True story.
I was walking home, in tears, and my mom was outside on the front patio. She sees this kid crying, and then is stunned to learn that it’s me. I have no idea how I crossed the intersections alone. And I’m equally lucky that a stranger didn’t stuff me into their car…
-Krishna
True there but things were different back then. I know I would never allow my kids to stand alone like I was allowed to do when I was a kid.
So true.. that was then, when you could let your kids roam a toy department for a while. I remember many toddler adventures outside my house, just in the front yard. Not to mention bicycle trips all over the place. Today, I will not leave my daughter alone anywhere at all, for any period of time. Sad that kids don’t have even the limited freedom we could enjoy in our childhoods.
That would be a bad experience for me at 29 – I can imagine how scary it would be for a child!
Isn’t it strange how much the world has changed (or, at least, our perceptions of it) since we were kids? I totally agree with Jason and Jose (and maybe a little with Robert
). I won’t let my older son, at four, out of sight for an instant (the baby can’t really get very far, yet), and honestly, it’s not entirely due to fears of stranger danger. How did our parents rationalize the possibility their kids might wander into traffic or fall down a well? Maybe the world isn’t all that different, we’re just more aware of how scary it can be. Brrr…
From everything I’ve read over the past few years, the chances of random child abduction has actually dropped dramatically since the 1970s.
However, I don’t think I’d ever let my kids out of my sight in a public place at age 5 or so. Not only for the chance of abduction, but the danger of cars, accidents, etc.