I think that the US as a whole is pretty hard to categorize. But a lot of the big cities are unfriendly to navigate for people of all ages due to how car-dependent they are. There are parts of those cities that are also dangerous due to criminal elements, but for the most part, gun violence isn’t on every street corner. There are also people who would see kids attempting independence and call the authorities because it looks like parental negligence to them.
However, there are many smaller communities and neighborhoods across the country where kids can be independent. I grew up walking or biking to school or friends houses with my brother from around 3rd grade (about 1 mile). But we had distance and street limits that we were not allowed to cross.
Hi Tony! That’s amazing to hear: you got a very Nordic-style childhood! Parents in Scandinavia also tend to give their kids limits based on what they think they are capable of.
It’s true that the safe walking/biking to school is more of a pipe dream in most places as few towns /cities are safely walkable - a major difference to most European towns/cities.
In the US, we definitely need to get more creative in how to teach independence & keep up those skills.
And in terms of the negligence, it’s one of the wildest cultural differences with self-reliance being such a big part of caring in the Nordics, and the nonstop supervision till teenage is somewhat new I believe in the US: for example, let’s say you go to a coffee shop in Finland, it’s normal to leave your sleeping baby snoozing in a stroller outside in the fresh air - in fact there’s likely a row of strollers outside! Not even talking about kids playing on their own in the park.
it sounds like things used to be different and kids here too played outside more freely and more.
But in this day and age we definitely need to be more creative as a lot of this Nordic lifestyle cannot be directly applied.
These are all great! Remind me of my school years in Belgium. We also started going to school on our own in first grade with our bikes. But I don’t know why, but in the US I feel like safety is a big factor. Too many kidnappings and missing kids.
Can’t wait to hear how you navigate bringing these skills to your life back in the states.
Hi Laurie! I know - I’m so curious to just visit the local police department and talk to them: is US really that dangerous for kids?
(Of course, in terms of gun violence bring the biggest danger for kids, it tops the charts in the world) and then I’m thinking- if it IS so dangerous, is it a good place to raise kids IF you would have another choice? It’s such a hard question.
I think that the US as a whole is pretty hard to categorize. But a lot of the big cities are unfriendly to navigate for people of all ages due to how car-dependent they are. There are parts of those cities that are also dangerous due to criminal elements, but for the most part, gun violence isn’t on every street corner. There are also people who would see kids attempting independence and call the authorities because it looks like parental negligence to them.
However, there are many smaller communities and neighborhoods across the country where kids can be independent. I grew up walking or biking to school or friends houses with my brother from around 3rd grade (about 1 mile). But we had distance and street limits that we were not allowed to cross.
Hi Tony! That’s amazing to hear: you got a very Nordic-style childhood! Parents in Scandinavia also tend to give their kids limits based on what they think they are capable of.
It’s true that the safe walking/biking to school is more of a pipe dream in most places as few towns /cities are safely walkable - a major difference to most European towns/cities.
In the US, we definitely need to get more creative in how to teach independence & keep up those skills.
And in terms of the negligence, it’s one of the wildest cultural differences with self-reliance being such a big part of caring in the Nordics, and the nonstop supervision till teenage is somewhat new I believe in the US: for example, let’s say you go to a coffee shop in Finland, it’s normal to leave your sleeping baby snoozing in a stroller outside in the fresh air - in fact there’s likely a row of strollers outside! Not even talking about kids playing on their own in the park.
it sounds like things used to be different and kids here too played outside more freely and more.
But in this day and age we definitely need to be more creative as a lot of this Nordic lifestyle cannot be directly applied.
These are all great! Remind me of my school years in Belgium. We also started going to school on our own in first grade with our bikes. But I don’t know why, but in the US I feel like safety is a big factor. Too many kidnappings and missing kids.
Can’t wait to hear how you navigate bringing these skills to your life back in the states.
Hi Laurie! I know - I’m so curious to just visit the local police department and talk to them: is US really that dangerous for kids?
(Of course, in terms of gun violence bring the biggest danger for kids, it tops the charts in the world) and then I’m thinking- if it IS so dangerous, is it a good place to raise kids IF you would have another choice? It’s such a hard question.