Do you remember how old were you when you went out alone first time? How did you feel? Were you scary at that time? What did your parents do and say? Nowadays, numerous parents worry about their children safety problems. They try to preserve children as they can. Because more and more children want to independent; they do not want to relay on their parents every time; they need their parents to trust them. However, child going out alone cause a serious problem. Should parents allowed children to go out alone? How old should a child be to go out alone? When I saw The New York Times, a headline named “With Boy’s Killing, Parents Confront Worst Fears” caught my interested.
This article mainly talks about a boy who implored his parents for permission to walk home from camp alone, then, he got lost and met a stranger who abducted and killed him. This bad occurrence happened on a Brooklyn family. The body of eight- year-old Leiby Kletzky was found amputated two days after he disappeared on a short walk between his day camp and where he was supposed to meet his parents. This tragedy makes most of parents feared, they worry about their children’s safety; they could not imagine if their children get into trouble.
I still remember when I went to school alone, I was afraid of crossing road because there were a lot of cars drove rapidly. However, the crime rate is increased in some countries such as murder, rape, and loot. From my point of view, there is no exactly age on when child should be goes out alone since anyone is not really “safe” anymore. Even though you are an adult, bad things also happen to you. Every one taking a risk when we go out alone and sometimes with people. Nowadays, home invasions are very popular and it is sorrowful to imagine we cannot even be safe in our own homes. On the other hand, children are being hurt by adults and other children at school. As parents, they wish they could watch their kids all the time to protect them, make them far away from danger; nevertheless, that is impossible. Consequently, parents should enlighten their children how to be safe and defend themselves. Parents also have responsibilities keeping children out of as many bad situations as they can. In a word, parents should teach children how to fish rather than give them fishes.
References
" However, the crime rate is increased in some countries such as murder, rape, and loot" (¶ 3)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is right? Is the crime rate increasing in some countries?
In the US, it's continuing to decrease - the US is getting safer and less criminal year by year, and has been since the 1990s. See "US crime figures: Why the drop?" (2011, June 21) at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13799616
I think the crime rate are increasing in some countries such as India. According to WIKIPEDIA, we can see the figure of incidence of cognizable crimes in India(1953-2007)at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_India
ReplyDeleteGloria,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update.
There may be some increase in crime in India, but in most countries, certainly the US where the 8 year old boy was murdered, crime is decreasing and has been for many years.
I think it's common for people to think that their society is getting worse, but that is almost always wrong - in most ways, most societies are getting better.
I am sure that children are much (very much) safer in every developed country today than they have ever been before in any society at any time. For a start, Christian priests and other nasty religious types can no longer abuse children with the same immunity to being exposed and punished as before when it was almost impossible to speak out freely against religious powers, and the traditional abuse of children by teachers is also much less likely to be kept secret today.
Generally,children are much safer in every developed country today. However, there is some exception. For instance,Norway is one of developed countries, it is also evaluated the most safest country. There was an explosion somedays ago.Can I say that Norway isn't a safety country anymore? Don't you think that Norwegian children not secure?
ReplyDeleteThe attacks in Norway by a politically and religiously inspired mad man were awful. Nonetheless, since he is now under arrest and will not be killing any more children, children in Norway are at least as safe as they were two weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteA single event, or an act by a single person, does not substantially change teh safety level. I like your use of the word generally to start the last comment (July 27, 2011 9:31 PM) - I think that is true, and it has not changed for Norway because of one evil act.
A natural reaction is to worry more, but that worry is probably not justified. Stephen Levitt includes some insightful comments on this in his essay "What Makes a Perfect Parent" (Freakonomics, 2006, Penguin).
Thank you Peter.
ReplyDeleteI understand that we should not evaluate safety level of countries by a single event or an act by a single person.In contrast,we should analyze a situation overall.
Gloria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for continuing to debate with me. It's been very useful as I've been testing a new option for next term.
And the topic you chose is also worth discussing, as your ideas on it have been.