What is our Society Coming to??

After reading the article here: http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/adrian-crook-a-fight-on-behalf-of-rational-parents-everywhere/ I feel so frustrated and worried for our society as a whole.

This father did nothing wrong.  In fact he did everything right. He taught his kids how to ride the bus, what the expectations were and then had them practice.  Now because of some "well meaning" citizen he can't even let his children play in the closed to the public playground in his condominium complex or go to the store directly across the street from where they live.  By those parameters I should be in HUGE trouble for letting my now 9 year old play in our FENCED in back yard, which he has been doing since he was 4 years old I might add.  I can see him from the window.  Me sitting out there with him is not going to stop him from falling out of the tree, off the swing or his climber anymore then me being in the house.  This summer he also gained the privilege of riding his scooter and bike on the side walk along the block directly in front of our house (yes he wears a helmet).

I am 39.  I rode the bus with my sister and brother, by ourselves when we were 11 and 9 (my sister and I are twins).
We were riding our bikes all over our small town from the time we were 10.  
We had to be home by a certain time (we all had watches) and if we were at a friend's house and changed to someone else's house we had to use the archaic land line to phone and let our parents know.
There were no play dates.  You were sent out to play and to find other kids to play with.  We'd generally find each other at the school play ground or the near by park.
I can remember going to the corner store for milk, bread and cigarettes for my Mom (with a hand written note signed by her) when I was as young as 9 years old.

There were no cell phones.  Our parents had to trust that what they taught us about appropriate behaviour stuck.  We didn't have play dates.  We didn't need to be given a ride to school that was 5 or less blocks down the street. I was walking 5 blocks to school with my siblings from the time I was 10.  We were walking  to and from school at the ages of 7 and 5 when we lived 4 houses from the school.  Though according to the BC government that would be illegal now.  I guess I should be glad we live in Ontario?

Today's society is NOT more dangerous then when I was a child.  Actually it's probably far safer because of technology.

All the dangers with regards to strangers, getting hurt, lost etc has not changed in 30 years.
How news is reported and spread through out the world has changed drastically.  What used to take 3-4 days to make the news now appears nearly instantaneously from the incident occurring.  Television shows, that are NOT real, seem to carry more weight on how people view society versus actual facts.

Why are we safer now?
Cell phones.
Amber Alerts
The number of channels on TV
Social Media
Education

Yes social media can also be a danger but that is why educating your child about the dangers of being too trusting online is so important starting at a young age.  There are parental controls, courses run by the local police stations, school boards etc.  And hey parents YOU too can take courses to help you teach your children.  Do your due diligence.  No it doesn't guarantee NOTHING will ever happen.

The fact is if you are truly paranoid about letting your child be out of your sight for any period you can get your child a basic cell phone that is set up to only call specific/text phone numbers.  You can, if you choose, be in CONSTANT contact with your child.

That is a luxury our parents even 10 years ago could not have afforded.

When did we as a society become so fearful?

Look at the statistics.  In Canada as a WHOLE only 51 children* were abducted by strangers out of 36,443,632  people.

Let that sink in.  If we were to believe what TV shows perpetuate children should be disappearing at a much more alarming rate.

Your child is more likely to die in a car accident then be abducted.  As of 2010 out of 2,172 accidents, 442 children from 0-19 years of age were killed across Canada.**

Think about that.  Now reread the above information and think again.  Cars are killing more children a year than strangers abducting our children.  So why aren't we banning cars???

Your child is more likely to fall and unintentionally hurt themselves whether you are present or not then be abducted by strangers. ***

Would you like some bubble wrap?

WE have to allow our children independence.  How else do they learn to be independent people if we never give them the chance?  How are we supposed to encourage more out door play if parents live in fear that some "Well meaning" neighbor may call CAS on them for allowing their child the privilege of playing out doors.
Ironically those same "Well meaning" neighbors are the same people who complain our children spend too much time indoors playing video games etc.

Parks stand empty for hours on end now.  I can remember a time where laughter and shouts and other sounds of fun were all you could hear out of doors at the local school playground or near by park.
Now they sit empty until a parent finally has enough time between finishing work/getting dinner/home work/extra curricular activities organized in order to take children, who once upon a time, were allowed to play without parental supervision to the park.

Backyards sit empty because parents are too busy to watch over their childrens' every move during our increasingly busy lifestyles because they live in fear something could happen to their child.
Or they live in the fear that if they were to allow their children that privilege they may have CAS knocking at their door.

When did we start being so judgmental and quick to stick our noses where they do not belong?

I teach a Safe @Home Alone Course created by Orillia First Aid.  It is aimed at 8-10 year olds.  That is not to say they are guaranteed to be able to stay at home alone once completing the course.  Ultimately that decision lays with the parents.  However the course is designed to prepare and teach children the expectations, responsibilities and what to do in emergency and non emergency situations.  Orillia First Aid's Safe @Home Alone course ALSO provides Level D CPR (child and infant) as well as basic first aid and a cooking night where youth learn basic cooking skills and prepare a meal.

What frustrates me most is our country as a whole has no real laws for what is an appropriate age for when children can be left alone.
When you visit page 3 of http://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/144e.pdf ****
you will see that technically Ontario lists the age of 16 which seems really odd until you read further across the table No/inadequate care provisions.

Seriously 16 cannot be the age a child can be left alone in Ontario because we let children start babysitting at age 12.  I cannot find ANY Provincial legislation backing this.  All I can find are over a dozen of CAS specific to County/Regions across the province that all say the same thing,.  A child must be at least 12 years old to look after other people's children.

Manitoba and Alberta are the ONLY two provinces that actually specify an age for how old a child has to be before they can be left alone.  Interestingly enough that is also the same age New Brunswick and Albertans seem to accept to be the age of when one can start babysitting other children.
Note: In Alberta it is against the law for anyone under the age of 16 to babysit during SCHOOL HOURS.

I'd also like to note that according to the Employee Standards Act in Ontario, the legal age for being able to work is 14 (with certain provisions) *****

Apparently it is acceptable in Quebec to leave a child as young as 7 unsupervised in a car for a short period of time.

Despite society's best efforts, children are more likely to be bullied at SCHOOL then be abducted or harmed by a stranger. ******
Yet we still send our children to school, parents and teachers turn a blind eye more often than not.

I keep seeing these articles on Facebook, parenting forums, news papers, TV about how unsafe it is to be leaving children alone, yet I can't find any hard facts in many of them..

I have taken the time to fact check and FIND real data and links to said data.

Based on real facts, real statistics, I do not understand this absurd view our society as a whole as come to the conclusion that children have to be protected from being children.



Government of Canada
http://www.canadasmissing.ca/pubs/2016/index-eng.htm *

Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal
http://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/144e.pdf****

Statistics Canada
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/85-002-x1998002-eng.pdf

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/health112a-eng.htm **

Canadian Pediatric Society
http://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/child-and-youth-injury-prevention ***

Stop a Bully Safe & Anonymous
http://www.stopabully.ca/bullying-statistics.html ******

Ontario Ministry of Labor
https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/min_age.php *****