Hi. Welcome to the blog for my IB English B class at Jur Hronec High School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Below you will find links to other websites and discussion questions. My students are required to comment on one of these postings every month and also respond to each other's comments. Feel free to add your two bits, but be aware that all comments are monitored before being posted.
At what age is it a good idea to allow children
to go out on their own?Should there be
laws regulating this?How should they
be enforced?How should other parents
react?What forms are interference are
helpful, if any?
After reading this article, I was indeed surprised by people’s reaction to seeing a solitary child on a playground or in the street – immediately calling the cops. I was surprised because I am not used to this sort of reaction in Slovakia. The vast majority of people here do not care about other children, and I have never seen someone calling the cops if they saw an alone child. It is very kind of American people that they actually try to help somehow, and not just think “his parents are very irresponsible” and let it be. On the other hand, I think that it is quite an exaggeration to call the cops in this case. As the author mentioned, it will not do any good – neither to the parent, nor to the child. And this is not a case for which we would need a help form the police. It can be solved in an easier way, by talking to the child and his parents about him being alone. Moreover, I agree that this is a more complex problem – not that children are alone in the playgrounds and on their way from school, but that the neighborhood cannot be safe for the children if we do not know what people live in there. I think that the steps the author suggested are adequate and every one of us should try to get to know the people around him, not justparents for children’s safety, but also others for our own safety. Moreover, this article reminds me of my own childhood and of many examples that I can see nowadays and that prove me people do it wrong. When I was a child, I was living on a street where almost everybody knew everybody, and all the children were playing together on the playground. We used to go out alone often, because our parents knew that we were safe in our neighborhood. I used to walk from school with the friends from my street, and I did not feel unsafe even though there was no adult – simply because I knew there were a lot of reliable people around me. But when I compare it to the way of thinking of nowadays parents, I cannot believe how strict they are. They prohibit their children to go outside and play with others, because they are too afraid. They drive their children from school even if they are already 13 and live a few streets away. The children can never learn to be independent if they are limited for so long. To conclude, I definitely agree with the author’s suggestions for parents to try to know their neighbors, to become friends with some of them so that they can rely also on other people and let their children be on their own a bit more. Certainly, it used to be better when people were talking to each other more and spending more time together, than sitting at home and letting children watch TV and play computer games for the whole afternoon, as it is these days.
For a start, so as Soňa (and everyone else), I also remember going out without parents. In fact, I preferred going out with friends to going out with them. I recall going from one block of flats to another and pressing the bell-button of my friends’ houses and asking their parents whether the friend is home and whether he or she can go out… It was fun and basically the only way how to put a bigger group together. Now kids set everything through the internet which is more practical but far less interesting. They do not experience so much adventure and when they finally go out, their parents are very afraid of what can happen to their kids. Or at least the part of the parents which is resolute to call the cops when they see a kid alone on the playground. They would not like to see their kids alone because of the fear, and hence think that sending any kid out like this is dangerous. And they do not understand that the other parents consider it safe and fully responsible.
Moreover, is calling the cops useful at all? Soňa said that calling police may be helpful but I definitely do not agree with her. In my opinion, it would only scare the kid for no reason. Next, in the article, there was said that a parent may lose his job when someone accuses him of letting a kid out alone and at this point, it is ridiculous that letting kid play on his own should have such a dreadful consequences.
Furthermore, Soňa said that in Slovakia, the vast majority of the people do not care about other kids and that Americans are very nice to take such a care of other kids. But calling cops is not exactly the right way of caring and helping. It seems like the people were trying to harm people around them while they should do the total opposite. And when they are such a helpful nation, why the internet needs to advise them such a basic thing as offering help to a kid who is alone on the playground. On the other hand, in Slovakia, I experienced many times that my mum asked another parent to keep an eye on me and it was absolutely natural. Therefore, I think it is sad that people in the USA need to be taught it.
