
Why Does the School Day End 2 Hours Before the Workday? - uptown
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/09/school-day-parents/569401/?single_page=true
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Eridrus
On one hand, I fully support efforts to improve access to childcare, but on
the other hand, I was left unsupervised from about the age of 7-8 years old
and it was fine. I was lucky enough to live walking distance from the primary
schools I went to, but besides transport I'm not really sure why they need to
be supervised at all times.

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milesvp
I'm fully convinced that they shouldn't be supervised at all times. I think
being alone in a house without adults is a very important experience that
shapes children, and without it we end up neutering them in ways that are hard
to quantify. Even better if we allow them to roam neighborhoods unsupervised
with other children, so they can learn to cooperate and deal with
interpersonal conflict without an adult always acting as an authority.

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photojosh
We're thinking about this issue right this very moment. Kids are 8 and 10, and
in afternoon out-of-school care for 1.5-2 hours two days a week. Thinking for
next year we will just let them take themselves home.

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cimmanom
Because 50 years ago it was totally normal for 8 year olds to be on their own
for a few hours after the school bus dropped them off and for 5 year olds to
be supervise only by their slightly older siblings. Because 100 years ago it
was normal for those 5 year olds to walk home from school on their own and
play in the streets until their parents returned. Because we weren’t always as
crazy and paranoid about unsupervised children as we are now.

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jrnichols
The article notes that it's usually women that drop out of the workforce to
stay home with the kids, but it doesn't mention that it's usually women who
are the ones being paranoid about unsupervised children. 30 years ago, I think
it was the total opposite. My mother (and many others) were fine with the kids
coming home by themselves and being latchkey kids.

what changed? "Adam" in 1983. I noticed a significant shift in parental
behavior after that movie came out. My mother declared that I was no longer
allowed to walk home alone after school. Talking with other friends later on
in life, they too noted that things changed in the early 80's. One cited the
rise of AIDS as a reason his mother wouldn't let him walk home. Another cited
the McMartin preschool trial. The fear of random people snatching up and
molesting/murdering kids became endemic. Fear had taken over.

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topkai22
They touch on it in the article, but in my area most elementary schools have
in school after school programs, typically running about $60/week for after
school care. That seems like the easiest way to go, you get rid of transport
costs, utilize under utilized space, and provide additional income to school
staff if they want it. The biggest issues seem to be that because they are
aligned with the school year they don’t necessarily have summer or holiday
coverage.

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yasp
Why are schools implicit childcare centers?

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aargh_aargh
Why is school attendance compulsory?

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tomatotomato37
It isn't. Education is, it just so happens most parents send their kids off to
a seperate institution over home schooling.

