You have got to be kidding: Overprotective Stories

[Beavah]

Nah, peri, no exaggeration. Da outfitter even shared the emails with me. Sadly, fit da negative stereotype of female leadership.

 

It's Mrs. Eagle92 I have a hard time believin'. Lucky someone didn't call the cops on her.

 

B

[Eagle92]

Yep Mrs. E92 followed the little girl. I think the reasons why the cops were not called on her are A) She knew the child and the parents, and B) my Cub and his two younger brothers were in the van as well.

[Lisabob]

Schools around here actually have a hard time dealing with the traffic hazard caused by all those parents driving their kids to school. Many of the schools were built in the 60s, are located in nice, safe, tree-lined neighborhoods with sidewalks and crossing guards. Yet the line of cars to drop off and pick up stretches down the street every day.

 

Scouting story: Venture patrol goes on a hiking outing. Ratio of adults to kids is more than 1:1. It is June, decent weather, but a minor rain shower hits. This was just a little cloud burst, not a real storm. Adults insist that the boys stay not only within sight, but right next to the adults, so nothing bad could happen. Heck, they practically held the boys' hands the rest of the way. (story confirmed by several boys and a couple of the adults involved)

 

[clemlaw]

The issue of kids being driven to school, at least around here, isn't really related to the parents being overprotective. The sad fact is that kids these days generally aren't able to attend neighborhood schools, so walking to school generally isn't an option.

 

So if Junior misses the bus and/or has to be somewhere else after school, then getting a ride from Mom and Dad is pretty much the only option.

 

Clemlaw Junior stands in the cold to catch the bus, no matter how cold it is. But I can understand the temptation to have him wait in a warm car. He's supposed to be there five minutes early, and if the bus is running a few minutes late, it can be a long wait. If you're walking, it's not so bad. But if you're just standing in the cold, it can indeed be cold.

 

I had the privilege of attending my school district during the only 13-year period in history during which school was never once cancelled because of weather. It was cancelled once the year before I started because of some snow storm of Biblical proportions. But starting the year after I graduated, it was cancelled on a regular basis because the logistics of bus transportation were so much more complicated.

 

We had a couple feet of snow on Saturday, and we just received word that school will be cancelled for a second day Tuesday, even though, as far as I can tell, all streets are perfectly passable. So there's some over-protectiveness at work there.

 

But in general, the traffic jams of kids being dropped off at school are more a function of the distance to school being so much greater these days.

[moosetracker]

Yeah, on the rare occasions I needed to drop kid off due to missing bus.. I would still not go near the entangled mess of cars. I dropped him off within site of the school, but let him walk the rest of the way in, then continued on to work.

 

With the cars waiting for buses, I can see on the coldest day or wet pouring weather.. Still don't you know or trust your neighbors at all?? Why does each parent have to wait in seprate cars with their kids? Especially your neighbors who have kids the same age as your kids. Don't any of them play at each other's houses? Isn't there anyone in the neighborhood that your son doesn't have to play "Stranger Danger" with?? Why aren't their 1 or 2 cars? Why are there 5 to 10 cars? And why on the nice days as well as the bad? Maybe if it is a single 5 to 6 year old waiting all alone, the parent might wait with them. But waiting while 10 other kids and their parents are all waiting for the bus on the same corner? and waiting with a child 10 years or up?

 

I can see maybe the fear if there is news of a child abductor in your town that has not yet been caught.. Or if you are in a bad neighborhood with street gangs hanging on the corners.. But, where does this vigilant over protection from the boogie-man come in the average middle class suburbs? Is the real news that terrifying, or is it the fictional TV and movies that have parents living with nightmares of the worst if their child is not in their site at all times?

 

Lisabob that story of the Venturing Crew had me laughing at the image. I am sure the parents were embarrassing their child terribly.. No teenager wants their parent acting all clinging and mothering them in front of other kids.

[Nike]

I'd like to know how we got so many neurotic parents with so many precious little snowflakes for kids. Most of the parents I know are pretty much, "Yeah, just stay out of traffic, and the MPs better not be calling me!" when thier kids leave the house.

