Protecting the Free-Range Kid

[Speaker to Animals]

It's regional. On the south they say stuff like, "bless your heart".

[Okeefenokee]

That said, I can't help but cringe when I read about the 9 year old riding the NYC subway alone.

What's the big whoop? I started riding the public transit to and from school on my own, when I was younger than that, nobody ever bothered be, and there were plenty of adults around ayways if they ever did.

There was only one 9 year old kid in my neighborhood that ever got kidnapped and murdered, Sharon Morningstar Keenan, but she was taken from the little park right accross the street from her house, in broad daylight at 4 in the afternoon. The subway would not actually be the place to try to do that, quite the opposite, as it's high traffic, high visibility, heavily policed, and under constant surveillance.

You know those videos you see these days of a situation where dozens of people are standing around watching something happen and you ask yourself what is wrong with them that not one of them has enough spine to intervene?

Times have changed.

[Smitty-48]

Times have changed.

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear. The streets were far more dangerous in the seventies, we just weren't spooked so easily.

[Okeefenokee]

Times have changed.

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear.

I'm not talking about danger. South Atlanta is a lot more dangerous than when I grew up there. The crime stats show that.

I'm talking more about the idea that someone is safe because there are other people around. In most cases I don't think it's true. I've seen too many examples of a crowd standing idly by doing nothing to think that it's safe to count on the people around you to intervene if necessary.

[Montegriffo]

Times have changed.

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear.

I'm not talking about danger. South Atlanta is a lot more dangerous than when I grew up there. The crime stats show that.

I'm talking more about the idea that someone is safe because there are other people around. In most cases I don't think it's true. I've seen too many examples of a crowd standing idly by doing nothing to think that it's safe to count on the people around you to intervene if necessary.

Is that because you don't know who might have a gun? Over here there is no way someone gets away with hurting a child in public.

[Smitty-48]

Times have changed.

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear.

I'm not talking about danger. South Atlanta is a lot more dangerous than when I grew up there. The crime stats show that.

I'm talking more about the idea that someone is safe because there are other people around. In most cases I don't think it's true. I've seen too many examples of a crowd standing idly by doing nothing to think that it's safe to count on the people around you to intervene if necessary.

Maybe I wasn't safe, probably wasn't, none the less, I was not afraid, so how safe I was, was neither here nor there, I was going where I was going, all on my own, wasn't gonna hide from the streets just because this n' that happened to so n' so, I was up for the adventure, come what may.

[Okeefenokee]

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear.

I'm not talking about danger. South Atlanta is a lot more dangerous than when I grew up there. The crime stats show that.

I'm talking more about the idea that someone is safe because there are other people around. In most cases I don't think it's true. I've seen too many examples of a crowd standing idly by doing nothing to think that it's safe to count on the people around you to intervene if necessary.

Is that because you don't know who might have a gun? Over here there is no way someone gets away with hurting a child in public.

I seriously doubt it has anything to do with guns. People are apathetic. They pull out their phones and record so they can post it on facebook.

[de officiis]

Times have changed.

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear. The streets were far more dangerous in the seventies, we just weren't spooked so easily.

It's apparently part of a broad cultural shift towards protecting our kids from any sort of physical or emotional trauma. Heaven forbid that kids might actually play "army" in the back yard anymore--no doubt someone would call the police. Probably contributed to the unfortunate development of the "safe spaces" mentality that is now so prevalent on our college campuses.

[Montegriffo]

Not a good sign for a civilised society Okee. Maybe it's the same here, long time since I went somewhere with a high crime rate. Still can't imagine people doing nothing if a kid was involved though.

[Okeefenokee]

Only in your minds, because you've been weaned on fear.

I'm not talking about danger. South Atlanta is a lot more dangerous than when I grew up there. The crime stats show that.

I'm talking more about the idea that someone is safe because there are other people around. In most cases I don't think it's true. I've seen too many examples of a crowd standing idly by doing nothing to think that it's safe to count on the people around you to intervene if necessary.

Maybe I wasn't safe, probably wasn't, none the less, I was not afraid, so how safe I was, was neither here nor there, I was going where I was going, all on my own, wasn't gonna hide from the streets just because this n' that happened to so n' so, I was up for the adventure, come what may.

I look back on a collection of monstrously stupid decisions that could have gone very badly, and I know that at the time I didn't give the gravity of my decisions any credence.