• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Baseball ’19
  • Day Zero 3
  • Earl
  • My list
  • Photo Blogging Challenge

A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

growing up

Society needs to take a deep breath, and fix itself

April 4, 2013

Allow me to start by saying I’m not a parent.

So, I don’t know exactly what goes through one’s mind when dealing with something like this. But what I am writing about today is just downright ridiculous.

Look, I’m in favor of a government organization that watches over children — to a point. It’s needed because there are some families who fully and utterly neglect kids. However, “protecting children” has gone from being smart to being downright ridiculous. Since when is a kid walking a few blocks neglect?

It seems Child Protective Services can do pretty much anything they want. And if somebody wants to be a jerk, they can call the cops or CPS, say they think a child is being abused, neglected or whatever and things can hit the fan quite quickly.

What I’ve read about a situation in Ohio is downright ridiculous.

It seems a 6-year-old wanted a little independence. So her parents allowed her to walk a few blocks to the post office. Seems harmless, right? When I was 6, I’m pretty sure I was able to roam freely, to a point. Could I run anywhere? No. Did my parents or brothers know where I was? Absolutely. Could I go a couple of blocks to another kid’s house? Sure.

See, it’s lessons like this that allow a kid to grow.

I do realize that the threat of something happening is greater than it used to be. Well, at least reported on. Things happened back when, too. But with media, social things and everything else, it’s reported way more. When I was younger, a convicted child rapist and murderer was sent to my town by the department of probation. He didn’t have the chance to do anything because people knew who he was and he spent most of his time shuttered up in the basement of a local church. He was run out of town a bit later. During that time, our town was quieter, that’s for sure. But when it ended, kids started to be seen again.

In this day and age, we also have lists you can see to know where these creeps are. Well, at least the ones convicted. Depending on the town or area or whatever, though, I would hope parents have a good grip of where their kids will be going.

So back to the current situation.

Would I let my kid walk 3-4 city blocks in New York to go play in Central Park? Probably not. But in a small town where most people know who you are and such? I’d feel a lot better.

The realization is this — kids have to grow, explore and learn. It’s part of life.

Anyway, it turns out this poor child has been taken into custody more than once because she was walking alone. According to the parent who wrote into the Free Range Kids website, the girl knows her address, phone number and all vital things. She does small errands within a few blocks (store, post office etc.) and she’s been detained or stopped by “concerned citizens.”

Am I missing something? Is there a law that says a 6-year-old child can’t walk somewhere? Especially in an area where she is known?

I can’t rehash everything here. I’d encourage you to read the whole story/timeline on Free Range Kids.

I dug around and somebody in the comments noted their situation, which had been previously reported on Free Range Kids. The “charges” are just as silly, but the one that caught my eye — she was a bad parent because she let her kids (aged 8 and 10) walk together to a bus stop 300 feet away.

Seriously.

That’s not even the FULL LENGTH of a football field!

A 10-year-old kid can’t walk with an 8-year-old sibling to a bus stop 300 feet away without setting off a red flag?

We have issues in this country. Our politicians spend more money on so many frivolous things that it makes people’s heads spin. These same people get paid oodles of money to do what? We have these organizations that flex their muscles like they own the world. It’s time to back off. While these may be isolated incidents, they happen. And they shouldn’t. Not once. Let kids grow. A parent needs to be able to do what they need to do to raise their kids.

I once said I’d love to live forever. But I have to admit, with the way society is going, I don’t know if I want to see what it’s like in 75 or 80 years. It’s going to be downright ridiculous.

The biggest thing? People need to get their noses out of other people’s business. If you see something truly bad (such as a parent beating a kid or something crazy), it’s one thing. But a kid walking to the store or the post office in a quiet area where people are bound to know one another?

It’s called growing up.

I have no issues with parents who want to make sure their kids are supervised on these trips. And I have no issues with parents who trust their kids or surroundings enough to let them walk freely, as long as they know where they are going. It should be up to the parent. Respect the parent to know and believe what is best for their kid.

Reality is this — who are CPS to tell somebody what’s best for somebody else’s kids? They aren’t. Back off.

I roamed with my friends as kids all the time. We explored the woods. Played in creeks. Played sports and rode our bikes. In the winter, we went sledding at the local college. We did some crazy things and parents weren’t always around. We were allowed to scrape our knees, get dirty and whatever else. Our parents trusted we knew right from wrong, wouldn’t talk to the wrong people and would run, yell and scream if anything was to happen to us or if we got into a sticky situation.

We’re all fine.

Kids need a chance to grow and learn just as much as anybody else. It’s up to the parent to decide the criteria for that, not the cops, CPS or any other government agency.

Period.

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — a minimum of $5– you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted lap quilt or pillow. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: My world, opinion Tagged With: child protective services, cps, government, growing up, kids, opinion, politicians

1 Comment

30 Days of Writing: The babysitter (10/30)

June 10, 2012

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor. This one has me being stumped! 

I truly only remember one “babysitter” while I was growing up.

I’m sure there were probably more. But for the most part, I remember one. (I actually have a photo of me and her, but I have to save it for my Snapshot Saturday feature — it’s too bad this theme wasn’t on a Saturday!)

Outside of that, when I was in the age where I could go out and run around — but still being too young to be free to roam — my brothers often got sacked with the chore of watching me. My brothers are 11 months apart and I’m a bit behind them. So, they were old enough to watch me. Of course, I was the little brother. When they did “big kid” things, I usually wasn’t invited along.

When I was younger (7-8 etc.), my brothers often got sacked with having to watch me.