 

 

 

 

 

[evmori]

The corner across the street from where I live is a school bus stop. There is a crossing guard there in the morning and afternoon and the parents out-number the kids waiting for the bus!

[Beavah]

Yah, Nike, da European perspective is different, eh? By and large, kids still seem to be treated like kids, not like fragile pieces of glass. It can be quite eye-opening for American scouters to visit scoutin' programs in other nations. No forms, no procedures, no G2SS, no worries. Not at all unusual for older scouts to have keys to the scout hut, be permitted to take sail and motor-boats out on the ocean without adult permission or supervision. I imagine some of that attitude spills over on base, eh? Plus mil-spec kids aren't as likely to be treated like dolls, I expect.

 

At WSJ, some of our gold-tabbers almost die in fits of apoplexy worryin' about such stuff as SSD, when the rest of the world is more "You're First Class, right? Have fun, don't drown!"

 

America really is da Land of the Policy-Regulated and the Home of the Fearful.

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[sbemis1]

Ours is a surprisingly rural area for being near a major city. The school buses have changed over the years from picking up every few houses, to picking up at each house. By policy, the kids are not allowed to cross the street to get on (or off) the bus at the driveway of the neighbor across the street.

 

My mother-in-law has driven a bus for many years. The kids/parents only pull the wait in the house and expect the bus to wait trick once or twice. So far, admin backs her up when she leaves them watching the tail lights recede in the distance.

 

It probably won't be too long before she is required to stop and go to each door to make sure no one is upset. Oh, but can't leave the kids alone on the bus, maybe they will let that one go. . .

[Eagle92]

In reference to school busses, I must relate this story from this morning.

 

Driving to work I got behind a bus and had to stop and wait about 2 minutes as the bus stopped at a house, yes you read that right at the house, while the student got out, walked to the bus, and got on. Less than a minute later and 6 houses away from the stop ( would be seven houses away but for the street) the bus stops again at a student's house, and waits about 3 minutes for them get out the house, walk to the bus, and climb aboard. No the students couldn't wait at the intersection like my sister did back in the day that was 2 houses away from 1 student and 4 houses away from the other student.

 

 

As to Boy Scout overprotectiveness, what about all these scout camps that have wonderful lakes, whether manmade or natural, that have been used for decades for swimming activities, now having swimming pools? The camp I grew up at had a manmade lake, as evidenced from old photos and the broken buldozer that is now a rusting hulk in the lake and can be seen when the water is low, that until recently had a great swimming area. It's where I truly learned to swim, got swimming MB at, and earned BSA Lifeguard at. However the councikl built a new swimming pool and showerhouse for whatever reason.

[Basementdweller]

Just a sad commentary how soft we Americans have become.

 

 

Flush toilets, cold weather, trust.

 

 

I have had most of the Pack families cancel going to the council christmas activity because it is too cold and outside. Yes it is outside and yes it will be cold.

 

We have become so soft, most if not all of the boys do not have any long underwear or proper outdoor clothing. We had a boy show up to the den meeting last night in shorts it was 8 degrees. Then he complained the meeting room was cold.

 

Just sayin

[oldisnewagain1]

Just a quick OPM story,

 

At summer camp, day 4, at 1 AM I get a text message to call a mom because she wants to make sure her son is alright.

 

I guess, since there is signal at camp now, I going to have to bring an battery powered alarm clock to camp next year and stop depending on the alarm feature on the phone. (Because that's the last year I bring the cell phone!)

[Lisabob]

I hope you did the same to her very early the next morning when you got up for breakfast at 6am! "Hello Mrs. Worrywort, I am just calling to let you know your son made it through the night last night."

 

 

[perdidochas]

Hearing these horror stories, I'm kind of glad that we don't have that level of overprotective parents in our Troop. (I know we have some in the area, but not in our troop). Our council's camp has an artificial lake, no pool. We recently went on a campout that was specifically chosen because there were no bathroom facilities/running water.

[Kahuna]

I going to have to bring an battery powered alarm clock to camp next year and stop depending on the alarm feature on the phone. (Because that's the last year I bring the cell phone!)

 

Do what I do: set the phone in airplane mode. Most cells have this capability. You can't get calls or texts, but you can use all the other functions. Just don't forget to turn off airplane mode when you get up.