Woman arrested for letting kid play in park

[On Guard for Thee]

The crime rates in this country have been dropping for 40 years, including against children, with one exception and that is luring children via a computer. So, aside from the fact that unsupervised play is important to a child's development, they are likely a lot safer on the swing than sitting in front of a screen.

[Michael Hardner]

To Michael Hardner - Those disagreeing on the substance of this issue tend to use extreme examples in an attempt to support their point.

I don't have a strong opinion on this, though. I'm just having fun with this one and trying to frame the gravity of the situation with a few fronds.

I do have a hypothetical question;

You are walking past a playground. A child is standing there unattended. What would you do if that child was 4 years old? 7 years old? 10 years old? 12 years old?

I would do nothing, in all probability.

[eyeball]

How have times changed? More crime? Is being alone more dangerous for children?

More fear of crime. It's more fearful for adults.

[Black Dog]

11-Year-Old Boy Played in His Yard. CPS Took Him, Felony Charge for Parents.

Read the whole thing. It's Kafka-esque.

[Argus]

11-Year-Old Boy Played in His Yard. CPS Took Him, Felony Charge for Parents.

Read the whole thing. It's Kafka-esque.

Absolutely unbelievable. If I read this in a book or saw it in a movie I'd throw something at the screen for being so unrealistic.

This family should sue for several million dollars for being put through this crap, and if they don't win, move to another state.

[eyeball]

I'd be seriously thinking of appealing for asylum in another country.

[Bonam]

Absurdity. Every member of the authorities related to this case should be summarily executed.

[dre]

Nobody was worried about terrorism when I was younger because we had none. While there was some small groups out there in the world they weren't blowing up buildings or trying to get their hands on nukes or biological weapons.

Nobody was worried about terrorism when I was younger because we had none.

When exactly were you young? The threat of terrorism in Canada peaked in the 70's and 80's. Between 1966 and 1989 there were more than 20 terrorist attacks on Canadian soil. The threat has declined every since then, and it was in decline globally until the failed war on terror (dreamed up and supported by retards).

The fear of terrorism is just as irrational as the fear of stranger danger. Both are real things, and very scary when they happen, but neither are stastically significant threats. In both cases the fear of these things is the result of the inability to think rationally. Both terrorism and stranger danger are extremely unlikely but since the consequences are so severe people develop fear complexes around them.

[dre]

How have times changed? More crime? Is being alone more dangerous for children?

Good point! Theres less crime across the board. Imagine supporting an expensive "crackin down and gettin tough" bill, with mandatory minimums in such circumstances? That would be almost like.... being scared to let your child play at the park for no reason.

[Argus]

Good point! Theres less crime across the board. Imagine supporting an expensive "crackin down and gettin tough" bill, with mandatory minimums in such circumstances? That would be almost like.... being scared to let your child play at the park for no reason.

When I want to crack down on parents who let their kids play alone instead of rapists and armed gang members you can suggest there's some contradiction in my viewpoints.

Until then you're post is just dumb.

[Argus]

When exactly were you young? The threat of terrorism in Canada peaked in the 70's and 80's. B

The difference between terrorism then and terrorism now was that then someone would blow up a mailbox, or maybe kidnap a politician. Even when bombs were planted warnings were usually called in ahead of time, even by the IRA. Nobody was blowing up whole buildings then, much less flying airplanes into them. Nobody was using car bombs to blow up markets. There was no fear that someone would try and poison the water supply to kill thousands. There was no fear terrorists would open fire on a mall with machineguns. Terrorism was a much smaller threat then.

The steps you need to take to protect yourself from a threat does not just depend on the likelihood of the threat but on the scale of the threat. I have earthquake insurance not because I think a major earthquake is at all likely, for the odds are very much against it where I live, but because of the scale of the threat if there is one. It is the scale of the threat which has significantly risen for terrorism.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Argus