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Discussion Forums » In The News
Missing 7 year old child in Florida
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21 Oct 2009, 12:36
Tam I Am
Post Count: 311
Have you guys heard about this? She's been missing since Monday apparently after getting into an argument with her sister and friends. She ran ahead of the group and they lost sight of her. Walking a mile?! Children. Walking alone. For a mile?! WTF?! I mean c'mon lady. Get your ass in the car and take them back and forth to school!


My question is this: Where was the mom? You don't let your 7 year old child walk home alone or with another group of kids. Children should not be responsible for other children.
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21 Oct 2009, 13:46
Chris
Post Count: 1938
Well, Florida IS the pinnacle of American parenting. We should get some of these women down here on Bloop, yo.
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21 Oct 2009, 20:35
Mary Magdelene
Post Count: 506
I was walking to school that was two miles away at 7 years old. I walked one mile of that alone, the second mile of that with my best friend. A seven year old should be able to walk to school a mile away, ESPECIALLY in a group of others. There's no reason whatsoever to blame the mother. Besides, you don't know what the circumstances of this family are. Maybe the parents have to go to work before the daughter has to leave for school. And since a seven year old walking one mile by themself really isn't a big deal, there's no reason for them to NOT leave for work and let her walk to school. Especially if she's with her sister. Especially if her and her sister are with another group of kids.
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21 Oct 2009, 22:56
Miss
Post Count: 239
well when i was in the 2nd and 3rd grade my parents had me walk to school. i'm not sure exactly how far away it was, but i think it might have been about a mile as well. then again, we lived on an army base with MPs driving around everywhere...

but as soon as we moved out of the army base into a normal town, there was no walking ANYWHERE.
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22 Oct 2009, 00:50
Makayla
Post Count: 751
I agree. My boyfriend used to walk to school when he was 5 years old plus he lived in Detroit, MI in a very rough neighborhood. He got beat up & robbed at 5 years old by some older thugs. They took his shoes & jacket. I would never let my kid walk alone at that age. Plus, I would never let my kid leave my house in the care of older CHILDREN. There should have been adults watching them. How lazy can you be to make your kid walk alone. I mean I understand if you don't have a vehicle, but at least walk with them.

Also, has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a epidemic in FL for lost children. Girls in particular. Caylee Anthony, Haleigh Cummings, now this little girl.
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22 Oct 2009, 02:19
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Errrr..school bus, anyone?
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24 Oct 2009, 22:10
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
A mile isn't very far. It's possible there wasn't a bus. I couldn't have taken a bus to school because I lived too near it and there wasn't one.
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25 Oct 2009, 01:31
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Theoretically if you're that close, they should ALL go by your house then.
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25 Oct 2009, 10:25
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
Not necessarily. Only if you're on the route, and even then they won't necessarily stop. For example there was three out lying towns/villages which had buses going to my high school. One approached the school from the north, and two from the south. If you lived locally but to the east or west of the school, no bus went anywhere near you. And anyway, none of those buses stopped once they'd left their specific town/village. And about a third of the kids attending my high school lived within 1-2 miles and most of us walked.

At my primary school almost all the kids lived locally and there was no school buses at all. Again, most walked.
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25 Oct 2009, 14:10
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
With the school system that I attended, it didn't matter if you lived within a mile or twenty miles from the school, if your parents put you on the bus schedule, they HAD to come and get you. There was no "not on any route" business. It could be a difference between the UK and the US. I would say it would be a difference just in my area, but I live in a fairly rural area where I don't think people would be necessarily so up-tight about letting their children walk to and from school.
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25 Oct 2009, 15:19
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
Yeah, it could be a difference between UK and US schools. But then I also think people in the UK generally walk more places (at least in cities. Obviously it's harder in the country), and therefore kids are encouraged to walk more. I don't think many parents here would put their kids on a bus for a journey that was a 15 min walk.
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22 Oct 2009, 02:42
Music God CJ Plain
Post Count: 550
Remember the story from Arkansas a few years ago. The mother let the girl walk down to the store a couple miles away...and she was kidnapped and killed by her former babysitter?