Not only to Soňa, but even to me it seems quite ridiculous that a person would call cops on some parents only because they saw their child walking alone in the street. However, what sounds even more absurd is that even the police is neglecting the children. Maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but, at least, in the article it seems it is like that. I consider the way of the police acts really similar to the actual beginning of the investigation: “I see the child lonely in the street, I'll call the cops.” And a phrase of the policemen could sound: “We will take the children, not even asking them how much loved by their parents they feel.”
So how would I try to solve this problem? The first and main point is, as it was mentioned in the article and even by Soňa, to know the others in your neighborhood. To make your children know your neighbors is also essential. If you know each other, it is less probable that the people around you would cause you the kind of problems that were discussed in the article. I, especially, liked the idea of block mothers which the author talked about. But if it happened that someone called the cops for this kind of reasons, I would say the way of the process should be more friendly. It should not be only immediate acts, however, more investigation would be better. Unless necessary, no violence should be used. Before any acts like taking the children deep discussions should not be forgot. Definitely the parents should not be taken their children unless the case would be really serious (it is a serious case, for example, if the children are hit often for no reason, or if the parents are alcoholics not knowing about themselves often). According to my opinion, even then the parents should have the right for the second chance. If the children were taken, the parents should be allowed to visit them as much as they want. And much more importantly the children should be allowed to meet their parents whenever they want.
When I read this article, I thought if something like this can happen in Slovakia. That somebody can call the Police because of one child playing without his parents. I agree with the author of this article that it is a bit exaggerated. If you would see a child who is desperate and confused, calling police does not solve anything. You can just ask him what is his problem, and where are his parents. I definitely agree with Sona that calling cops because of alone child is rare and would be strange in our country. When I remember my childhood, it does not remind me playing under constant watch of my parents. They used to send me to play alone or with my friends and watched me through the window. I cannot imagine someone calling cops on them. Maybe because I live in a quiet neighbourhood, where nothing really happens and where I and my parents knew almost every child or parent. However, I also agree with Soňa that you have to know people in your neighbourhood to trust it. My parents would not let me go out alone if they did not know people around, and the surrounding of my house was full of killers and kidnappers. Moreover, parents have much easier communication with their children than in the past. Nowadays almost every child has mobile phone, and calling and informing parents is nothing difficult. Nevertheless, some parents still take their children to school by a car when it is not needed. It does not affect only their future independence as Soňa said, but they can also become lazy to walk to school when older. In conclusion, I think that freedom is really important for children. If they do not learn to be responsible and independent, it can be serious problem for them in the future. And calling cops is just exaggerated decision that is not as effective as talking to the alone child.
When I remember my childhood, it does not remind me playing under constant watch of my parents. They used to send me to play alone or with my friends and watched me through the window. I cannot imagine someone calling cops on them. Maybe because I live in a quiet neighbourhood, where nothing really happens and where I and my parents knew almost every child or parent. However, I also agree with Soňa that you have to know people in your neighbourhood to trust it. My parents would not let me go out alone if they did not know people around, and the surrounding of my house was full of killers and kidnappers. Moreover, parents have much easier communication with their children than in the past. Nowadays almost every child has mobile phone, and calling and informing parents is nothing difficult. Nevertheless, some parents still take their children to school by a car when it is not needed. It does not affect only their future independence as Soňa said, but they can also become lazy to walk to school when older. In conclusion, I think that freedom is really important for children. If they do not learn to be responsible and independent, it can be serious problem for them in the future. And calling cops is just exaggerated decision that is not as effective as talking to the alone child.
I appreciate this article because it brings fresh air into the topic. It is natural that parents hesitate while deciding when they should let their children go from school or play in the playground on their own in the “dangerous world”. Every parent has to do this decision at some point and every single one of them is afraid to do it.
Nevertheless, as it was noticed in the article, the world is statistically safer than it was a generation ago, when it was usual that children walked somewhere alone. So why are we so afraid? The difference is that today we are more exposed to all those scary stories about crimes committed against children, such as abduction. I consider media to be the main stimulator of these feelings. To be concrete, they spread the stories of various crimes which, as far as statistics goes, also happened in the past but were not known to the society, so people felt safer than they do today.
