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At a newly finished park in my Jerusalem neighborhood, I saw this sign. It reads: "Children under the age of 6 must be accompanied by an adult." If you're 6 or older, you can take care of yourself.
Is there any other park in the world that would display such a sign? Let me tell you, this sign is based on reality. In my neighborhood, I frequently see 6-year-olds walking their 4-year-old siblings to school.
Israel's success is largely a result of self-reliance from an early age.
It is useful to remember that Jerusalem is 40% Arab. Many neighborhoods, including my own, lie adjacent to Arab neighborhoods. But there is no fear in Jerusalem. There is a steely side to the people here, and that includes the kids.
You see a powerful streak of independence, self-reliance, and courage that is exhilarating to behold.
Discussion (11)
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This used to be the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. At least in the Midwest where I grew up.
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I'll echo that. I grew up in the Midwest too and was out and about without supervision from as early as I can remember.
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My memory is odd for specific events of my past but I was own my own from when I began going to public school when I was 5 years old in 1944. I walked to school about half-mile away the first two years, it was a one-room school house with just the first two grades.
We lived a short distance from the Atlanta streetcar line the destination of which was "19-River" if my memory serves me, that's the Chattahoochee River. When I started third grade, I walked that short distance and caught the streetcar going the opposite direction towards downtown and rode it a couple of miles to the county elementary school. The trip costs a nickel each way or maybe that was just a token bought ahead of time, just drop it in the box (I think the fare was a dime for an adult to ride), no school buses there at that time, 1946.
Things have changed.
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Seawriter (View Comment):
There are many reasons for why kids' freedom to roam was taken away.
I think one of them was the Supreme Court's abolition of prayer in the public schools that occurred in 1962.
When we exile God from our daily experience we relinquish accountability for our actions and invite chaos.
Here's the prayer that precipitated the ban:
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country."
When we throw off dependence on God and His heavenly blessings, all hell breaks loose.
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When I was 4, I could ride my tricycle by myself around the block at my grandfather's house, which was in downtown Raleigh . . .
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