Changing standards

[KrazyHorse]

Didn't see anything about this here - a woman in South Carolina was arrested for letting her 9 year-old daughter play in a park unsupervised while she worked at a McDonald's about a 5 minute walk away. The daughter had a cell phone and could call her mother at any time.

I have clear memories of playing in a park around this far from my house at the age of 6 or 7. I would walk there on my own - I had to tell my mother where I was going, but that's it. And this obviously predates cell phones.

Once I was 10 I was allowed to stay home alone for a few hours at a time, though I was not allowed to care for my younger siblings until I was 12 or so.

What a bunch of ninnies.

[Lorizael]

The relevant law is:

Unlawful conduct toward a child.

(A) It is unlawful for a person who has charge or custody of a child, or who is the parent or guardian of a child, or who is responsible for the welfare of a child as defined in Section 63-7-20 to:

(1) place the child at unreasonable risk of harm affecting the child's life, physical or mental health, or safety;

(2) do or cause to be done unlawfully or maliciously any bodily harm to the child so that the life or health of the child is endangered or likely to be endangered; or

(3) wilfully abandon the child.

(B) A person who violates subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and for each offense, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

So it depends on the definition of "unreasonable risk of harm" or on whether the mom could be considered to have abandoned the child. Seems like an awfully vague law. I wonder how long this kind of law has been on the books and if it was interpreted differently in the past.

[Sava]

Didn't see anything about this here - a woman in South Carolina was arrested for letting her 9 year-old daughter play in a park unsupervised while she worked at a McDonald's about a 5 minute walk away. The daughter had a cell phone and could call her mother at any time.

I have clear memories of playing in a park around this far from my house at the age of 6 or 7. I would walk there on my own - I had to tell my mother where I was going, but that's it. And this obviously predates cell phones.

Once I was 10 I was allowed to stay home alone for a few hours at a time, though I was not allowed to care for my younger siblings until I was 12 or so.

What a bunch of ninnies.

This is my reaction as well.

I also recall being 6-7 years old, running off miles away from my home, unsupervised... riding bikes around with friends... that sort of thing.

[KrazyHorse]

The relevant law is:



So it depends on the definition of "unreasonable risk of harm" or on whether the mom could be considered to have abandoned the child. Seems like an awfully vague law. I wonder how long this kind of law has been on the books and if it was interpreted differently in the past.

That's the point. Standards change, and with them the interpretation of the law. Until we get to the point where what was commonplace 25 years ago is now illegal.

Some of these changes are for the better. Some are slightly ridiculous.

[AAAAAAAAH!]

What's weird is that crime rates were significantly higher 25 years ago.

[Tuberski]

Of course they were, what with all the kids running around unsupervised.

ACK!

[Jon Miller]

It seems like these laws are primarily being used to punish those who are not wealthy enough to hire a nanny to take care of their kids full time.

There are similar ones that until the age of 7 you have to keep your child in a carseat. Studies that exist actually show that it is worse for the child to be in a carseat at that age. Additionally, if you take a child out of a carseat for any reason, you get a felony (and likely jail time). I read a story about a mother who got 6 months in jail for taking her child out of the carseat to breastfeed during a trip (they were running late and the husband didn't want to stop).

JM

[Jon Miller]

I was unsupervised at home at 5 once (my mom did get mad at my dad though).

JM

[Ben Kenobi]

I was babysitting at 11. At that point I got to do everything, come home by myself.

[Fake Boris]

What's weird is that crime rates were significantly higher 25 years ago.

There was the USSR to keep people worried. Now that there is no threat, they had to come up with pedophiles.

[Aeson]

At 6 I was riding 3 or 4-wheelers (usually crashing them), building treehouses, and seeing how big of a jump we could make on our dirt bikes before something would break. Often without a grown up for miles. Once I crashed the 3 wheeler into a parked farm truck. It wasn't my fault, I swear

Usually I could just turn it back over and keep riding, but that time the fender got wedge into the fender of the farm truck. I had to walk a few miles to go get my Dad to come pry it out.

Dad also taught us how to handle guns around that age, though that was always closely supervised.

My dad was probably was shooting deer and detonating dynamite by that age.

[Sava]

what about detonating deers?

[Aeson]

That would be a terrible waste of meat

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Over here in the land of freedom - I was walking to school through the town when I was 7, and had the whole afternoon to myself from there on. One can learn to be responsible from an early age, but today's society is not exactly willing to allow it.

This type of stuff is pathetic. Naturally pressures the poor more as they cannot afford day care on minimum wage. Just encourages not working and staying at home, makes life on benefits more financially rewarding without risking legal bs on your head in addition.

[Sava]

what if only the babies get blowed up?