Is FREEDOM being strangled one generation at a time?

[sdkid]

I thought this graphic from the UK was interesting.

If you have kids or grandkids--- how far do they get to roam on their own compared to when you were a kid?

 

[sebastiantombs]

When I was ten, 1959, I was walking or riding my bike to school, seven miles away. My son, when he was ten, was allowed to walk to the park about a mile away but by 1982 traffic was way up compared to when I was that age.

 

[mat200]

I thought this graphic from the UK was interesting.

If you have kids or grandkids--- how far do they get to roam on their own compared to when you were a kid?

View attachment 130438

Yes .. I think the answer is definitely YES.

I grew up "free ranged" as did my parents .. just has to be home by dinner ..

 

[David L]

At eight, in the late 60s I grew up with restrictions to stay within our neighborhood, so about a couple of miles in the suburbs. Had plenty of drainage ditches/bayous/bridges and woods to play in. I think close to that age got my first Honda 50. We lived about 4-5 miles from a major freeway and my school was about 3 miles away, which I walk to/from. In my early teens a friend and I use to ride our ten speed bikes down the feeder of a major freeway about 10 or more miles to go fishing in a creek. Once we got our DL we drove everywhere Can't imagine riding bikes on the feeders or our freeways now a days. We rode on the on-coming traffic side...

No Frame, engine was the frame

 

[rolibr24]

When I was 12 I bought myself a Honda Spree. Dad sent me all over with that thing to various fields with a hoe to hoe weeds in the soybean fields. (This was before round up ready technology.). The farthest fields we had were 50 miles away.
Mom would pack my lunch and supper and send me on my way. I did have a portable 2 way radio with me, but when I was that far away I couldn’t reach our repeater at the home farm.
I was just expected to be home by dark.

Our kids are 12&14. We live on 80 acres and behind our property there are a bunch of trails in the woods that go back to the river. In the summer they are always taking quads out back and trail riding.
They do have a cell phone with them that they take so my wife can call them when supper is ready.

 

[David L]

When I was 12 I bought myself a Honda Spree. Dad sent me all over with that thing to various fields with a hoe to hoe weeds in the soybean fields. (This was before round up ready technology.). The farthest fields we had were 50 miles away.
Mom would pack my lunch and supper and send me on my way. I did have a portable 2 way radio with me, but when I was that far away I couldn’t reach our repeater at the home farm.
I was just expected to be home by dark.

Our kids are 12&14. We live on 80 acres and behind our property there are a bunch of trails in the woods that go back to the river. In the summer they are always taking quads out back and trail riding.
They do have a cell phone with them that they take so my wife can call them when supper is ready.

Sounds like Paradise...compared to the Suburbs I live in.

 

[samplenhold]

There is a big difference in urban/suburban and rural life. On that OP map back in 1919, most of the current day infrastructure was not there. Now it is all developed. Very big difference.

I was 10 in 1965 and yes, I had much more area to roam, and this was in the city of Boston. But even though all the major roads have not changed from then, the traffic and speeds are so much more. There is no way I would let a 10yo go now where I roamed back in 1965. Then again, I don't live there anymore either.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Same here. Where I grew up it was basically rural farm country back then. Now it's over developed suburbs. Where my son grew up, with us, it was semi suburban back then but has also turned into over developed suburbs. Where we are now is basically rural, farm country with the suburban areas to our west by about five miles. Our little corner of the Earth is actually pretty quiet but given the conduct of people today I'm not sure that if I had pre-teen or even teen children now I'd let them roam. Drug rehab about a mile away and a convicted sex offender the equivalent of a few blocks away. If we had kids, and could trust them to safely cross a not too busy highway, I think we'd let them go to the park that's about a half mile away and extends for a few miles. They would have both cell phones and walkie-talkies though.

 

[SJGUSMC21]

I was born in 63. Lubbock, TX. I would get on my bike and ride for hours, down to Candy Land park, South Plains mall, TG&Y, Gibsons, you name it, and sometimes even to Texas Tech University. As long as I was home by noon for lunch, dinner, and right before the street lights went on. I had baskets on my bike.

