“Second, if someone’s sending their 6-year-old to the store it’s because they said who wants to go to the store and they’re six year old said I do. And this person obviously doesn’t have the judgment to realize it’s not appropriate.”
There’s a difference between a 6 year old and a toddler. I have seen preschoolers going shopping but not in over a decade.
Most parents have more seichel than that.
People have an impression that if parents in Israel are sending out their very young kids on errands, then that is a sign that it is safe here. It is not safe here. Between terrorists, pedophiles and reckless drivers, anything can happen. I get emails on a relatively frequent basis about pedophiles in the neighborhood. My kids also tell me hair-raising stories about what their friends tell them happened in the park when adults weren’t around. I realize that I’m overly cautious because I don’t allow my kids to hang out outside without an adult but I have let a 7 year old do a quick run to the Makolet with a cellphone when it was right by my house.