Not really an "allowed to be on their own" law, more a "can't prosecute a parent or sic child services on them".
But yes, it is sad that the state has to step in front of nosy other-parents who can't control their own kids, and are more worried about what the Jones's kids are doing...
Yeah my rule was the street light thing too. My friend at the time was poor enough to not have any phone at all too. Is there anywhere that is out of communication like that now? Of course, the town wasn't much of anything either back then.
After school, we would do things like going into the woods, climb trees, build forts, have rock fights, build dams in the creek, play tackle football in fifth grade, and still be home when the street lights came on even though we were phoneless. Nothing happened except a broken arm or two. We were happy and didn't even know it.
I remember Saturday mornings being up before the rest of the family. Get up, make a couple of PBJs, fill my canteen and grab a tube of BBs and my BB gun.
Out the door and head for the creeks.
If I got home before dark, I was golden. If I didn't, I got a spankin. It was usually worth it tho.
No wonder kids today are a mess, they're bored shitless.
I grew up in a small country town, where many people could live out on their opal mining claims. It was known as a great place to 'hide' away from the world; the official population of the town was around 2,000 people, but we had over 8,000 post office boxes!
I too lived by the sundown rule - parents did even worry (or at least they didn't convey it to me) about where or what we were doing... probably happy to have rid of us during school holidays.
Snowflake of the day award goes to Kenyon Martin, who complained about Jeremy Lin's dreadlocks.
Because Lin is Chinese, and "wants to be black".
Martin has Chinese tatoos on his arm.
You gotta laugh.
I don't believe in Cultural Appropriation. It's an Urban Myth. A deliberate lie. A way to feel offended at nothing at all.
Bite me. ( and I take that from Robot Culture )
America is the land of the Melting Pot. We don't usually eat scones for breakfast. Why? Because while we are "England Jr." we aren't stuck on it. We have breakfast burritos. Why? because they taste good! Putas. ( stole that from Mexican Culture )
Dreadlocks? Jamaican. Ya Mon. Ask Colorado what they stole from Jamaica.
Our food, our dress, our music. We take it all, and use it all, and if I have curry for dinner, and Big Mac for lunch, it's all American to me.
Pride in your ancestor's culture is great. A LOT of people make it up, since, to be honest, a LOT of the planet's culture isn't that awesome. This isn't new. Persia & Western India have been invaded by the barbarians of the Steppes over and over. Each new wave of rulers assimilates, then makes up a glorious past that doesn't include milking goats in a tent in the middle of nowhere, but has magically become an imaginary past of palaces and martial glory. Until the next wave... and the same thing. Europe is a lot like that, wave after wave after wave of imaginary past glory.
Heck, English history is mostly one wave of Viking invaders fighting a later wave. If you had a time machine, you could find a Pict with a story to tell, and excuses to make why he isn't in Londonium ruling the whole place.
Prom dress? Look good? Not too much skin to get you kicked out? Go for it. I don't care if it comes from which wave of invaders where... everything does.
Next these idiots will be telling me I can't drink tequila because my ancestors never saw a cactus. Oh? Yeah?! How about my Hispanic blood? eh? ( don't tell them none of my Spanish ancestors ever saw one either )
Could 2 conservative students make repeated complaints about prog hogwash and make the hogwashers lose their open mic privilege? Or is that against the rules?
I usually take the screaming because of the pain of having corrosive feces stuck to the skin as consent. I will continue to do so.
Baby poo is scary stuff.
I really should invent a baby washing machine.. A basin with fast flowing warm water & gentle jets, you can just dip the bottom half of a baby in to clean them off during diaper changes. Blow dry. I bet they have them in Japan, next to the computerized toilet lid/bidet.
Every complaint you've ever had about computerized cars? In your laundry room.
There's a big red ( and transparent, almost subtle ) sticker on the face of the control panel that warns you to use the "bedding" cycle for bedding, or the machine may explode.
Seriously.
My previous machine was a used Kenmore front loader I named EYE-Gor, and would sing, "dance, Igor, Dance!" as it moved around on spin cycle. It got replaced by the Samsung....
Which spends more time contemplating the load, and twitching it back and forth, than a Congressmen spends actually reading the bills to take away your rights.
Which spends more time contemplating the load, and twitching it back and forth, than a Congressmen spends actually reading the bills to take away your rights.