Was there ever a time when Americans left their doors unlocked and children could safely walk the streets?

Question

Pudsmucker · Accepted Answer

I remember those days. Dad would go out the door and go to work and Mom would stay home and take care of the house and the children. The pedophiles were constantly hiding. We did hear about children disappearing every once in awhile. The doors were locked only in rich neighborhoods. I remember when I was about four going to visit a cousin who was close to Mom's age. I walked into somebody's house. They knew who my cousin was and they knew who my mom was. They received a phone call and I got a good talking to about going into strangers homes. We children could play until it got dark and we were to head home. As I got older people became more paranoid. Thinking somebody was always going to rob them. Or come into their home and steal from them. Pedophiles became more prevalent. There are still places this day that you find the doors of the houses unlocked and everybody knows somebody else. You can leave your house unlocked and go on a vacation and when you come home you find that your plants have been watered and your pets have been fed. And your neighbors outside smoking a cigarette for you after you have had sex. Those places are far and few between. I know people that go to bed with a pistol near their side because of fear of the boogeyman. Yes our society has changed violence has increased. Are values have decreased.

DaveJord · Accepted Answer

Yeah, back in the day people used to police themselves... more or less. We lived in smaller towns and communities, everyone knew everyone, strangers were frowned up. If you did something wrong, nobody made excuses for you, nobody acted like it wasn't your fault. You were held accountable, and nobody cried about how unfair it was. And people felt safe, knowing that everyone else was looking out for everyone else.

So yes back in the day and in certain communities its still that way, but you got to be willing to live in places that don't have stop lights in their towns or Walmart's or McDonalds and everything closes by 8 pm. There's only one or two full up Grocery Stores in the entire county, no movie theaters either. Man I found me a town like that and it flipping awesome and only about 40 minutes from a major city. So I run down the mountain once a month and do all the things I need to do, and then run back up the hill and leave my door unlock, swim in my pool, and sit on my front porch in my one stop sign town, and think how much I do not miss the hustle and bustle of the big city.

But don't get me wrong, you can not take a piss in my town without everyone knowing about it. So you keep quiet and don't cause any problems and nobody is going to bother you either.

Dinklex3 · Accepted Answer

It's crazy.

As a kid we left the doors to our house unlocked all the time. When warming up the car in the winter we didn't have to lock our car doors either.

Never had to worry about anyone stealing bikes or anything of the sort.

My roommate and i were both from smaller areas so we always forgot to lock the door (lived on base though). We only started locking them because of the bears, but nowadays everything needs to be double/triple locked.

People even steal mail and packages. It's so sad and disappointing.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Nope. Allow people to own guns, and you are going to have a country filled with crazy people.

youngmix · Answer

It depends on where you live. I grew up in a very safe neighborhood, door were never locked, and kids were/are always outside.
And I'm not sure if the U. S. was ever historically safe: wars with indigenous tribes, then settling in harsh lands, dealing with wild west gangs, developing metropolises around industry where crime was rampant... We started getting safety when farming communities were settling, and after the move to the suburbs. And the peace did not last in many of those places.

lightbulb27 · Answer

yes in small towns and country they did and have. but there's plenty of theives and sickos and only takes one to change behavior.

If we'd had kept up with death penality... culling the herd of these poorly trained humans, we wouldn't have the issues we'd have today. But we're too nice and now we have a mess.

Aerissa_Jade · Answer

My area is still that way, rural America... if I forget to lock my car at night, I don't have to worry about someone stealing stuff out of it.

When I lived in the bigger cities though, never felt safe... lots of criminals around looking for that crime of opportunity.

D_Bone_Steak · Answer

When I was a kid I freely roamed the streets. I'm 40 now so you can guess when that probably was... like when the Stranger Things show is set up.

Now with kids of my own it's like... I feel like these kids are growing up in a prison that isn't a prison if that makes sense. Imagine not even having a yard... the damn kid can't even go outside to just touch some grass.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

Yes, it's still like that where I live. I not only leave my doors unlocked I leave them open even when I sleep at night. I used to live in a house that didn't even have locks on the door.