Secondly, I think that calling cops should be the very last resort that should be made only if we think that the parents’ not taking care of the child is really serious. I agree with the article that it does not solve the problem because, in the most of the cases, there is not. Nonetheless, even if there is calling cops usually only complicates the situation. Moreover, I suppose that there is not a better person to judge whether it is suitable for the child for example to let him/her walk home solitarily than the parent.
All in all, being parent could be really difficult for example while achieving independence of the children. Even though the statistics say that the world is quite safe nowadays, they might have a dilemma to leave their children on their own. It might be because they are often presented by media numerous crimes committed against children. But still, there are some of the parents who let their children play on their own or walk from school because they consider it as an important part of raising them up. They are the best ones to take steps in this issue and therefore we should respect their decisions and maybe also take an example.
After having read this article, I must say that it made me think more deeply about why the society nowadays is always referred to as the worse one. Words like “the world is a dangerous place” and “the life was far better in the past” are becoming a daily basis in our vocabulary, at least in my surroundings. However, I often find these skeptical points of view disturbing, which made me think- Why did we become so eternally dissatisfied? Isn’t it our selfishness that makes this world such a cruel place? Allow me to introduce you to 2 examples- negative and positive one.
The life at current pace seems to me as quite a fast one. People receive larger amounts of sensations from outside world, some kind of multi functionality is required from us in order to succeed. This leads to not paying so much attention to the things happening in our nearest proximity, simply because we don’t want to, or we are disturbed with other things. The same thing happens with the free-range kids. People hardly ever have an interest in finding out more about why there is no parent around the little girl, or whether she is all right, because that would cost them a lot of energy and time. And even if they wanted to help, they would do the most painless and safe thing they could, which is calling the police. It is easy, indeed, to delegate tasks to another person, and subsequently get rid of something which could have been also your responsibility, but when it comes to participating actively, giving a hand becomes quite a problem. Furthermore, another great example is the behavior of people witnessing an accident. I am sure that almost everyone would call an ambulance, were it necessary. However when it comes to actively participating, the number of people that would provide first aid to the injured would be much lower. Truly, although several calls from the same accident to the ambulance line are reported, in majority of cases none of the callers perform any act to rescue the wounded.
Furthermore, what interested me in the article was the idea of losing the feeling of safety in one’s neighborhood, which is generally thought to be true, and it wasn’t too different from my opinion. However, not so long ago, I broke my prejudices about everyone minding their own business only, while being careless about what is going on behind their fence. Several months ago, our neighbors united to clean rubbish, which was revealed as soon as the snow melted. This little meeting was not so physically demanding, but its effect is undoubtedly beneficial. The previous, mostly anonymous strangers living beside each other have became more of a community where one can depend on another. And, in fact, that is what neighborhood should be about. To be precise, though, I am not such an idealist to hope for neighbors to come over for a Sunday lunch, however, it is good to live in a community that you feel safe in, and in which you are not afraid to let your children go from school on their own.
To sum up, sometimes it is quite interesting to observe the inconsistency inside us. On one hand, we tend to supply others with facts, but on the other hand, we are too unwilling (or afraid) to pay further attention to them, which makes me understand why the cases of reportedly neglectful parents being arrested have increased. This mentioned inconsistency can also apply to the interactions with our surroundings. However, although I agree that general thought of the relationships in neighborhoods is negative, there always are several exceptions, what I proved according to my personal experience.
The time has passed and people usually go home only to sleep there, while working and living in the city. That is why neighbors do not know each other and therefore have no trust in each other. Those are simply people whom we see opening and closing the door next to ours. Of course, this does not happen in villages or neighborhoods where are houses and children play there together on the street. But I do not live in such a place, so I am going to talk about Bratislava, where we sleep on one place and live on places where we have to take a bus to get there. Where people do not know their neighbors, and even though here are some steps we might follow to get to know them, people have no reason to do so, because they have no intention to build relationships with those people.
