And this is why cavers (hobbyists and professionals alike) emphasize over and over again that you must have an outside contact, someone who knows where you went and about when you planned to be back, and who will call in the rescuers if you're several hours overdue. My now-ex enjoyed caving with his friends, and since I'm not an outdoors person I was always the one who knew their plans and waited for them to get back safely. The problem here is not "children going off on their own" but "children who were unaware of basic safety precautions for the particular thing they were doing".
There's a balance between reasonable caution and letting kids have a degree of independence, and I agree with you that it's swung too far in the direction of "protecting" children from any kind of danger. But the place where I would say that the parents of those children failed them was in not knowing the local hazards and providing appropriate safety education. Not in letting them go exploring the neighborhood on their own.
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Date: 2017-07-06 12:35 am (UTC)There's a balance between reasonable caution and letting kids have a degree of independence, and I agree with you that it's swung too far in the direction of "protecting" children from any kind of danger. But the place where I would say that the parents of those children failed them was in not knowing the local hazards and providing appropriate safety education. Not in letting them go exploring the neighborhood on their own.