You make a lot of really good points. I think this points to the larger problem of no institutional trust. I know some people who kept their kids out of school because of vaccination requirements to attend (this was pre-covid).
There's also a fundamental fear and distrust of strangers in the US that I haven't encountered in other countries. We grew up with an over-representation of the handful of kids that got snatched off the streets. Sometime in the '80s or '90s, network news realized that people would tune in for that, when statistically speaking, kids are far more likely to be hurt or abused by family members or close family friends.
The bus was a nightmare for me, but if it'd been up to my parents to get me to school, I'd have never gotten there. Did I like it? No. Am I grateful to have had access education without their support? Yes.
I would also be considered a latchkey kid (single mother) and many of my friends, even the ones with two parents. Also grateful for my free range upbringing. And my mom was a school librarian and teacher, and they don't shit for respect, especially now.
You make a lot of really good points. I think this points to the larger problem of no institutional trust. I know some people who kept their kids out of school because of vaccination requirements to attend (this was pre-covid).
There's also a fundamental fear and distrust of strangers in the US that I haven't encountered in other countries. We grew up with an over-representation of the handful of kids that got snatched off the streets. Sometime in the '80s or '90s, network news realized that people would tune in for that, when statistically speaking, kids are far more likely to be hurt or abused by family members or close family friends.
The bus was a nightmare for me, but if it'd been up to my parents to get me to school, I'd have never gotten there. Did I like it? No. Am I grateful to have had access education without their support? Yes.
I would also be considered a latchkey kid (single mother) and many of my friends, even the ones with two parents. Also grateful for my free range upbringing. And my mom was a school librarian and teacher, and they don't shit for respect, especially now.