I never had kids so I dont know how they work.

[shortylickens]

http://abc13.com/news/mom-needed-a-break-child-drowns/1469407/


Are you supposed to leave a six year old alone for an hour? I cant recall my parents ever doing so.

 

[IronWing]

My parents did it all the time. Somehow we decided that the solution to every problem is the popo. As tragic as this case is, the DA made the correct decision here.

 

[brycejones]

http://abc13.com/news/mom-needed-a-break-child-drowns/1469407/


Are you supposed to leave a six year old alone for an hour? I cant recall my parents ever doing so.

Mine did when I was 7. However we didn't do it with our kids. Judgement call by the DA but I tend to agree with it.

 

[alien42]

tragic story, but at that age i was already a free range kid riding my bike wherever i wanted and swimming without being monitored.

even more tragic is that african american children drowning deaths in the US are triple that of white kids.

 

[Mayne]

I was walking 3 miles each day to kindergarten by myself.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Yeah, this isn't like being left in a scorching-hot car or being left alone for days. DA made the right decision.

 

[Atreus21]

http://abc13.com/news/mom-needed-a-break-child-drowns/1469407/


Are you supposed to leave a six year old alone for an hour? I cant recall my parents ever doing so.

My oldest is six, and is not ready to be left alone for that much time. I'm sure that maturity levels vary among 6 and 7 year olds.

 

[DrPizza]

By that age, I was allowed to walk into town and buy things with my allowance. The store I went to was only 3 blocks away from where I lived, but that seemed like a mile to a little kid. By that age, I was also going to play with my friends at local parks, etc., unsupervised.

 

[Zorba]

By that age, I was allowed to walk into town and buy things with my allowance. The store I went to was only 3 blocks away from where I lived, but that seemed like a mile to a little kid. By that age, I was also going to play with my friends at local parks, etc., unsupervised.

Same. I don't think I was left at home at that age, but I could roam pretty freely as long as my parents knew where I was going.

Oklahoma actually has a law that specifically says it is legal to leave a kid in a car alone, as long as proper ventilation is provided but the keys can not be left if the kid is less than 7.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

My four year old daughter wakes up before the wife and I do sometimes (thanks to our 3 month old). She lets herself out of her room, uses the bathroom, brushes her teeth, grabs a fruit for her "pre-breakfast" checks if anything good is on the Disney channel and if nothing is, she will get herself some water color paints/paper/2 cups of water and get to it. She's more capable than some adults I know.

I would never let her out of my damn sight if a pool was involved, though (despite being a rather proficient swimmer for her age).

Bad call on the mother's part and she will regret it for the rest of her life, no need to pile criminal charged on top of it as well.

 

[Paratus]

Pools are dangerous. Had a friend who was watching her kids play in the family pool while holding her baby. Her next youngest fell into the pool. He didn't come back up

By the time she put the baby down and got him out of the pool he wasn't breathing. (Dr said he probably inhaled water as he fell in because he wasn't under very long.)

Her phone got wet so she had to yell for the neighbors to call 911 while she did CPR. The hospital had to put him in a medically induced coma. Thankfully when they took him out of it he was fine. CPS had to do an investigation since he almost drowned.

All I can say is make sure your kids know how to swim.

 

[MixMasterTang]

I honestly would second question everyone who thinks they were free to roam alone at 7 years old... My parents were extremely liberal and we lived way outside of the city, but I still had a babysitter when I was in Kindergarten and even though I played outside in the neighborhood all day my parents could see me or knew exactly where I was and knew another adult was watching.

 

[vi edit]

Some of us grew up in true rural areas. I grew up on a farm. By the age of 6 I would get up and ride my bike down the access lanes to the fields or play in the barn or throw rocks in the creek for hours on end. Dad would be at work and Mom would be inside with my sister that was still a toddler. No adult in site for hours. It's just what we did.

With my own 8 year old I'll give her the ipad and go for a run for an hour while she is home alone. In another year or so I'll let her walk down to the community pool on her own and play. They do have active lifeguards on duty.

