Apr 17 , 2007
An Open Letter to L.J. Williamson
Dear L.J. (or Linda),
Since your Earthlink.net website’s contact info is incorrect, I thought I’d air my views in public. I enjoyed your article “Let Kids Outdoors” that was published in the L.A. Times on March 29. I agree that society as a whole seems to be suffocating children with safety, and that withholding all independence seems to do more harm than good.
However, I was curious about one argument you made in your article. You stated that “In 1972, 87% of children who lived within a mile of school walked or biked daily; today, just 13% of children get to school under their own power” and that “rates of child abduction and sexual abuse have marched steadily downward since the early 1990s.” You argue that society is fearing child abduction more while the actual danger is decreasing.
Is it possible that child abductions are decreasing as a result of less children traveling, playing, or being outdoors on their own? I have not researched these statistics, nor am I a statistician, but the irony of society’s increasing fear reducing that which it fears to a statistical improbability amused me.
Respectfully,
Stephen
PS: You should hire me to build a website for you that is not broken.
April 27th, 2007 at 3:34 pm (link)
Dear Mekosh,
The most thorough study of possible explanations for the decline in child sexual abuse appears here:
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV58.pdf
It’s a lengthy but very interesting read. An excerpt from the conclusion:
The study describes many possible theories and concludes that the resultant reduction in sexual abuse is caused by a combination of factors. But nowhere is greater parental tendency to keep kids indoors mentioned as a major factor.
If you want more info, here is a page with several more articles:
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/Child_Vic_Papers_pubs.html#Trends
As for my website, I’m at a loss to explain why you were having difficulty, as I’ve received many letters from people such as yourself who read my article and successfully contacted me through my site.
Best regards,
Linda Williamson
April 29th, 2007 at 3:53 pm (link)
Thanks for replying, Linda! The article you mentioned and highlighted with the quote really does bolster your argument—or perhaps led you to the argument.
I had my doubts that keeping kids indoors would keep them safe considering the high percentage of child abuse perpetrated by family and trusted friends.
Looking back at your website, it appears the
mailto:link for your email address has extra characters after the “.com”. I’m not sure if that was the reason my email to you bounced or if it was something else.Disregarding my snarky offer, I’d still be interested in working with you should you decide you’d like to do a little web remodeling.