Pure laziness on the part of parents. My sons are 16 and 15 and do NOT walk anywhere alone. I don't trust anybody that much. It takes 15 minutes to get your kids where they need to go. NO EXCUSES!
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24 Oct 2009, 22:11
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
You won't let your 16 year old go anywhere alone?!? When exactly are you planning on letting him grow up?
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24 Oct 2009, 19:32
DivaAshley
Post Count: 242
We have 1st graders (they are 6 and 7) walking home with their older brothers and sisters... but I don't think they walk a mile... it's sad, because we HAVE to let them walk, because that's what their parents want. I agree... I don't think little ones should walk at all. And, it shouldn't be an older sibling's responsibility to keep them safe walking home.
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24 Oct 2009, 22:13
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
You don't think they should walk at all? Why? Walking is GOOD for kids! There's far too many kids these days not getting sufficient exercise. I think if kids live near enough they certainly SHOULD be walking to school.
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24 Oct 2009, 23:13
DivaAshley
Post Count: 242
No, I think that walking is GOOD, but lets face it, the world these kids are growing up in is NOT the world that you or I grew up in. I SAID that it's not fair for parents to rely on older siblings to keep the younger ones safe when walking home from school.
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24 Oct 2009, 23:24
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
Actually, you said I don't think little ones should walk at all.

If that's not what you meant, then I apologise for the misunderstanding.
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25 Oct 2009, 17:48
Chris
Post Count: 1938
Like, you don't want them to walk at ALL?
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24 Oct 2009, 22:08
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
I walked a mile to school with my friends at that age. It was a safe neighbourhood, and we ALWAYS stayed together. Of course bad things can happen anywhere, but you can't wrap kids up in cotton wool. If my parents hadn't let me go places by myself I would have been like all those kids today who sit indoors all day playing computer games... but instead we were constantly outdoors, cycling or playing games. We knew we weren't to go further than two streets away and we knew to stay together and not talk to strangers. I think it depends on the child, but I'd MUCH prefer my kids were getting exercise and walking to school than getting obese by being driven back and forth every day.
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21 Oct 2009, 12:39
Transit
Post Count: 1096
I take it you have never walked a mile, it takes 15 minutes, walking to school is no different to children getting a bus to school.
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21 Oct 2009, 12:43
Tam I Am
Post Count: 311
I have indeed walked a mile. With children I'm sure it takes longer than that cause they like to dwaddle along the way. I just wonder why the mom didn't at least walk and meet them halfway. I bet she walks the entire way now.
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24 Oct 2009, 22:14
~RedFraggle~
Post Count: 2651
If your argument is that it's unsafe, then why would you consider it safe for them to even walk halfway home?
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21 Oct 2009, 15:12
.like.a.drug.
Post Count: 137
I actually grew up in Florida, and we walked to school. A mile actually isn't that long of a walk, since it's all flat.
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21 Oct 2009, 16:29
Mnemosyne
Post Count: 69
You can't blame this on the mother. I haven't heard anything about this, but it's entirely unfair to say that the mother had the time to walk the kids to school or that she should have to. First, what about the father? Why should it be solely the mother's fault that the child is missing? Secondly, it's not the mother's fault that the kid decided to run ahead of the group of children she walked with... the child would have been perfectly safe if she had stuck with the group. That's why you walk with a group--even as an adult female in a college. If I were to run across my college campus at night because I was being huffy with my friends, I might get into some trouble too. And I'm 22. (And crap like that has been happening on my campus, which pisses me off to no end. Girls shouldn't have to worry about being nabbed or attacked when walking alone.)

A mile isn't a long way to walk, especially if you're a kid. (My high school was a little more than a mile away and it took only about 10 minutes or so to get there.) I realize times have changed, but my mother never drove me to school when I was a kid because she always had a job to get to and my father was always working. I just can't believe you're saying the mother should have driven them to school when they can walk perfectly fine. No to mention that this is why children in this country are getting fat. No one does anything that remotely challenges their body and their parents completely endorse that behavior.

However, I do realize times have changed. My sister and I would spend all of our time in our grade school playground until it started to get dark and then we'd go home and we never met anyone that even remotely looked at us. And now kids seemed to get grabbed off the streets--if that's what happened. But, when I was a kid, you were still taught to walk with a group.
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21 Oct 2009, 20:43
Chris
Post Count: 1938
I don't think the kid was anywhere near old enough to be walking to school without parental supervision. If the parents seriously don't have time to drive a mile to their kids' school, then they should be rearranging their morning schedules to make time for it.
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