 

[IronWing]

I grew up in the suburbs with lots of lakes nearby. My parents made sure I knew how to swim early. "Be home by lunch time", and "just be home by dinner time" were common parental admonishments by the time I was six. Going in the lake was never considered a big deal even at that age. I was sternly warned to stay out of the river though as it had a lot of boat traffic. My parents were remarkably laid back about water considering that neither of them could swim.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Didn't you know that modern children can be ordered with a self raising feature? You have to double check to make sure that your order got filled right before accepting delivery from the stork because they don't accept returns..

 

[IronWing]

Didn't you know that modern children can be ordered with a self raising feature? You have to double check to make sure that your order got filled right before accepting delivery from the stork because they don't accept returns..

I thought only Jesus could do that? Of course, with His other skills, the pool would have been no problemo.

 

[Oyeve]

Growing up in NYC in the 60s and early 70s I was pretty much on my own since 5 or 6. Went to the parks downstairs and as long as I was within earshot I was left alone. And I lived in a building that the east river was right behind. Dont recall anything like this happening. The only incident I can recall was some kid getting squished under the wheels of a city bus. Im 50 now and that image has not left me in 45 years.

 

[PricklyPete]

Before I was 6, I was regularly left alone in the backyard to play (with zero supervision) and also biked between several adjacent neighborhoods and town without issue or fear by my parents.

 

[DrPizza]

I honestly would second question everyone who thinks they were free to roam alone at 7 years old... My parents were extremely liberal and we lived way outside of the city, but I still had a babysitter when I was in Kindergarten and even though I played outside in the neighborhood all day my parents could see me or knew exactly where I was and knew another adult was watching.

Kindergarten??! You were 7 years old in Kindergarten? Many of us started Kindergarten at 4 years of age. We were 7, and turned 8 while in 3rd grade. Also, I think helicopter parenting has been on the increase the past two decades, coinciding with 24/7 news stations sensationalizing stories.

 

[Blackjack200]

Kindergarten??! You were 7 years old in Kindergarten? Many of us started Kindergarten at 4 years of age. We were 7, and turned 8 while in 3rd grade. Also, I think helicopter parenting has been on the increase the past two decades, coinciding with 24/7 news stations sensationalizing stories.

4 year olds in K are pretty unusual these days.

Here's the registration form at my school district.

http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib7.../40/Reg_Pack_16-17_20160713 - REV 08-2016.pdf

Kindergarten


For the 2016-2017 school year, a child is eligible for entrance into kindergarten at the


start of the regular school year if he/she has reached five (5) years of age on or


before October 1st, 2016.

Agree on the helicopter parenting, it's much more pronounced now. I had a lot of freedom as a kid, and the kids in my neighborhood don't seem to have that.

 

[retrospooty]

My parents did it all the time. Somehow we decided that the solution to every problem is the popo. As tragic as this case is, the DA made the correct decision here.

Mine left me too... But we didn't have a pool. You absolutely don't do it around a pool.

 

[DrPizza]

4 year olds in K are pretty unusual these days.
Here's the registration form at my school district.
http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib7/NJ01001050/Centricity/Domain/40/Reg_Pack_16-17_20160713 - REV 08-2016.pdf
Kindergarten
For the 2016-2017 school year, a child is eligible for entrance into kindergarten at the
start of the regular school year if he/she has reached five (5) years of age on or
before October 1st, 2016.

If school starts Sept 1, then 1/12 of the kids would be 4 starting Kindergarten.
For the longest time, including for my kids, (I'm not sure if it's changed), the cutoff date was in December; so about 1/3 of the kids were 4 and turned 5 after the new year.

 

[BurnItDwn]

in the 80s our parents pretty much left us to our own devices. I walked alone to kindergarten, would go to the store to buy misc crap, or more or less would ride my bike all over town.

These days kids are allowed no independence and everything is so damn structured It sucks.

 

[DrPizza]

in the 80s our parents pretty much left us to our own devices. I walked alone to kindergarten, would go to the store to buy misc crap, or more or less would ride my bike all over town.

These days kids are allowed no independence and everything is so damn structured It sucks.

And they have a lot more difficulty learning to be independent.

 

[Paratus]

We let our kids play by themselves at the park behind our house. It's literally 30 ft from our back gate.

You wouldn't believe the number of times I've seen the other parents at the park trying to figure out where we are while I'm in my backyard and the kids are at the park.