For me, the part of parenting I find more difficult or maybe unpleasant is the word? is how connected they are to the realities and tragedies of life at such a young age. Sure we parents can restrict certain aspects at home but that has its limits once the child goes to school, a friend's house, or even in a seemingly safe space like a store or street fair last year my town narrowly avoided an active shooter in a crowded street fair - the shooter in question was stopped at a different location at the tragic loss of an officers life.)
And to avoid allowing him to face at least some of these things could ill prepare him for times when we are not there for him.
As with most things in life, it usually is a balance between the two schools of thought. you win some, you lose some, but generally find the way through eventually.
That's terrible! I definitely never had to worry about active shooters when I was growing up.
Me either, our schools actually train for such a case and have extra security now and we live in a relatively safe neighborhood.
When I was about thirteen, two of my friends were riding a farm motor bike they repaired and got pulled over by a policeman.
The rider had a 303 slung across his back, and the pillion had a 202 on his and a shotgun on his lap.
The policeman asked,
"Is this bike registered?"
Nah, it is a farm bike we use for hunting.
"Keep it off the main roads, boys."
Simpler times.
The US is insane and unfortunately, the insanity is spreading. Here in Finland, kids still walk to school by themselves, catch buses here and there and ride their bikes around. But, there are tight gun controls and for the most part, there aren't too many issues. However, people aren't scared of their government here either.
I do wish we had tighter gun laws here and a government that's made up of more than what we have which is little more than adults acting there in high school.
I still have hope that one day we will get back to the American that one was when that will be and how we get there... I've no idea.
I am having some PC troubles at the moment, so it is taking some effort to respond between crashes!
But yes, I think most of the world is struggling at the moment. I don't know if it is a return to the past, or finding a better way to approach the future than we are currently using.
One foot in the past and one in the future.. I remain more optimistic than pessimistic that a better life for all people is possible.