<p>This is just one of the most upsetting crimes imaginable. What breaks my heart (and it’s not in this story, but was in an earlier one) is that this was reported to be the boy’s first time walking home and he took a wrong turn and asked the wrong guy for directions. This is beyond tragic. </p>
<p>[NYC</a> man held in boy’s slaying says he hears voices - LA Daily News](<a href=“http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_18476997]NYC”>http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_18476997)</p>
<p>I agree mimk6, it is wrenching to imagine what was done to this poor innocent little boy. I can’t even think of how these parents will cope. So very tragic, may he rest in peace…</p>
<p>I was sick when I saw the headlines. Dismembered. What that poor boy must have suffered. I think one article mentioned that most people in that area of Brooklyn feel safe because it’s such a closed community. To the boy, that man looked safe. He wasn’t “a stranger” – he was part of the community. </p>
<p>I’ve got to wonder if this monster wasn’t arranging his schedule to “be around” when camp let out, on the off chance he’d run into an unaccompanied minor. There were some indications that he’s done this before.</p>
<p>Take that guy down to texas… we’ll take care of him</p>
<p>There’s no such thing as a “safe” neighborhood unless it’s gated off with guards–that child was vulnerable to literally hundreds of strangers on foot an in cars over the course of his route home, even if he hadn’t gotten lost. Until a child is big enough to make a good try at fighting off an adult and savvy enough to identify who’s sketchy and who isn’t, he shouldn’t be walking alone for a block much less seven blocks. My kids were never out of the sight of a trusted adult at such a young age. These parents were tragically naive, and it’s heartbreaking.</p>
<p>It sounds like the man may be schizophrenic.</p>
<p>Agree, sunnyflorida. Tragic all the way around</p>
<p>One of the most horrible things I’ve read about in a very long time. It reminds me a little of what happened with Etan Patz 30 years ago. When he disappeared, it was his first time walking to school alone.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it seems that that parents in Leiby’s community raise their children to do what adults tell them, no matter what. And they don’t watch television at all, so the children that age probably aren’t nearly as sophisticated about “stranger danger” as your average New York City 8-year old. It was probably entirely natural for him to ask the nearest Orthodox person for directions when he got lost, and I have a feeling he had never been taught not to get into a car with strangers. But what an awful thing, that out of all the people in the world he could have asked, he happened to come upon this one.</p>
<p>This is such a horrible story that it will haunt my nightmares. My boss stopped over to tell me yesterday that he has to stay away from coverage of this crime because he is afraid he will go nuts.<br>
I think you hit the nail on the head, Donna. He probably wasn’t as prepared to walk alone as kids from less insular communities. God bless his parents. I don’t know how they can get through this.</p>
<p>How sad, my heart goes out to Leiby Kletzky’s family. I don’t know how you recover from something like this. Do you believe Leiby wasn’t killed until after Levi Aron got back home from work the next day?</p>
<p>When this story first broke (and ever since), it was one of the worst stories I have ever read. Tragic beyond tragic. And random. </p>
<p>Back when I went to elementary school, we walked to and from school several blocks. Things seem so different today where that is a very dangerous thing for a kid to do.</p>
<p>For the boy’s parents, besides grief over loss of their child, I don’t know how they can endure knowing how he suffered in his final day after meeting this monster.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s a little bit fate, you know? A different kid might have asked a woman (I confess to telling my kids if they were ever in trouble to ask a woman with a kid for help), or might have practiced the walk a few times before actually making it. Just so sad, tragic and disturbing.</p>
<p>
I would not have a problem with letting the kid walk - I don’t believe in keeping them under guard until they are adults. However, I would have made very sure he knew how to get home and was very comfortable finding his way, and in this day and age, I would have given him a cell phone, if only for the day (and ANY day he was walking).</p>
<p>Yes, it is random and fate that the boy asked THIS man for directions and he trusted this man (he was only 8 after all) and the man likely was nice and likely said he could help him get home. The boy was even seen waiting for the man as he went inside a dentist’s office to pay a bill and also got into his car. Terrible random fate that he ran into this guy.</p>
