by El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)

OK, every weekday for the past school year, I have been driving my granddaughter to her pre-pre-school. Part of the route takes me past Hillside School on Brown Road, in a town just south of Pavement Narrows. Now, on this road there are two houses on the opposite side of the street from the school in which children (one at each house) live. One house is about a block and a half from the school while the other is less than 100 yards away. Both of these children are picked up by school buses and driven to school.

Now, I have a little bit of a problem processing this. When I was a kid in New Jersey's Queen City, I walked to school (about 4 blocks) every day, rain, snow or shine. I had friends in my class who came from up to 3/4's of a mile away either on foot or on bicycle. At least two of 'em, Jimmy C. and Johnny B., traveled some distance on the side of the road since there weren't always sidewalks available. When we got to school, we'd either hang-out at the various entrances, socializing, or we'd go back to the playing fields behind the school for a pick up game of ball (football in the fall, baseball in the spring.) These kids who arrive at the Hillside school in school buses sit in said buses until it is time for them to go immediately to class. They are not running around playing tag, ball or jumping rope or playing hopscotch like the girls of my generation. (Hell, if it needs to be known, all of us, boys and girls, played hopscotch and jumped rope: we boys had to prove we were better than the girls and the girls loved to show us up whenever possible.)

I just don't understand the mindset which demands that kids stay cooped up in busses when they could be running around and generally aiding in their physical and emotional development. "Oh, no...we can't have the little dears being alone out there unsupervised. They might hurt themselves and then their parents could sue the school district..." or some such bullshit. Or, "The predators are out there. We can't put our kids at risk." (That one I have more sympathy with although it begs the question of why our culture produces these monsters in such seemingly large numbers...)

There was an article in the Curious-News today about how today's kids are more likely to be fat and how schools are trying to reduce or eliminate any and all food that might taste good...oh, right...might be unhealthy or fattening from their menus. Again, when I was in elementary school, eating at school meant that you brought your lunch in a lunchbox or brown paper bag. I think that all the school provided was milk. Worked for us, should work today except that today's parents were spoiled as kids and, consequently, haven't a clue about what childhood should be about.

As a parent, I practiced "benign neglect". My kids, therefore, had what I consider a normal childhood. They walked to and from school as kids and went out and did things that would have turned my hair gray at even an earlier age had I known what they were doing. I think that, partially as a result of this policy, they turned into self-sufficient, inner-directed, self-confident adults. However, too many of their peers did not have the advantages that I gave my kids. (Sure, I coached soccer for years and did other kid oriented things, but our kids still had ample time to hunt for snakes and god knows what else most of the time.)

I feel sorry for this generation. They are missing out on much of what makes being a kid tolerable.

'Nuff said...

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