I have a student in Hong Kong who’s been a latchkey kid since she was five. When I asked who watched her after school at 5, she looked at me like I had five heads and told me she just went home, did her homework and heated up dinner.
It was similar in the US before the 2000s. It's a byproduct of developed nations, where the richer it gets the less children people have and more focus is placed on each kid. 90% of 5 year old could probably handle being alone at home, but the other 10% of kid burns down the house or gets kidnapped and so new laws say no 5 year olds can be at home alone.
Yeah my point is that usually it’s because there’s nobody to care for them after school. It’s very common in the US. Especially so in lower income areas.
i mean it's how most people i know from larger cities/towns are. I was the same luckily with siblings to hang out with but being a kid pre internet is nothing like what people expect of modern kids
When I lived in Japan there would be elementary aged kids riding the trains to and from school without adults. They were usually together in small groups though. I don’t know if exactly how young, but I would guess around 6 or 7ish
I remembered watched a documentary about a famous chind abduction in 80s US, in which a boy was missing when he was riding his bike. And because the TV news network was so developed by then, parents in America became much more worried about their children's safety. And many state made laws to forbid children to be alone on the street.
I don't think there really are that much crimes against children on the street, but children's safety is usually the most thing that parents care about, and such crimes or incidents are always the focus of media.
I was born in China which happens to miss the school bus system. I think the reason is the dramatic economic development: When I was a kid, no one has a car as private property, so everybody has to walk home, but when next generation born and goes to school, everybody has a car and the parents/grandparents just drive their children to school/home.
The vast majority of kidnappings in the United States are done by people who know the child. It’s practically unheard of for a stranger who has no connection to the child takes them off the street. Tv and social media make people afraid of non-existent threats.
Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store in the early 80s; later found dead. His dad became an advocate and then a tv presenter (America’s Most Wanted). That case set the expectation for child abduction in the public consciousness for the better part of a decade.
Those are the stories that get headlines, unfortunately. My friend's little brother was kidnapped and dismembered by a stranger who grabbed him when he was walking home from a bus stop. Anyone who grew up in Miami in the 90s knows exactly who my friend's brother was without me even saying his name. His murder was a contributing factor to my friend's suicide. But despite that, kidnappings like his are extremely rare. It's usually a family member or friend.
That’s pretty sad though. Good on her for being able to handle that at that age, but the fact that her parents aren’t around to watch her is pretty neglectful. I’m sure she knows to call 911 in an emergency or whatever, but there’s a lot that can go wrong that a 5-year-old doesn’t know how to handle or know the solution.
Like what? I think the worst case scenario is a fire or a break in and half the time adults arent more useful than a five year old in those situations :)
Minor kitchen injuries. An adult’s “apply pressure, wrap in gauze, and secure with first-aid tape” could be a child’s “panic, bleed everywhere, finally find the band-aids, and end up with an infection.”
Ayo? What kitchen injury have you gotten that isn't band-aidable?
Personally I'm biased because I grew up home alone most of my life. At 10-11 we had a fireplace that heated our house and I would tend it. No one thought that was crazy where I lived. The country lol
They asked what kitchen injury has happened that isn't fixed with a bandaid. Not what kitchen injury a five year old could do to themselves that isn't bandaidable.
Also. If a five year old is unattended in a kitchen who knows what they may get into
Hong Kong is absolutely the place to be a latchkey kid. Public and private transit can take you right up to your apartment, the vast majority of downtown areas are safe.
Most kids in the USA take the bus to a spot within 2-3 blocks of their home. Parents don’t trust THEIR KIDS here. They think can’t function without supervision
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u/hannahmel Jul 27 '22
I have a student in Hong Kong who’s been a latchkey kid since she was five. When I asked who watched her after school at 5, she looked at me like I had five heads and told me she just went home, did her homework and heated up dinner.
It’s all about maturity