THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9508310074
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: HE SAID, SHE SAID
SOURCE: KERRY DOUGHERTY & DAVE ADDIS
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
DAVE SAYS:
Ah, Massachusetts. God love 'em. It's the last paradise for those who believe that no life should be lived free of government guidance.
You're from that neck of the woods, Kerry. Maybe you can explain what goes on in places like that.
There was a story on the wire the other day that said the Massachusetts legislature is noodling over a bill that would make it illegal to leave any child of 14 or younger alone at home.
Geez, I used to hire baby sitters who were that young. And there are still a couple of states where you can get married at 14 - not that it's a good idea, but if you did, it should earn you the right to stay home alone.
Now we have an entire state where it would be a crime for little Johnny and Jane to come home from school at 3:30 and watch Geraldo until Mom or Dad gets off work. How do you explain to a kid that at 14 he still needs a baby sitter, but a couple of months later, when he turns 15, he can get a learner's permit to drive an automobile?
The lawmakers' hearts are in the right place, I suppose - social intruders always have their hearts in the right place - but their heads are someplace else, and not getting a lot of sunshine at the moment.
No doubt there are kids who at 14 can't fend for themselves for an hour without lighting up the phone lines down at 911 by drowning the cat or setting fire to the draperies. But parents who raised their children to be responsible should not be forced to pay for daycare until their kids are in high school.
A lot of us would be happy if the people who represent us would just take care of keeping things safe out in the street. Most folks can do a pretty good job of keeping things safe inside our homes.
You and Steve have two kids, Kerry, and both of you have jobs. Is it part of your long-range planning to baby-sit them right up to the day they're old enough to date the baby sitter?
KERRY SAYS:
Absolutely not, Dave, and if the parliament of knuckleheads in Richmond decides to legislate latchkeyism in Virginia they can start by sending the cops to my house some Saturday and handcuff me for having a 13-year-old baby-sitter.
There are several things going on here - all of them scary.
This is another misguided effort by the paternalistic government to take the place of parents. I, for one, am getting sick of it.
No one knows when a child is old enough to stay home alone except the parents. For every idiot who leaves a 3-year-old in charge of the homestead there are a million parents who carefully weigh the maturity of their children before leaving them unattended.
(Here's a question: Would you rather leave your 13-year-old daughter home alone, or have Bob Packwood, Chuck Robb and Mel Reynolds keep her company?)
Just as I don't want the government telling me I can't have an abortion or drink a glass of wine during pregnancy, or forcing my children to pray in the public schools, I don't want it passing laws about when I can leave the kiddies home for an hour.
As a former latchkey child (from the first grade, by the way) I can trace a good deal of my self-sufficiency to being forced to create my own after-school snacks, do my own homework and figure out how to unzip a back-opening dress with just my two stubby 7-year-old arms.
There's a more subtle thing happening here. I call it the ``babyfying'' of American children. We are getting to the point where we expect nothing from our kids. From the padding of SAT scores, to the total lack of household responsibilities given most children, we are keeping our young people infantile.
A 12-year-old's just three years away from driving a car, and a 14-year-old is just four years from going away to college. It's not too early for them to learn a little responsibility. MEMO: Kerry Dougherty can be reached at 446-2302, and via e-mail at
kerryd(at)infi.net. Dave Addis can be reached at 446-2588, and
addis(at)infi.net. by CNB