"Naturally this being mainly American trope, in many other countries, even the first world ones (like Japan and Germany), this isn't even a trope — that's a fact of life. Kids in this countries are generally allowed much more freedom, and parents tend to worry much less about various dangers — even if there is more danger to them in US. "
... say what now? Speaking as a german - there are not many free-roaming second-graders out here. Got myself in serious trouble, when I went to the nearest town alone at the age of ten. Additionally, we surely have our own share of pedo hunts on this side of the pond. There is a cheesy tv-show, initiated by the wife of the secretary of defense, called "Innocence in Danger" ... exactly what it says on the tin.
Edited by Cagliostro Hide / Show Replies
And if this is true about Japan then why are there so many anime examples?
...hmm...i guess the inspiration to this bit in the description were the real life examples in this page. Really, considering Free-Range Children is one Acceptable Break from Reality, if this is true, the japanese examples must be removed.
Edited by MagBas
I grew up in Germany, and am again living there. OF COURSE children still run free. I see them daily. They play alone out in the streets and yards, there's a specific term "Schlüsselkinder" (latchkey child) even, and once they are 8-9 and able to use a bicycle securely, they are all over the place.
I think Cagliostro may have no idea how hysterical US Americans can get when they see a primary school age kid walking a street on its own, or that the Child Protection Services can initiate lawsuits against the parents, often ending in arrests and verdicts for neglect, as well as supervision.
I want to see one Jugendamt in Germany which fines, imprisons the parents or takes away a child for the simple fact of going home alone from school, driving the bicycle across the quarter or playing unsupervised away from home with other children! All such things happen in the USA, and are meant by these paragraphs.
I think discussion on whether the trope applies to RL is better served by On Topic Conversations.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
I'm German too and was about to add "Germany in general" as a downplayed example before seeing that general examples weren't allowed. Downplayed because, well, kids would obviously not be allowed to fight crime etc - But taking a bus to a nearby town at age 10 is perfectly normal. After all, the kids need some way of getting to school, and not all versions of secondary school exist in all little towns. And if said 10 year old kids afterwards want to go to the cinema in said city, well, why not?
MagBas
- Japanese society encourages
child independence from a young age, with children as young as seven riding the train to school by themselves. There's even a popular, long-running (27 years!) television show where kids as young as three and four are secretly filmed running their first errands for their parents. This is rather justified by Japan's incredibly low crime rate, and the cultural assumption that a child can safely ask any adult for help.
General examples are not allowed.
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: About their relation with AccetableBreakOfTheReality...
, started by MagBas on Apr 1st 2011 at 11:21:51 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman