05-29-2010, 05:43 AM
All the personal anecdotes are interesting and all, but none of them address the question as to why the kids in Hal's neighborhood no longer walk to school.
The elephant in the room is the fact that both parents usually have jobs nowadays, and there is no parent to accompany the children on their walk to and from school, and no parents standing on steps watching the kids go by nor in the houses should a child need help.
I walked to school and so did every other child in the immediate area. There were no desolate streets because they were populated by children, parents and crossing guards. It was a nicer time to be a kid if you ask me. How to reconcile this with feminism and materialism and all the other isms is rather tricky, however.
The elephant in the room is the fact that both parents usually have jobs nowadays, and there is no parent to accompany the children on their walk to and from school, and no parents standing on steps watching the kids go by nor in the houses should a child need help.
I walked to school and so did every other child in the immediate area. There were no desolate streets because they were populated by children, parents and crossing guards. It was a nicer time to be a kid if you ask me. How to reconcile this with feminism and materialism and all the other isms is rather tricky, however.