Incredible traveling child

vicshere says on Apr 8, 2007, 18:09:

shit thats nothing the people down the street send their kids to a good school across town by bus alone she is only like 7 years old..stuipd people can afford a good school but dont spend the money for transport...again only in colombia

listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic

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bufalo says on Apr 8, 2007, 19:08:

Doesn't shock me. I met plenty of children in SM who crossed the whole country alone.

I believe it is in China where little kids commute one hour a day using public transportation to go to scool every day. Only lately is it seen as dangerous due to a spike in pervs.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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adrimm says on Apr 9, 2007, 17:56:

Different cultures Hows it different to them walking to school?

How many of you walked to school as kids? I did, from grade 1 one up .7 kms. People worry about different things in different places at different times/decades/eras.

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vicshere says on Apr 9, 2007, 18:14:

oh come on i use to walk 7 miles uphill in a frezzing snow storm to get to school when i was i kid ....i lived in Kapaskasing ontario


listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic

listo

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arthur brode says on Apr 9, 2007, 20:44:

U.S. `buying' its way to bottom of ranking A rather disturbing paper was released recently by UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre in Italy. Reported in The Los Angeles Times its impact was eclipsed by the daily onslaught of news from our war fronts. The center ranked 21 wealthy nations in material well-being, health, education, relationships, behaviors and risks, and young people's sense of happiness.

The United States and Britain were at the bottom in that child welfare study.

How can that be, when from early childhood on, our children are provided with the best of gadgets? Surrounded by a steady stream of fashions in clothing and recreation (doesn't every child by now own an iPod?), a cell phone and, of course, at age 16, a set of wheels, fully equipped. The newest game box, the latest laptop computer and that large plasma TV are all childhood must-haves.

There may not be much room left for books. The type apparently read by those kids in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Spain and Portugal, where they might have fewer gadgets but where the youth ranked as happiest.

It seems they spend considerable time with family and friends, and are less prone to engage in activities that endanger welfare, such as drinking and having sex at a very young age, as is the case in the U.S. and U.K.

Those countries with a more equitable distribution of wealth also made a proportionally higher investment in education and public health than the wealthier nations. Although the report states that the U.S. ranked 12th out of 24 in education -- its highest ranking -- it was at the bottom in health and safety, because of its high child mortality and accidental deaths.

Considering our leadership in medical research and the above-average quality of our top hospitals, this is indeed a startling revelation. It points to the discrepancy of quality medical care enjoyed by the wealthy and the 30 percent of uninsured Americans, of whom a great number are children.

It has always been a puzzle to the rest of the world how the wealthiest nation on Earth has yet to provide for affordable universal health care for its citizens.

We also have the highest proportion of children living in single-family homes, which the study defined as an indicator for increased risk and poor health.

The most disturbing finding was our "dog eat dog" competition in jobs, more prevalent than in the other countries, which resulted in parents' spending less time with their children and fostering in them that same drive to excel and frenzy to embrace a material world -- which promises immediate gratification but also a constant state of stress -- from the earliest grades on through college and later in the workplace.

Amazingly, we are also in the bottom when it comes to saving, with just about 1 percent of our income being saved, which must add to the insecurity that will affect family structure.

It is a world where there is little time left for exploring the beauty of nature, for savoring the arts, for reading for the fun of it, for precious hours spent with friends and family.

And for just plain daydreaming, which is part of a child's feeling of happiness.

The greatest minds, such as Newton, Kepler, Einstein and Darwin, we are told, set aside time for daydreaming, which obviously was a catalyst in bringing about their magnificent contributions to mankind. Perhaps there is something we can learn from them.

http://www.calirentals.net/

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adrimm says on Apr 9, 2007, 21:30:

Exactly my point Vic It's ok for kids to walk alone to school, on public sidewalks past strangers, through other neighbourhoods, for long periods, but the same kids can't take the bus?

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quindioman says on Apr 10, 2007, 04:45:

I got sent from Colombia to England by myself as a 9 year old, mind you the trolly dolly had an eye out for me.

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Cerealkiller says on Apr 10, 2007, 05:13:

hmm I have never seen young school kids taking buses or transmilenio in bogota, at least not to the extent you see in London. I hate having to take a bus in the afternoon because theyre always full of lunchbox smelling children taking the bus home on their own. I never took a bus until I was 18 and my mother used to send the nanny with me so that I could learn how to take a bus because I didnt even know where downtown bogota was (after having lived in Bogota for like 10 years)... and my 18 yo brother has never in his life been on public transport. Yet I have been put on planes on my own since I was 7. So I dont know if we're freaks, but I have never thought of it as a common thing in Colombia.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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Mononoke28 says on Apr 10, 2007, 13:15:

When I lived... ... in Colombia I started taking the bus by myself when I was 11 years-old to go to school. It's very normal there, especially in Medellín to see young kids taking the bus from one barrio to the next.

Diana

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mecca says on Apr 10, 2007, 13:30:

That's what i was looking for Mononoke, thanks. The family really took this hard though, so i'm guessing that he's a few years away from being permitted to do something like that.

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griffbos says on Apr 10, 2007, 14:02:

I have to agree growing up I use to walk to school, in the city I grew up in one had t live 2 miles or more to get a bus ride other wise you walk. in Jr High I would cut thru the State Hospital (Mental Hospital) everyday to and from school never had a promblem other then security stopping you now and then to tell you it was not safe to be cutting thru. still didn't stop me

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adrimm says on Apr 10, 2007, 19:34:

Griffbos Sounds like you mean school bus - I think we're talking public transit bus (or at least I was).

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Mononoke28 says on Apr 11, 2007, 12:16:

I was talking... ... about public transportation. School buses in Colombia are for the "rich" kids. Us poor folk take the bus. =D

Diana

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