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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   19498 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026

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I think in large degree the ability of random people being able to take incriminating video is making this stuff more likely. In 1980, you couldn’t call CPS on a kid playing alone, you could not film a kid playing unsafely and send it to CPS. If you were going to report something you had to go home to do it. And I think like a lot of other things, removing barriers makes that stuff happen more often.

My husband was a latchkey kid. By the time he was 6 he was talking care of his baby sisters while his parents worked. Everyone knew that this was happening. His teachers knew he was home alone with three younger kids after school got out. No one raised an eyebrow at it. It was normal. Having a cell phone wouldn't have changed it as long as everyone agreed that this was just part of life.

I've always felt that the entire term "latchkey kid" was super weird. In the 80s in Finland that was simply considered the norm. Some families were well off enough that only one parent worked (or the other only worked part time) but those were exceptions. Our immediate neighborhood had a bunch of kids of similar ages and one mother worked only part time so we knew where to go if we needed help.

Yeah but the existence of a cellphone video means that one annoying busybody can badger whoever is in a position of authority with proof of 'malfeasance', whilst otherwise it's just he says, she says.

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