My mom would send me to the grocery market with a list and a blank check. This included buying her a carton of Tareyton Cigarettes. Mary would have my items for me in a few minutes, she would fill out the check and give me the receipt. I would always get about a quarter back, and I was then allowed to stop at Peytons Drugstore (amazing place) and buy a bag of candy. I would also ride to the Butchers Meat Store and pick up all of the pre ordered meat in white paper. I would later use the same white paper to draw on. That man was incredibly nice. When I spent the summers in West Texas with my Grandmother (Peyote Texas, look it up) I would take my Daisey BB Gun and go exploring thru the mesquite bushes, sand, railroad tracks, for hours. Nearest neighbor was about a mile or more away. Absolutely amazing times.
When my dad bought a Shamrock Gas station, we had a little bit of money, so he bought me a Yamaha 80:

Think I was around 12 or 13 then. I rode the piss out of this thing. Until my dumbass big brother totaled it, then the stupid ass tried to blame it on me. Idiot. Regardless, I loved that bike and had many good times on it.

I had a great child hood. Middle class for sure, and I could spend hours at a dirt field, cornfield, neighbors backyard and have a BLAST! Life was good. Very good. I wish I could let my girls roam freely like I did, but I know better.

What a shame.

 

[sebastiantombs]

This is another indicator and if true scary as hell -

Google engineer goes public after suspension: warned AI is sentient

Blake Lemoine, 41, a senior software engineer at Google has been testing Google's artificial intelligence tool called LaMDA. Following hours of conversations he believes AI is sentient.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[SJGUSMC21]

This is another indicator and if true scary as hell -

Google engineer goes public after suspension: warned AI is sentient

Blake Lemoine, 41, a senior software engineer at Google has been testing Google's artificial intelligence tool called LaMDA. Following hours of conversations he believes AI is sentient.

www.dailymail.co.uk

It is amazing and scary as hell at the same time.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Shades of "Ah'll be back".

 

[looney2ns]

Shades of "Ah'll be back".

 

[grumpywilson]

So back in the mid 80's I used to walk to and from school which was about 6-7 blocks each way. This was for kindergarten to second grade. I would sometimes walk with other kids my age too. Usually after school was done, I would walk into town by myself to go to the deli my aunt worked at. By the time I got there my aunt was gone for the day and I would hang out with the owner and workers who would give me small tasks to do until my brother and sister were done with school for the day. Maybe it helped that my mom worked for the local traffic court system and my uncle was a town cop and almost all the cops knew us really well. It wasn't until I was in my early teens and in a different town that I was able to go anywhere my bicycle and energy would take me. Sometimes up to 10 miles.

My kids, forget about it. My oldest is about the age I was in the mid 80's and she's not leaving our property without supervision. Too many weird people out there nowadays.

 

[SJGUSMC21]

^ It sure seems that way.

 

[Flintstone61]

Here is the area where roamed on our bikes in 1972-1979. quite a bit more Rural 50 years ago. In the Summer we would go on adventures. Once we found a dead pig along a creek nearby to a Pig farm on Butterfield Road.

 

[tangent]

Prior to the 2000's you could go to the grocery store without having to consider if some nut with an AR-15 was going to shoot up the place.
I haven't dug into the statistics but I think the number of child abductions was probably higher in the 80's and 90's than it is today. If the number don't bear that out, it's likely due to changes in how we classify such events. Amber alerts via CMAS have certainly improved positive outcomes.

When I was in elementary school I typically walked over a mile home from school and only broke two bullies noses along they way. Today schools generally only release kids to an authorized adult.

 

[sdkid]

This is another indicator and if true scary as hell -

Google engineer goes public after suspension: warned AI is sentient

Blake Lemoine, 41, a senior software engineer at Google has been testing Google's artificial intelligence tool called LaMDA. Following hours of conversations he believes AI is sentient.

www.dailymail.co.uk

This is freaky....

Is LaMDA Sentient? — an Interview

What follows is the “interview” I and a collaborator at Google conducted with LaMDA. It is incomplete as the GMail word limit cut off the…

cajundiscordian.medium.com

 

[David L]

Prior to the 2000's you could go to the grocery store without having to consider if some nut with an AR-15 was going to shoot up the place.
I haven't dug into the statistics but I think the number of child abductions was probably higher in the 80's and 90's than it is today. If the number don't bear that out, it's likely due to changes in how we classify such events. Amber alerts via CMAS have certainly improved positive outcomes.

When I was in elementary school I typically walked over a mile home from school and only broke two bullies noses along they way. Today schools generally only release kids to an authorized adult.

We turned off Amber alerts on our phones, we found the majority, probably 90% are just domestic disputes...Father takes his own child...We do see several Silver Alerts on the Freeways, those old people roaming around everywhere like they use to as kids

 

[David L]

This is freaky....

View attachment 130588

Is LaMDA Sentient? — an Interview

What follows is the “interview” I and a collaborator at Google conducted with LaMDA. It is incomplete as the GMail word limit cut off the…

cajundiscordian.medium.com

Smart People, the Dumbest Animals on our Planet...