<p>sylvan- I would have agreed with you when my oldest kids were little, but not now. Our kids ages range over 12 years. When our oldest- twins now 27- were little they walked to elementary school about 4 blocks away when they were old enough to be street safe, as did most of the kids at our school. In the morning and after school, there were dozens of kids walking down the streets together and having a great time. By the time our youngest -now 15- came along, there were almost no kids walking to and from school. They got rid of our crossing guards about 6 or 7 years ago because there were so few kid walking- just kids who lived immediately adjacent to the school. I think people became more aware of some of the dangers of kids walking without supervision. Over the years, there have been incidences of people in cars stopping to talk to kids even in our little community, and it is frightening to hear about. In addition, by the time our younger one came along, there were a lot more 2-income families than with my older kids, and I think parents at work don’t want to have to worry about whether their child made it to and from school, so make other arrangements for transportation.</p>
<p>It is so sad to read about this little boy as I’m sure his parents thought he was safe in his own neighborhood.</p>
<p>So tragic. I feel for his parents. We had just started to let our 9 yr.old ride her bike down the street to her friend’s house alone.</p>
<p>takeitallin, I think times really have changed in what many allow their kids to do and don’t do, though I think locations play a part too. I’m commenting only because this topic came up but don’t blame these poor suffering parents in this particular case!</p>
<p>As I wrote earlier, I did walk to and from elementary school which was several blocks in a suburban neighborhood when I grew up (and we had crossing guards too). We usually walked with friends, but I can’t say that I always did or not, as I don’t remember for sure. But my best friends were my age and lived next door and across the street from me and so we likely did all walk together. </p>
<p>Now, as a parent, for one thing, we brought our kids up in an entirely different locale. We live in a rural area on a dirt road where you cannot walk to anything, let alone school. So, our kids were driven everywhere and always were supervised. But even so, I would not have allowed my daughters to walk down the dirt road to some other house to some friend, which would be a very long walk, because even though this is a very safe area, I knew that nobody could ever see them (you don’t barely pass any houses on the way), nobody would hear them, cell phones do not get reception, and it would be so easy for someone to drive by and pick them up and nobody would witness it. </p>
<p>Now that is not the same in a place like Brooklyn where everyone walks places and the streets are full of people (my grown kid lives there now in fact). I am sure kids in such an environment are allowed to walk places unlike my kids ever did. But in this terrible case that happened in Brooklyn, even though there were others on the street and the boy was not isolated, still someone picked him up in a way that to someone else may not have even though looked odd. He wasn’t grabbed or anything. The boy trusted the man and if anyone saw them, they may have even thought they knew one another. In any case, it doesn’t seem safe in this day and age to let a child walk alone anywhere. I do think times have changed in that regard. Perhaps at that age, they get to walk with a friend but not alone? I don’t live in a city and I don’t know what the norm is. But here in my rural area, I would not let a child walk alone because it would be easy to pick them up and nobody would see. But it may be quite the norm in Brooklyn for kids to walk to school alone. It was the norm years ago when I went to school in suburbia.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that nobody’s kids are ever entirely safe…look at the horrible abductions of some kids right out of their own home!</p>
<p>I’m not wild about the walking to school alone thing. My son just started this year at 12 and the reason is that drivers are so aggressive. A kid has to really understand that he may have the light or the right of way, but he has to use his judgment to determine if the driver will respect that. Heck, I’m an adult and I cross an intersection every day at which I’ve been tapped by cars 4 times over the years because of its configuration, so I know what to look out for. I don’t think my son was quite ready to make safe judgments until this year. He’s been doing absolutely fine with it, thank God.</p>
<p>I would not be comfortable letting my 8 year old walk alone either, but I have never lived in a city and maybe that is commonplace, I don’t know. </p>
<p>I remember when I was growing up, in suburbia, that I had to wait until I was 12 to be allowed to walk with friends to a shopping center about a mile away.</p>
<p>Being in a busy city with lots of people does not make it any safe, IMHO. Ever heard of being “alone” in a room full of people? I’ll bet no one really paid any attention to this little guy walking along the sidewalk, so feeling safer because there are people around would be somewhat naive. </p>
<p>Tragic. I am praying for the family…and that the guy who did this never sees the light of day again.</p>