When I was a kid we lived on a small farm and the only rules about wandering off were to get chores done first, not to go farther than the next farm in any direction, to stay out of the creek in the spring when the water was rushing, and not to bring home any livestock that didn't belong to us. You know, like a cute duckling or whatever. I did try to adopt a duckling once, and got caught, and the neighbor marched me home with one hand around the duckling and the other on my damn ear, pinching me the whole way. I remember I had to work extra chores to pay for the duck, which by time I owned it wasn't even that cute any more. Live and learn.
But yeah today who would let their five year old have the run of 50, 60 acres crossed by a couple dirt roads? It was way different back in the 1940s. Most of America was still actually rural back then. Maybe it didn't take a village to raise a child back then either, but a villager (or farmer down the way) sure didn't think twice about getting in a kid's face if he or she was misbehaving.
Today the parental focus seems far more xenophobic, it's not about making sure Jack/Jane doesn't get underfoot at the neighbor's place a few miles down the road, it's more like wondering if Jack/Jane is going to be safe walking to the corner store unaccompanied. I dunno. There must be a happy medium. I think I grew up while there still was one. No clue how to restore it for the nextgen and I feel bad for kids who are uncomfortable around any people they don't know. I was astounded to realize a few years ago that a lot of kids today --I mean kids on up into their teens and 20s-- do actually seem to fear all strangers, no matter the venue. I am not sure when or how this happened in the USA. It seems unfortunate to me.
We moved to Houston in 1975 I believe. I still know the address and the lamppost that my dad installed out front is still there, at least according to Google Street View. It was a new development and they hadn't even put in the fences by the time we moved in.
I bring that up because when I was about 8 I went out on my bike to a development that was several streets away. Only I didn't know it was a development at the time. All I saw was dirt mounds and fun stuff to ride my bike on - until it got stuck in the mud. I had a hell of a time getting that bike out and by the time I got home it had been hours since I left. My parents were unconcerned.
When I was about 13 we lived rural and the homes were spread across the base of a small mountain (hill really) so the street was steep and unpaved. There was a failed development up there that had done a lot of grading so if you wanted to climb the mountain you had to get up a grade of loose shale rock that was about 60-70º. It took three hours to climb, but since the mountain curved around you'd end up behind the streets where friends lived. If you went the other way you had to come down that shale wall. We usually chose to go up it first.
But no one ever bothered to tell our parents we were out. Other side of the mountain was a grazing range and the sheep and rams found their way onto the mountain too. We also encountered rattlers. Had anything happened in the era of no cell phones (1982-1983) no one would have known where we were.
When I was 15 or 16 I'd hike with a friend and end up in cow pastures that were miles from home. One cow once refused to move. She had a calf and was looking threateningly at us. So we went around.
And, one of my friends and I were screwing around at night near where he lived. Cross the road and there was a giant wash. A car was coming down one of the roads and I dived under a barbwire fence. I still have the scar on my leg from the chunk of flesh one of the barbs took from me. But by the time my parents picked me up in the morning and drove me to the emergency room it was too late for stitches (which is one of the reasons I didn't call them that night). I hate stitches.
I know that there are kids today that know the urban environment and survive, but there's just way too many dangers out there today. Certainly that stuff was there when I was a kid, but not like it is now. I got mad at my mom once, waiting to go home (she was a teacher and at the time a coach and they'd gone to a school game while I was left at school awaiting their return). I was probably about 7 and the school was in Pasedena, TX while we lived in Houston.
So, I chose to walk home because I knew the way. I was almost home before some kind lady picked me up and brought me home - only to find both my parents there and actually worried this time. I can't imagine doing that in this era. Even then, as a kid, I could sense some of the bad spots I was walking through.