Firstly, I believe it is very important for a child to slowly become more and more responsible to grow into an independent adult. I remember being six and going to buy some food needed for the lunch. The shop was 15 minutes from our house and I walked there alone. Also I remember being the 10-year old child walking purposefully, hand in hand with my two 6-year old siblings, toward home. And maybe this made me responsible enough to go to school by myself later. Or being now able to take care of myself when parent are not at home. Giving children more and more responsibilities is very essential for their development. Those can be just small tasks like taking a dog for a walk, or taking something to someone who lives nearby. But without doing this, the kid never feels like we depend on him and he has to do it. That is the difference between taking our child to go shopping with us and sending him for something to the shop. Because of this feeling of being important, I believe the kids always do their best to fulfill their task the best they can. To prove how big they are to their parents. Because of this, I believe kids should be given small tasks, and not being afraid of stepping outside. And calling 911 because I see some kid I do not know that is learning to be responsible? I strongly disagree. A child cannot once become independent from day to day, it has to come in steps.
Secondly, it is important for the social life and confidence of children to have some freedom since they are small. Being afraid of strangers? Not talking to new people? All these problems are caused by fear of new things that children have. Yes, it can be solved by talking to neighbors, but even if it is not possible - like it often happens - it is important to encourage children to talk to people. Sending them somewhere out may lead to asking for a way. Or going to shop requires asking for products or talking to the seller. Not only that kids realize that the strangers are not scary at all, but really, that thay "are all in this together". That the people around do not bite and are willing to help. Later, when they come to teenage age, they do not have problem with getting to know new classmates or interacting with them. Being attached to their parents, not going out with friends... this all leads to preventing from real life. These kids, the kids whose every step is controlled do not really live, they just do what they are told to do. Even later, their confidence is needed for example at job interview. All in all, I believe it is unhealthy for a child not to be able to walk alone, because of fear that someone will call 911.
In conclusion, I absolutely disagree with the idea of calling police on parents that give their children freedom. Yes, I agree that it is great if we have good relationships with our neighbors, but I do realize that this does not often happen in cities. Despite this, I think children need to be given small tasks to complete. It gives them the feeling of importance and teaches them to be responsible, and step by step independent. Also, this little bit of freedom makes children confident and not afraid of people. This is very essential for their future life. In the end, I just hope that here in Slovakia are not many people that would stop kids from growing up and becoming independent adults.
This is a comment from Sona Langova:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I was indeed surprised by people’s reaction to seeing a solitary child on a playground or in the street – immediately calling the cops. I was surprised because I am not used to this sort of reaction in Slovakia. The vast majority of people here do not care about other children, and I have never seen someone calling the cops if they saw an alone child. It is very kind of American people that they actually try to help somehow, and not just think “his parents are very irresponsible” and let it be. On the other hand, I think that it is quite an exaggeration to call the cops in this case. As the author mentioned, it will not do any good – neither to the parent, nor to the child. And this is not a case for which we would need a help form the police. It can be solved in an easier way, by talking to the child and his parents about him being alone. Moreover, I agree that this is a more complex problem – not that children are alone in the playgrounds and on their way from school, but that the neighborhood cannot be safe for the children if we do not know what people live in there. I think that the steps the author suggested are adequate and every one of us should try to get to know the people around him, not justparents for children’s safety, but also others for our own safety.
Moreover, this article reminds me of my own childhood and of many examples that I can see nowadays and that prove me people do it wrong. When I was a child, I was living on a street where almost everybody knew everybody, and all the children were playing together on the playground. We used to go out alone often, because our parents knew that we were safe in our neighborhood. I used to walk from school with the friends from my street, and I did not feel unsafe even though there was no adult – simply because I knew there were a lot of reliable people around me. But when I compare it to the way of thinking of nowadays parents, I cannot believe how strict they are. They prohibit their children to go outside and play with others, because they are too afraid. They drive their children from school even if they are already 13 and live a few streets away. The children can never learn to be independent if they are limited for so long.
To conclude, I definitely agree with the author’s suggestions for parents to try to know their neighbors, to become friends with some of them so that they can rely also on other people and let their children be on their own a bit more. Certainly, it used to be better when people were talking to each other more and spending more time together, than sitting at home and letting children watch TV and play computer games for the whole afternoon, as it is these days.