Still, they were normal big brothers. In other words, they could torture me but others couldn’t.

I remember one time when I was maybe 7 or 8 and one kid had been pestering me quite a bit. See, he didn’t quite like my brothers. And I’m quite sure the feeling was mutual. However, he knew he couldn’t take them, so he did the next best thing. He tormented me and my friends.

One day, in a parking lot near home, me and some friends were jumping our bikes. Well, this fella comes along and starts pestering us. To be “funny,” as I went over a jump, he threw a stick toward my front wheel. The stick got caught in the spokes and I went flying. Being so close to home, I just took off running and bawling my head off. My friends stayed there and started swearing at him and keeping out of his range.

My brothers were home at that point.

After sniffling and stumbling through the story, they grabbed me and off we went to the park area. (Remember, my bike was still there). Said bully was there and tried, of course to make excuses. My brothers cornered him and didn’t do one thing. They told me to hit him. Not that the punch or slap of a 7-8 year old is going to hurt someone closer to his teenage years, but I did as I was told. Several times over. A couple of kicks.

Again, I don’t think these were leaving any mark. It’s not like the kid was taking a beating.

But my brothers told him it wouldn’t be slugging me back.

So I did what my brother told me to do. Finally, they “allowed” the kid to leave.

Of course I was all proud. My brothers had stuck up for me and I got to “take down” an older kids as some friends watched on. It was quite humorous. The kid never bothered me again, which was also nice.

Beyond that, the babysitter became the outdoors. Once I was at an age where me and my friends were allowed to roam, we rode bikes, played ball, went swimming and whatever else we could do. It was at a time when you weren’t as worried about who was out there. We were a small rural area and my dad was the top cop in the village, so it was usually quite safe.

I only remember a few times when we were not allowed to roam on our own. One was when a convicted child molester/murderer was sent to our town via parole (it was his second or third stop since being released). That didn’t last long as my father made sure the word was out and soon enough this creep was chased off. He landed in a nearby town for a few days before being relocated to Rochester, where he, in turn, murdered 11 prostitutes. (A 12th is credited to him, but he wasn’t convicted on that one).

Once me and friends were old enough to roam, the outdoors became our babysitters. (I am in blue).

When I was growing up, it’s the lone time I ever remember not being able to roam free.

You don’t see that as much anymore. Sure, kids in their teens will wander and do whatever. But most kids who are in the younger age can’t just set out on their bikes with friends for a day of adventure. We used to do a lot of things, too. Not just ride around in the street near home. We’d wander all over the village. We’d go swimming in the river or the pool. We’d play ball all over. It never stopped. We’d explore.

We were kids and the outdoors kept us in check.

No need for video games or television or computers. The outdoors was all we needed. (Though, in inclement weather, being inside was important…)

And, if it was something of importance, my father — as the cop — always had a good idea where we were. So did the parents of some of the others. We thought we roamed free, but somebody always seemed to be around if needed.

So the babysitters were there, in a way.

In the end, I did have some “traditional” babysitters growing up, but the outdoors was often “the babysitter,” which I think was a helpful tool in growing.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: My world, We Work For Cheese Challenges Tagged With: 30 days of writing, 30 days of writing challenge, babysitter, growing up, the babysitter, we work for cheese challenge, we work for cheese.

12 Comments

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Welcome to A 'lil HooHaa!

This is a personal website covering many topics! We host a monthly photo blogging challenge, and then every January hold a fun writing challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and hope this becomes a stop for you!

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 882 other subscribers

Instagram

hoohaa29

Writer who loves images just as much as words! In search of perfectly poured pints of Guinness and great hot dogs. Find me on twitter @softball29.

Couldn’t resist stopping on the way to work too Couldn’t resist stopping on the way to work too quickly snap some photos of this scene. Hamden Covered Bridge. #bridge #coveredbridge #hamden #snow #winter #instagood #photooftheday #happy #picoftheday #fun #igers #bestoftheday #life #photo #iphonesia #igdaily #iphoneonly #love #beautiful #photography
A nice day to get out for a hike, grab a #geocache A nice day to get out for a hike, grab a #geocache and place a few. Felt good abs here’s hoping for a much better year!
Thought this wax seal came out pretty well! #waxse Thought this wax seal came out pretty well! #waxsealstamp #waxseal #waxseals #card #mail #snailmail
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Twitter

P.J.Follow

P.J.
Retweet on TwitterP.J. Retweeted
QU_MIHQuinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey@QU_MIH·
18 Jan

We're up a spot in the polls and back in the Top 🔟! #BobcatNation

Reply on Twitter 1351245153663676418Retweet on Twitter 13512451536636764185Like on Twitter 135124515366367641873Twitter 1351245153663676418
Retweet on TwitterP.J. Retweeted
POTUSPresident Biden@POTUS·
20 Jan

The time to move forward is now.

Reply on Twitter 1351960433905700864Retweet on Twitter 135196043390570086469741Like on Twitter 1351960433905700864462792Twitter 1351960433905700864
Retweet on TwitterP.J. Retweeted
DanRatherDan Rather@DanRather·
20 Jan

I will not apologize for getting emotional and a little misty in the eye on reflecting on this moment and the story of our nation.

Reply on Twitter 1351929149959540737Retweet on Twitter 135192914995954073711465Like on Twitter 1351929149959540737199283Twitter 1351929149959540737
Load More...

Archives

Categories

Calendar

January 2021
S M T W T F S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Dec    

Search The Site

Site Information

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

A 'lil HooHaa © 2021 · Created By Coded Creative

Copyright © 2021 · Ava Mae on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in