I have no reason to believe it's any less safe today than it was 40-50 years ago. The media would have you think otherwise but sensationalizing everything is how they make their money. It's very lucrative.

Agent_Elflord · Answer

Depends on where you live. In the city when I was a kid we locked our doors but we could play outside all day unsupervised until the streetlights turned on, but now that I live in a rural area, our doors and cars are unlocked and kids could still play outside til dark, but probably not with the other neighboorhood kids since their house may be too far away for the kids to go to by themselves without a grownup and a car.

Anonymous · Answer

In the more rural parts of the USA this is still the case. The truth is even in many crime ridden urban areas Kids have almost never been safer.

The danger we think is out there is almost entirely an illusion of modern media focused on drama.

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Certain places and communities even now it can be done depending where you.

This idea that America always had positive vaules and it was safe etc back then was mostly for middle class whites.

Black people lived in serious fear back in the 40's and 50's.

JDBSLAOQ · Answer

smaller towns look after each other, not many places are like that anymore though, lotsa construction and apartment complexes have been built in the past few decades.

Anonymous · Answer

I think this dates back to a time when there was much less social mobility, less travel, and communities knew their neighbours and would look out for one another, probably helped by houses being occupied all the time. And groups of local children played out on the street together.

Such comments can (or could) also be heard in the UK.

Alien to me though. I've always had to move around and follow work, and don't tend to know neighbors.

Moose304 · Answer

Not only did we not lock our doors, my parents almost always left the key in their car. I drank water out of a water hose etc. We did not have AC so most nights all the windows were up in the house unless a storm came up. We survived!

exitseven · Answer

I grew up in the 70s and we roamed the neighborhood a rode our bikes into the town square. My father would leave the car keys in the car and our doors were unlocked unless we were going away for a few days.

Anonymous · Answer

there's far more degeneracy and dishonesty today. I dont care what anyone says about statistics. Or "its just media perception". Back in the day, people knew who was bad news and who wasn't. Nowadays people walk around hiding knives in newspapers. Stabbing random people in the streets

purplepoppy · Answer

Surely that depends more on your local neighbourhood rater than a time period.

anniisa97 · Answer

Damn, 70% of people are delusional apparently

Snsl153 · Answer

Well, actually, that's what we do in Australia. For us this is perfectly normal.

Guy13 · Answer

The era of Norman Rockwell as far as I can tell🤷🏻‍♂️

driven159 · Answer

we lived out in the country in my young life we never locked door even left garage door open people looked out for each other if your animals got out of the farm, they would take them back if we were gone

Anonymous · Answer

It depends on the place you live. I'm from England. While many places were always crime-ridden shitholes, there were places like that when I was a kid. No longer.

bean2k21 · Answer

I haven't locked my doors in two years. It's called living among Republicans.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

I think that the typical tipi had no locks :)

Brammer54 · Answer

This is still possible if you are living in a well guarded gated community.

joeldalton · Answer

If you don’t live in a blue state you can still do that today.

ChefPapiChulo · Answer

Oh yeah world war 2 was so safe. People are just delusional and are under mass hysteria.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

The 2nd amendment was actually respected back then.

msc545 · Answer

Not really no. People just believed it was safe but it never has been.

BungusHighFivePizza · Answer

yeah 1930 harlem

josephinelcajon · Answer

I grew up exactly like that.

Stoner710 · Answer

Yes primarily in the 1950s

Dinosaursandanime65 · Answer

Yeah there was, at least in the movies

Anonymous · Answer

Wally, go easy on the beave.

love_conquers_lust · Answer

Yes.

Was there ever a time when Americans left their doors unlocked and children could safely walk the streets?

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Why do people think the past was safer…”when we kept our doors unlocked”?

Was there ever a time when Americans left their doors unlocked and children could safely walk the streets?

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Why do people think the past was safer…”when we kept our doors unlocked”?

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