For a start, so as Soňa (and everyone else), I also remember going out without parents. In fact, I preferred going out with friends to going out with them. I recall going from one block of flats to another and pressing the bell-button of my friends’ houses and asking their parents whether the friend is home and whether he or she can go out… It was fun and basically the only way how to put a bigger group together. Now kids set everything through the internet which is more practical but far less interesting. They do not experience so much adventure and when they finally go out, their parents are very afraid of what can happen to their kids. Or at least the part of the parents which is resolute to call the cops when they see a kid alone on the playground. They would not like to see their kids alone because of the fear, and hence think that sending any kid out like this is dangerous. And they do not understand that the other parents consider it safe and fully responsible.
DeleteMoreover, is calling the cops useful at all? Soňa said that calling police may be helpful but I definitely do not agree with her. In my opinion, it would only scare the kid for no reason. Next, in the article, there was said that a parent may lose his job when someone accuses him of letting a kid out alone and at this point, it is ridiculous that letting kid play on his own should have such a dreadful consequences.
Furthermore, Soňa said that in Slovakia, the vast majority of the people do not care about other kids and that Americans are very nice to take such a care of other kids. But calling cops is not exactly the right way of caring and helping. It seems like the people were trying to harm people around them while they should do the total opposite. And when they are such a helpful nation, why the internet needs to advise them such a basic thing as offering help to a kid who is alone on the playground. On the other hand, in Slovakia, I experienced many times that my mum asked another parent to keep an eye on me and it was absolutely natural. Therefore, I think it is sad that people in the USA need to be taught it.
Not only to Soňa, but even to me it seems quite ridiculous that a person would call cops on some parents only because they saw their child walking alone in the street. However, what sounds even more absurd is that even the police is neglecting the children. Maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but, at least, in the article it seems it is like that. I consider the way of the police acts really similar to the actual beginning of the investigation: “I see the child lonely in the street, I'll call the cops.” And a phrase of the policemen could sound: “We will take the children, not even asking them how much loved by their parents they feel.”
ReplyDeleteSo how would I try to solve this problem? The first and main point is, as it was mentioned in the article and even by Soňa, to know the others in your neighborhood. To make your children know your neighbors is also essential. If you know each other, it is less probable that the people around you would cause you the kind of problems that were discussed in the article. I, especially, liked the idea of block mothers which the author talked about. But if it happened that someone called the cops for this kind of reasons, I would say the way of the process should be more friendly. It should not be only immediate acts, however, more investigation would be better. Unless necessary, no violence should be used. Before any acts like taking the children deep discussions should not be forgot. Definitely the parents should not be taken their children unless the case would be really serious (it is a serious case, for example, if the children are hit often for no reason, or if the parents are alcoholics not knowing about themselves often). According to my opinion, even then the parents should have the right for the second chance. If the children were taken, the parents should be allowed to visit them as much as they want. And much more importantly the children should be allowed to meet their parents whenever they want.
When I read this article, I thought if something like this can happen in Slovakia. That somebody can call the Police because of one child playing without his parents. I agree with the author of this article that it is a bit exaggerated. If you would see a child who is desperate and confused, calling police does not solve anything. You can just ask him what is his problem, and where are his parents. I definitely agree with Sona that calling cops because of alone child is rare and would be strange in our country.
ReplyDeleteWhen I remember my childhood, it does not remind me playing under constant watch of my parents. They used to send me to play alone or with my friends and watched me through the window. I cannot imagine someone calling cops on them. Maybe because I live in a quiet neighbourhood, where nothing really happens and where I and my parents knew almost every child or parent. However, I also agree with Soňa that you have to know people in your neighbourhood to trust it. My parents would not let me go out alone if they did not know people around, and the surrounding of my house was full of killers and kidnappers.
Moreover, parents have much easier communication with their children than in the past. Nowadays almost every child has mobile phone, and calling and informing parents is nothing difficult. Nevertheless, some parents still take their children to school by a car when it is not needed. It does not affect only their future independence as Soňa said, but they can also become lazy to walk to school when older.
