A Peculiarly Dutch Summer Rite: Children Abandoned in the Night Woods

oldmom4896 · July 21

It may sound extreme, but it’s normal in the Netherlands.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/world/europe/netherlands-dropping-children.html

CaMom13 · July 21

LOL.
"If this sounds crazy to you, it is because you are not Dutch."
I am not Dutch, it does sound crazy and yet, I can see the potential benefits.

MYOS1634 · July 21

It doesn't sound like there are big problems like kidnappings, accidents/deaths, frozen toes, poisoning, etc.

anomander · July 21

“The Dropping” sounds like the title of an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

walkinghome · July 21

Sounds like the Order of the Arrow ordeal that most boy scouts do. I think it sounds like fun.

dietz199 · July 21

I'm going to guess the ratio of lawyers to standard citizens is lower in the Netherlands.

CountingDown · July 21

We did that in my Junior GS troop in Germany in the early 70s. Kids learn independence early in Europe!

NYC2018nyc · July 21

Love it!

Cardinal Fang · July 22

No bears. No mountain lions. No wolves. No cliffs. No gators.. In summer nights, the weather doesn’t go down to freezing. I’m guessing Dutch wild lands are safer than American wild lands.

oldfort · July 22

Sun also sets very late in the summer there.
The article said sometimes adults hid in the woods and make boar noises. Sounds like a pretty well organized/supervised outing.

4gsmom · July 22

I've been accused of being a pretty controlling mom and I would totally allow my kids to participate in something like that - if they wanted to. Would never force a kid to do it, however.

A Peculiarly Dutch Summer Rite: Children Abandoned in the Night Woods

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