little boys killed on Motorway

[oldspice]

I do think it is important to let children take reisks and learn from taking risks but as a society we have a duty to protect children from unnecessary risks and allow them to have the best childhood they can. Building houses near unfenced stretches of roads like the M56 is not the response of a responsible society. 

I wasn't trying to be flippant. I was merely trying to show that you are damned if you don't, damned if you do.
I'll say it again, it is not black and white.

[Logger]

At six and seven most children are like irresponsible puppies and can't be trusted with anything. You might think they're listening to your instructions about safety but it just goes in one ear and out the other. At six, life is still a bit of a fantasy. Seven year olds have a bit more more nouse, but it's ONLY a bit and would be easily diminished in the presence of a younger friend.

 

Yep, don't disagree with you here.  It's very difficult when you have kids around this age because a lot of their same-age friends are allowed to play out unsupervised.  It's a difficult one to call.  I didn't let my kids out alone at that age but I felt very mean a lot of the time when their mates came to call!!!

 

That piece of motorway should definitely have been secured with family homes being situated nearby.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7062545.stm [Youngsters are missing out on their childhood because we over-protect them, a child play expert claims. A reluctance to let children take risks could stop them developing vital skills needed to protect themselves, he adds.] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7065124.stm [A man has been killed trying to cross the M25 close to the Dartford Tunnel. ] His mum should have kept him locked in his garden for the rest of his life as he didn't know, nor would ever learn the dangers associated with life.

Well one way children are certain to 'miss out on their childhood' is if they are mowed down by a car at the age of seven. As for the example of the man killed trying to cross the M25, he is an adult who made a stupid decision. We can't legislate for stupidity, but we can hope parents have the sense to not let their kids wonder about near dangerous roads.

   

[oldspice]

One thing occurs to me here. Maybe the boys had recently learned about road safety at school or home and were trying to use the Green Cross Code, thinking it would keep them safe? One thing the code does not teach is the perception of speed and the difference between crossing your own quiet street and a road with a much higher speed limit. oldspice2007-10-29 19:12:37

An interesting theory

[loulou]

Haven't we all wandered off as kids and crossed roads we shouldn't have?

[oldspice]

Yes, but never a motorway. However, I did know a girl who was killed aged 10, when she crossed the North Circular Road instead of using the underpass. She had forgotten her dinner money and returned home to get it. Then she realised she would be late for school, so she crossed the road because using the underpass would have taken two minutes longer. This was forty years ago and I still think about her.

[Logger]

Yes, but never a motorway. However, I did know a girl who was killed aged 10, when she crossed the North Circular Road instead of using the underpass. She had forgotten her dinner money and returned home to get it. Then she realised she would be late for school, so she crossed the road because using the underpass would have taken two minutes longer. This was forty years ago and I still think about her.

 

That's really sad

 

I too knew somebody who was killed crossing the road (not even a particularly major road) when we were about 12.  It was a real shock.