of 10-50 or so armed 12 year olds were able to be managed by one (presumably) responsible adult.

That says more about the people you were with than America.

I see plenty of 11 year olds in the US without any parental supervision while in public.

I mean kids get jobs at 12?

As an American reading your comment, it’s because we drive everywhere and my initial thought is he’s asking for the car keys

That distance for a walk should be seen as fine by most Americans at that age. Although, I find it’s rare that we socialize much with people that close. Those would be neighbors and neighbors aren’t frequently socializing to this degree.

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