In conclusion, I think that freedom is really important for children. If they do not learn to be responsible and independent, it can be serious problem for them in the future. And calling cops is just exaggerated decision that is not as effective as talking to the alone child.
When I remember my childhood, it does not remind me playing under constant watch of my parents. They used to send me to play alone or with my friends and watched me through the window. I cannot imagine someone calling cops on them. Maybe because I live in a quiet neighbourhood, where nothing really happens and where I and my parents knew almost every child or parent. However, I also agree with Soňa that you have to know people in your neighbourhood to trust it. My parents would not let me go out alone if they did not know people around, and the surrounding of my house was full of killers and kidnappers.
Moreover, parents have much easier communication with their children than in the past. Nowadays almost every child has mobile phone, and calling and informing parents is nothing difficult. Nevertheless, some parents still take their children to school by a car when it is not needed. It does not affect only their future independence as Soňa said, but they can also become lazy to walk to school when older.
In conclusion, I think that freedom is really important for children. If they do not learn to be responsible and independent, it can be serious problem for them in the future. And calling cops is just exaggerated decision that is not as effective as talking to the alone child.
I appreciate this article because it brings fresh air into the topic. It is natural that parents hesitate while deciding when they should let their children go from school or play in the playground on their own in the “dangerous world”. Every parent has to do this decision at some point and every single one of them is afraid to do it.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, as it was noticed in the article, the world is statistically safer than it was a generation ago, when it was usual that children walked somewhere alone. So why are we so afraid? The difference is that today we are more exposed to all those scary stories about crimes committed against children, such as abduction. I consider media to be the main stimulator of these feelings. To be concrete, they spread the stories of various crimes which, as far as statistics goes, also happened in the past but were not known to the society, so people felt safer than they do today.
Secondly, I think that calling cops should be the very last resort that should be made only if we think that the parents’ not taking care of the child is really serious. I agree with the article that it does not solve the problem because, in the most of the cases, there is not. Nonetheless, even if there is calling cops usually only complicates the situation. Moreover, I suppose that there is not a better person to judge whether it is suitable for the child for example to let him/her walk home solitarily than the parent.
All in all, being parent could be really difficult for example while achieving independence of the children. Even though the statistics say that the world is quite safe nowadays, they might have a dilemma to leave their children on their own. It might be because they are often presented by media numerous crimes committed against children. But still, there are some of the parents who let their children play on their own or walk from school because they consider it as an important part of raising them up. They are the best ones to take steps in this issue and therefore we should respect their decisions and maybe also take an example.
After having read this article, I must say that it made me think more deeply about why the society nowadays is always referred to as the worse one. Words like “the world is a dangerous place” and “the life was far better in the past” are becoming a daily basis in our vocabulary, at least in my surroundings. However, I often find these skeptical points of view disturbing, which made me think- Why did we become so eternally dissatisfied? Isn’t it our selfishness that makes this world such a cruel place? Allow me to introduce you to 2 examples- negative and positive one.
ReplyDeleteThe life at current pace seems to me as quite a fast one. People receive larger amounts of sensations from outside world, some kind of multi functionality is required from us in order to succeed. This leads to not paying so much attention to the things happening in our nearest proximity, simply because we don’t want to, or we are disturbed with other things. The same thing happens with the free-range kids. People hardly ever have an interest in finding out more about why there is no parent around the little girl, or whether she is all right, because that would cost them a lot of energy and time. And even if they wanted to help, they would do the most painless and safe thing they could, which is calling the police. It is easy, indeed, to delegate tasks to another person, and subsequently get rid of something which could have been also your responsibility, but when it comes to participating actively, giving a hand becomes quite a problem. Furthermore, another great example is the behavior of people witnessing an accident. I am sure that almost everyone would call an ambulance, were it necessary. However when it comes to actively participating, the number of people that would provide first aid to the injured would be much lower. Truly, although several calls from the same accident to the ambulance line are reported, in majority of cases none of the callers perform any act to rescue the wounded.
Furthermore, what interested me in the article was the idea of losing the feeling of safety in one’s neighborhood, which is generally thought to be true, and it wasn’t too different from my opinion. However, not so long ago, I broke my prejudices about everyone minding their own business only, while being careless about what is going on behind their fence. Several months ago, our neighbors united to clean rubbish, which was revealed as soon as the snow melted. This little meeting was not so physically demanding, but its effect is undoubtedly beneficial. The previous, mostly anonymous strangers living beside each other have became more of a community where one can depend on another. And, in fact, that is what neighborhood should be about. To be precise, though, I am not such an idealist to hope for neighbors to come over for a Sunday lunch, however, it is good to live in a community that you feel safe in, and in which you are not afraid to let your children go from school on their own.
To sum up, sometimes it is quite interesting to observe the inconsistency inside us. On one hand, we tend to supply others with facts, but on the other hand, we are too unwilling (or afraid) to pay further attention to them, which makes me understand why the cases of reportedly neglectful parents being arrested have increased. This mentioned inconsistency can also apply to the interactions with our surroundings. However, although I agree that general thought of the relationships in neighborhoods is negative, there always are several exceptions, what I proved according to my personal experience.
Here is a comment by Veronika Zrubakova:
ReplyDeleteThe time has passed and people usually go home only to sleep there, while working and living in the city. That is why neighbors do not know each other and therefore have no trust in each other. Those are simply people whom we see opening and closing the door next to ours. Of course, this does not happen in villages or neighborhoods where are houses and children play there together on the street. But I do not live in such a place, so I am going to talk about Bratislava, where we sleep on one place and live on places where we have to take a bus to get there. Where people do not know their neighbors, and even though here are some steps we might follow to get to know them, people have no reason to do so, because they have no intention to build relationships with those people.
Firstly, I believe it is very important for a child to slowly become more and more responsible to grow into an independent adult. I remember being six and going to buy some food needed for the lunch. The shop was 15 minutes from our house and I walked there alone. Also I remember being the 10-year old child walking purposefully, hand in hand with my two 6-year old siblings, toward home. And maybe this made me responsible enough to go to school by myself later. Or being now able to take care of myself when parent are not at home. Giving children more and more responsibilities is very essential for their development. Those can be just small tasks like taking a dog for a walk, or taking something to someone who lives nearby. But without doing this, the kid never feels like we depend on him and he has to do it. That is the difference between taking our child to go shopping with us and sending him for something to the shop. Because of this feeling of being important, I believe the kids always do their best to fulfill their task the best they can. To prove how big they are to their parents. Because of this, I believe kids should be given small tasks, and not being afraid of stepping outside. And calling 911 because I see some kid I do not know that is learning to be responsible? I strongly disagree. A child cannot once become independent from day to day, it has to come in steps.
Secondly, it is important for the social life and confidence of children to have some freedom since they are small. Being afraid of strangers? Not talking to new people? All these problems are caused by fear of new things that children have. Yes, it can be solved by talking to neighbors, but even if it is not possible - like it often happens - it is important to encourage children to talk to people. Sending them somewhere out may lead to asking for a way. Or going to shop requires asking for products or talking to the seller. Not only that kids realize that the strangers are not scary at all, but really, that thay "are all in this together". That the people around do not bite and are willing to help. Later, when they come to teenage age, they do not have problem with getting to know new classmates or interacting with them. Being attached to their parents, not going out with friends... this all leads to preventing from real life. These kids, the kids whose every step is controlled do not really live, they just do what they are told to do. Even later, their confidence is needed for example at job interview. All in all, I believe it is unhealthy for a child not to be able to walk alone, because of fear that someone will call 911.
Here is the final part of Veronika's comment:
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, I absolutely disagree with the idea of calling police on parents that give their children freedom. Yes, I agree that it is great if we have good relationships with our neighbors, but I do realize that this does not often happen in cities. Despite this, I think children need to be given small tasks to complete. It gives them the feeling of importance and teaches them to be responsible, and step by step independent. Also, this little bit of freedom makes children confident and not afraid of people. This is very essential for their future life. In the end, I just hope that here in Slovakia are not many people that would stop kids from growing up and becoming independent adults.