re: Mom arrested in rural GA because her near 11 year old son was found walking alone

I used to do this all the time during the summers

Would walk a half mile to store and grab lunch occasionally

What they are really saying is, we don’t keep the community safe enough for your children to walk alone, so you must keep them locked away.

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Not sure I understand. How?

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Cell phones and helicopter parenting have moved the gates of adulthood to the right.

They are glued to phones and social media apps. They don't have the drive or need to get out to connect with other kids. The % of kids who don't ride bikes or venture off to explore at young ages, fight to get their liscense on their 16th birthdays, or move out as soon as they can are drastically high compared to 20-30 years ago. Those were rights of passage and a sense of freedom.

Cell phones and social media provide the personalized contact and escape that the wall phone in the living room stretched out to the corner of the room didn't afford. There is goodness in that. But, it also keeps kids inside doing just that all of the time.

Add in the helicopter parent factor, and it has created kids who don't mind their parents dropping them off with friends in tow at 17 years old.

There is less face to face contact. There is less drive for independence. There is less drive to adventure, explore, and learn life lessons. It's part of why the millennial to Gen Z as a whole can't handle the curveballs that life will throw at them. It's a part of US tradition to keep moving forward as soon as possible, accept the struggle if it leads to independence, innovation and growth.

I love my kids. I have a 22 yr old out of the home, college educated and doing well. A 19 year old away from home and in college. And, a 14 year old, new age latch key kid himself. I've hovered myself at times and see the effect of some of that now. But, kids need to get out. Kids need face to face communication skills. Kids need difficulty in their lives. They don't need 24/7 monitoring at 11 or a screen glued to their face. Just my opinion

I know. We all saw the new Jaguar promo!

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Well, I never said I think it’s illegal, I just think it’s bad parenting. I mean, bum frick Egypt towns in Louisiana are usually bad places, so don’t call me crazy for saying I wouldn’t let my kids walk alone to town.

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This was in the mountains of North Georgia, the demographics are very very different than more typical southern BFE's.

It's very Vermont-like, but conservative instead of liberal.


The entire population of the town is 223. It's smaller than fictional Mayberry. Yes, everyone knows everyone. Probably the safest town in America to let a 10 year old run free. More likely to be snatched by a sasquatch than caught up in any other mess.

Edit again- to echo what another poster said, the Karen who called it in very likely has a vendetta against the family. And the way the government is treating her, I'm wondering if she hasn't made trouble at a city council meeting in the past, or otherwise pissed off the backwoods barney fifedom.

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Social media scares people with irrational fears as well.

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100%. Could you have imagined it if media coverage and connectivity were the same in the 80s and 90s as today? The serial killer coverage and still existing cold cases alone would have crippled our youth and growth experience.

@moneyg

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There are places nobody should go.

That’s not what we are talking about.

It absolutely is bad parenting if you can’t let an 11 yo kid leave your sight.

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And all of this. You know your neighborhood if you live there. The situation doesn't sound as if it was negligent or uncommon.

Georgia Law Enforcement has manpower and resources to do sh!t like this, but couldn't keep Laken Riley's murderer away from the UGA campus?

Thin Blue Line?

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don’t think that’s very good parenting tbh.

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That’s your takeaway? If I disagree with your parenting style, may I have you arrested?

And yet there are states requiring one parent to “allow” his (usually) child to be castrated.

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At 11, I was riding my bike l over town and roamed vast swathes of woods

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I grew up in a rural area, but it was a subdivision without about 20 homes and surrounded by miles of country.

We weren't even allowed in the home during the summers because the group of boys were like locusts who eat your pantry and fridge clean if you let them. My grandmother would bring me and my brother a sandwich out at lunch and we had a garden hose.

We only had to check in when the porch lights went off or when my dad whistled, which could be heard for a mile

If we had 16 acres of land this time of year in that part of the country, no squirrel would have been safe. They would have tracked me down in the woods with a .22 in my hands. Could you imagine the Karen's today? She would be in the state pen next week.

I remember having to have plans and contingency plans when out with friends and you seperated at the mall or were to meet up anywhere in town.

It hit me in the face how much the world and myself changed about a decade ago. We were at Disneyland. My wife took the boy back to the hotel and I took the girls to California Adventure. My phone died. And, all I could think was, "well, I guess we'll catch up with mom tonight."

In reality, I just had them ride their favorite ride continuously until mom found us. But, the lesson learned was that we simply don't plan anymore.

When is the last time you bought a Rand McNally? The first job when visiting a new town used to be popping in the gas station and getting a city map off of the carousel rack.

Ordering pizza in the 80s was literally telling the driver to take the third road past the huge oak tree . It was amazing they ever got it there in 30 mins or less.

I'm not a luddite by any means, but the tech and social media generation does come at a cost. That cost shouldn't be the state affecting small town lives and norms. What happened to this mother is inexcusable.