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February 13, 2012
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Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
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Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
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Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
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January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
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Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
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January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
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Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 29, 2009/ 11 Tishrei 5770
Walk the walk? Not today's kids
By
Tom Purcell
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It was a long walk for a 4-year-old.
It happened in 1966. My older sister Krissy, eager to get me out of her hair, gave me a coin she'd made from a piece of cardboard.
"You can buy candy with it," she told me.
Candy was a rarity in our home, but I knew just where to get it.
I remember slipping out the back door and making my way up through the woods and onto Diane Drive. It was another 200 yards to the "little store," our name for the mom-and-pop shop at the bottom of the hill.
I entered the store and reached my grubby hand above my head and set my fake coin on the counter. Beneath the counter, through the glass, was a spectacular display of penny candy. I stood there mesmerized by the incredible potpourri of sweets.
Unbeknownst to me a great hullabaloo was taking place at my house. Krissy and Kathy, 7 and 9 respectively, were instructed to keep an eye on me while my mother went downstairs with a load of laundry.
When my mother returned a few minutes later, I was nowhere to be found. Kathy, apparently, had gone upstairs to her bedroom. Krissy and I were left together for only a few minutes just enough time for her to cut out the coin and get me out of her hair (though I don't think she expected her runt brother to actually slip out of the house and walk to the little store).
Panic overcame my mother as she searched the house.
This story came to mind as I read a recent article in The New York Times on kids and walking. Today's parents are in a continuous state of panic and worry. Most won't let their children walk anywhere alone.
Consider: It's routine for parents to drive their kids to and from school even if school is only a few blocks away.
At some schools, there is a rigorous process for picking children up. Parents must display their kids' names on their dashboards. A school official radios to the building and the kids are then escorted to the cars.
Parents who attempt to buck our worry-prone culture one lady allowed her 10-year-old son to walk a mile to soccer practice face the wrath of family, neighbors and local authorities.
When a cop saw the boy walking alone, he stopped him and drove him to practice. Then he reprimanded the kid's mom and told her that if anything had happened to the boy, she would have been charged with child endangerment.
To be sure, we're an uptight control-freak culture these days. Our paranoia is stoked by sensationalistic news stories and 24/7 coverage about children who have been abducted.
The truth is, statistically, the world is no more dangerous for kids now than it was in the '50s, '60s and '70s, when 10-year-old kids were free to walk all over the place.
Consider: There are roughly 40 million elementary school-age children in America. Each year, 115 children are abducted but more than 250,000 are in car wrecks.
I am certainly sympathetic to the challenge parents face. A friend of mine is determined to allow both of her children to experience some of the freedom she had as a child.
She allows them to go out into the yard and the woods to play but she's filled with worry as she tries to monitor, unnoticed, from the window.
Which reflects how much times have changed.
On the day I disappeared in 1966, my mother got my sister Krissy to fess up that she'd made me a coin out of cardboard and told me I could buy candy with it at the little store.
Shortly after I arrived at the store, Mom pulled our station wagon into the store's parking lot and rushed inside to greet me.
Lucky for her this happened in 1967.
Had it happened now, she'd probably have to deal with the police and child welfare officials and maybe even an embarrassing report on the evening news.
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© 2009, Tom Purcell
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