11 replies to this topic

[Matthias]

I don't know if some of you heard this story or not, but the situation around Jessica Ridgeway has turned grim. Just to provide a little background, a ten year old girl named Jessica was abducted while she was walking to school last Friday I believe. Late Wednesday night, police found a body in a field. They haven't yet confirmed this is Jessica, but sources say this is likely her body.

I'm not condemning the parent for this incident, but I strongly believe this could have been prevented by simply her mom walking with her to school. How many of you who have children, let your kids walk to school by themselves?

My beliefs are this. If you have a young child and you don't drive them to school, make sure you are with them if they walk, or with them while they're waiting for the bus. These kids are young and innocent of the cruel world. I don't care what your situation is, you have to make sure your kids are safe, and take all necessary precaution with them. Think about it, even antelope don't let their young wander off by themselves in the wilderness. If animals can understand this, why can't we men and women understand this? Are animals more dedicated to protecting their young than us? Again, I'm not condemning the mother of this child, but something is out of place in this society if you can let your child walk to school and not think about the consequences of what could happen. What are some of you guys views on that?

[Happy Panther]

Matthias,

I have two boys and as any good father I obsess over their safety. In fact when my first was born I had this obsession about certain things in my household.

But I use the lightning bolt test on anything. Is the danger of any activity more or less dangerous than getting hit by lightning. Or dying in a plane crash.

The fact is, the odds of your kid getting killed by lightning is very similar to getting abducted by a stranger. How many lightning strike victims do you know?

And there are lots of things you should be much more worried about such as drowning and poisoning.

But I'm not looking down on anyone you protects their kids!

[SmootsDaddy89]

As long as they don't walk past sylvianlight's house you should be cool.

[Mr. Belding]

People are sick. 11 years old?

[bredy087]

I lived have lived in the US and France and both times I have walked to school. I never felt afraid or scared of my surroundings in either country. Poo happens in this world and even if the best precautions are taken children still get abducted. This is a simple fact of life that everyone must accept. If you feel the need to walk your child to school you should do so. I never once had my mother or father walk me to school, but I always had friends or neighbors around me. We can't be afraid of what might happen.

[Matthias]

I definitely know you can't prevent every crime, but crimes like this could be prevented simply by walking your child to school. Of course I don't only see this as a protection or safety thing, but more so as a time to get to know your child. A time to talk and spend time with them. I know that may sound a little redundant, as you spend most of your time with your child when they are home and so on. Yet I guarantee you that one of the moments children will remember as they grow older, are the times their parents spent with them as they walked to school. This is one of the things parents who drive their children to school lack, even though driving is more comfortable and convenient.

Of course once the child is old enough to be able to know what is up with this world, and strong enough to protect themselves, then it's okay to let them walk on their own. All I'm saying is, give the child a fighting chance. There's not much you can do about a lightning strike, but if it is lightning, you are going to take some manuevers to protect yourself in some way. If you were on a plane that was going down, your chances of survival are almost 0, yet you will buckle your seatbelt and hope for the best. In the same way, you might not prevent all kidnappings, some children were taken right from their front lawn. Other kids were abducted while they were in school. Yet all in all, there are measures you can take to give your child a fighting chance, until they are old enough to take care of themselves. With all that said, I'm not advocating we live our lives in fear. To do that, you will be killing yourself from the inside.

[Tensor]

If I had kids, I would let them walk to school (so long as there were sidewalks and it was a reasonable walking distance), but I wouldn't let them walk alone unless they were in HS.

[Darth Biscuit]

When I was growing up and we knew basically everyone in the neighborhood, wasn't as big of a deal... I used to play away from home all day from the time I was like 7 or 8 and never had one issue...

Where we live now, in a neighborhood where we really only know our close neighbors... no way. My youngest (12) walks to my neighbors house 3 houses down and I watch him every morning... and we live on a cul-de-sac. No way I'm letting him walk out where I can't see him at this age... My older kid, not too worried about him... but then again he drives now so it's not as big of a deal.

I'm not blaming the parents either, but there's no way I'm letting an 11 year old walk alone like that... if no one notices they're not on the bus, it would be a couple of hours before the school noticed they didn't show up and contacted the parents... way, way too long. A predator would have them and be gone. Sad, sad story.

[Iceberg Slim]

No way in heck I would let him walk to school. When my son was in elementary school last year the school was probably about a quarter of a mile or less away, wife and I made the decision to drive him to school. To many crazy people are out here and anything could happen.

[Mr. Belding]

I lived have lived in the US and France and both times I have walked to school. I never felt afraid or scared of my surroundings in either country. Poo happens in this world and even if the best precautions are taken children still get abducted. This is a simple fact of life that everyone must accept. If you feel the need to walk your child to school you should do so. I never once had my mother or father walk me to school, but I always had friends or neighbors around me. We can't be afraid of what might happen.

trust....

that's what allows these sick fugs to get close to children in the first place.

[Davidson Deac II]

I haven't ever lived in an area where walking to school was even an option. But I doubt I would let my kid walk to school alone if I did. There are lots of things to worry about besides abductions.

[MadHatter]

Walking alone to school? No

Walking with a group of friends? Yes