[QatzelOk]

Kids should run around freely in Parks under adul supervision,

There are a lot of kid-park zones with parking lots in suburbia where children are "free" to run inside the designated and fenced in areas. These areas are often padded for extra protection against nature.

Whereas, without cars, children can run basically anywhere outside their houses.

I would prefer to run anywhere. And this lack of safety that children have to live in fear of (inside a protective wall, with adult supervision - prison guards) affects non-children as well. 400,000 adults in the US get injured by vehicles. That's like a few thousand rockets being launched by Hamas each week.

[Oxymoron]

There are a lot of kid-park zones with parking lots in suburbia where children are "free" to run inside the designated and fenced in areas. These areas are often padded for extra protection against nature.

Marine Park Brooklyn NY:








Prospect park:






There you go buddy.

[Zyx]

Not too many children live within running distance of those parks, Oxymoron . . ..

[QatzelOk]

That doesn't matter.

What's important is that Oxy was able to download some pretty pix.

Now children can look at parks on the net instead of running around their own neighborhoods.

[Oxymoron]

Not too many children live within running distance of those parks, Oxymoron . . ..

Marine Park is right next to Flatbush which has a Bus line that connects to a Train stop, and there is another Bus stoping there going on Ave U.

Prospect Park is in the intersection of all majour roads in Brooklyn, many buses at least 4 trains stop there.

Both these parks are within very populace walking distance nieghborhoods.

Also there are Smaller tree lined parks almost every 15-20 blocks.

So please spare me the children have no place to go boohhoo.... cars evil

[Zyx]

Oxymoron, you clearly do not know the advantage of locality . . .. All states have shelters for battered women, or hospitals that perform controversial procedures on patients; but, rural residents of the state should not be appeased by this fact alone. The fact is that a child being able to run without its house is better than a child being able to take a thirty-minute bus (alone), costing the child four dollars, to a park that becomes pitifully dangerous at night time.

[Oxymoron]

Oxymoron, you clearly do not know the advantage of locality

As I said there are local small parks all over the city, not one is farther then 15 blocks from another. There are plenty of places for kids to run around and play. The street is not such a place.

[Zyx]

That is specific to NYC and, ironically, NYC has one of the lowest people-car ratio (or car population, I forget); still, before we get off the silly subject of talking about NYC, when I went to the Bronx, I saw some kids playing football in the street (and it was a busy one-way,) and, reeling back on my childhood memories, I recall that the Jew children on my (Jewish) block would regularly play baseball in front of my house, and around, in the street despite the proximity of a (small) local park and a larger park. I would not condemn the children, like you would, but rather agree that it does have a greater convenience (for getting children together, and for maximizing play time) and level of security.

But, let's get off the subject of NYC. Otherwise, I'd think that you had no global awareness!

[QatzelOk]

Marine Park is right next to Flatbush which has a Bus line that connects to a Train stop, and there is another Bus stoping there going on Ave U.

"Hold on while I pull up a map on Google and plot my commute."



I like Oxy's idea though. Let children play freely right beside their houses, and build parks every few dozen blocks for adults to go ride around in cars in. Weeeee! Car went vroom! vroom!

Meanwhile, children can once again know what freedom tastes like while their adult companions can still enjoy the thrill of g-forces and the smell of plastic - without damaging childhood for everyone else.

[Oxymoron]

Hold on while I pull up a map on Google and plot my commute."

You know what kids actually are very able to do that.

[QatzelOk]

You know what kids actually are very able to do that.

They can do lots of stuff on google.

But they can't play street hockey or tag in their neighborhoods because of the death-by-car fear that is everywhere.

In the pix you provide, there isn't a single child playing or having fun. Maybe it's because it isn't within the scope of childhood to commute by mass transit to play with other 4-year-olds? Oxy, do you even know any children?

[Oxymoron]

In the pix you provide, there isn't a single child playing or having fun. Maybe it's because it isn't within the scope of childhood to commute by mass transit to play with other 4-year-olds? Oxy, do you even know any children?

I know my daugther.

[QatzelOk]

How old is your daughter?

And how afraid of her getting hit by a car are you?

I live in fear of my friend's kids getting crushed by vehicles. And it bothers me to know that their childhood has been removed by this fear. They are not free to be kids. They have to live in constant fear of being crushed by their parent's metal toys. This isn't fair.

[Oxymoron]

How old is your daughter?

She is turning 6 soon.

And how afraid of her getting hit by a car are you?

I would say Im worried, and do my best to teach her to be careful. I dont let her cross the road by herself yet, letting go allowing kids to be independent is the hardest thing to do as a parent.

I live in fear of my friend's kids getting crushed by vehicles. And it bothers me to know that their childhood has been removed by this fear. They are not free to be kids. They have to live in constant fear of being crushed by their parent's metal toys. This isn't fair.

I think you are exagerating the dangers, kids can still be kids. I dont see that running around the streets, is normal childhood exprience. Whats the problem with taking your kids to a park, the beach, to a picnic area where they can run around in safety, play on the swings, roll around in the grass etc?

[Dave]

Since when was childhood about the absence of danger anyway? Last I checked, part of childhood was learning how to deal with danger.

[QatzelOk]

Last I checked, part of childhood was learning how to deal with danger.

This isn't the same as having your parents make it impossible for you to ride your bike to school.

Children are no longer free to explore the dangers of the environment they were born into. They can't be natural kids. They have to be locked up and surveyed so that they don't get themselves crushed by vehicles.

The auto industry and its media have fooled parents into thinking that cars make kids happy. In reality, cars take away part of what it means to be a child - to run free and explore your environment.

This is the last I will say on this subject. Mustafa - the father of three kids - owns a fast European car himself, and actually wanted me to petition the city to get a speed bump put on his dangerous city street a few years ago.

He has since moved to a more suburban neighborhood which - nonetheless - has lots of trucks and cars speeding by his front door.

His kids can only bike with adult supervision, and even this is problematic.

They're kids but they can't bike around their hood.

[Dave]

In the "natural" environment a child running free is at risk of being killed by wild animals.

[Oxymoron]

the "natural" environment a child running free is at risk of being killed by wild animals.

The fact that wild animals would harm a child is jusr a Zionist narrative. Its Hyme in Hollywood making movies spreading anti-Animal propoganda so that the Elders of Zion could sell more hunting rifles.

[QatzelOk]

In the "natural" environment a child running free is at risk of being killed by wild animals.

Here in Quebec, the most dangerous animals to humans are black flies, and they stay away from human-occupied zones.

I think you're comparing the human cityscape to The Discovery Channel, rather than looking at how undangerous most urban areas would be without cars running around scaring children into MISSING OUT ON AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTAL PHASE.

[Dave]

Qatz, you made the claim that children should be free to play around outside with worrying about danger. There are problems with this view, notably:
[1]The natural environment is extremely unsafe for children, as I previously pointed out
[2]A cityscape is indeed unnatural, but why should this be danger-free for children?

Your narrative also conveniently absolves everyone of responsibility here. You are not holding the parents responsible for educating and supervising the children, you are not holding children responsible for looking out for physical dangers, and you are not holding dangerous drivers responsible.