The fact that many people from the US are afraid of being seen as "not patriotic" for giving criticism, kinda says it all about why it's so difficult to fix some structural problems there.
Being able to see a problem and address it instead of just shouting "We are number one!" is true patriotism. A good patriot should want what's best for their country, improve it and make it a better place to be. This cannot be done if you're unable to utter critique. This is what I see in Jovie, she's absolutely someone who wants the best for the US and US Americans. This makes her a better patriot than all those idiots who attack her for saying the US isn't perfect.
America is 21st century Rome in decline. Today in US, the more stupid you are, the more patriotic you're seen. Check out "John Stossel Stupid in America",. That will give you an idea how stupid we are.
We now are seeing "forced patriotism" rearing it's ugly head. In Iowa there is a proposal that would force teachers to stand for the "Pledge of Alligance" and they could be fired for saying anything critical of the United States... And lets not even start on the book-banning proposals!
@@gammaraider , they are completely nuts... we effectively have one-party rule in this state. They have even gone as far as kicking the press off the Senate floor, a tradition that goes back 140 years!
The abortion topic in the US is strange. On the one hand, they say children aren't equipped yet to make the decision to have an abortion. On the other hand, that same kid does have the capacity to raise a child?
Also, most of the anti abortion states are republican states. Republicans are against government involvement in their lives. Yet, they are ok with the government deciding on what women can do with their bodies.....
@@ellen3131 It is where schools still teach creation instead of evolution. Where pregnancies are the result of God, not of rape. Where the mayor opens the council meeting with an evangelical preach, and all have to respect it, even if you are atheist or of another belief. Where they pretend to be christian but have the worst conditions for poor and needy.
This is all to ensure teenage girl who got pregnant will have miserable life and will not finish school. This is driven by hate towards women to make them suffer because of unwanted pregnancy. Conservatives believe women are worse sort of human beings, who cannot decide for themselves and needs male supervision and being impregnated from time to time to ensure they will never have time to get education, job etc.
@@Erintii evangelical conservatives in the south ( my family, neighbors, community etc) certainly believe that women should be submissive to their fathers and or husbands. Which is absurd. However as a collective group evangelical conservatives do not wish women to be miserable as a pillar of their platform. Women being miserable can be a side affect though for sure.
You might have mentioned that because we start sexual education for children in the Netherlands when they are (if I'm not mistaken) five, the chances that your children will get an STD or pregnant are significantly lessened. This means that the chances of your daughter needing an abortion are also much smaller because she knows what to do to avoid pregnancy from a young age.
In America the people who are so called pro life are also the same people who don't care at all what happens to the child after it is born. They are against any help that the family will need. If I was younger, I'd be gone from the USA
But the pro lifers are pro guns so is this a pheasant shoot for the halfwits ? The irony is astounding. And the heartbeat rhetoric doesn't hold up either for pro lifers...my son had a beat at 3 weeks !!!!
I was growing up in Poland and I, along with other kids I’ve ever met, spent our childhood playing outside home unsupervised even for the whole day. You were expected from time to time to show up in front of your door to let your guardians know that you were safe. I feel extremely sorry for any kid who couldn’t experience this level of freedom, safety and coolness in their lives.
Me too in the Netherlands. We'd go with 2 into the woods, had to run sometimes from bullies (adventure!) but never felt our lives in danger over there, or anywhere near our home. A kidnapping of a child was national news, still is. So it's not it doesn't happen, but it's so rare that most children grow up in safety. That is a huge win to mental health too.
I live in Italy, since I was at least 10 years old, I was away from home until 11pm, nothing ever happened, we played hide and seek for the whole neighborhood 😂, Sorry for my English
I heard that in the USA you are not even allowed to let your kids go to school on their own and you also have to pick up them. So there are always long long queues in front of the schools in the morning and in the afternoon.
A bunch of kids running around and periodically screaming "Moooooom, throw me the ball/drink/a bit of money", and various moms throwing said item out of the window or balcony (Poland, every Neighbourhood in the 90's).
My son was 3 year old in day care in MI and they had an "active shooter" drill . However, they framed it as " bear attack" where all the kids had to find a safe spot to hide from bears... Long story short we left USA and glad to be living here. Now I just need to learn to speak Dutch better
What the ….???? I can’t imagine something like that for my 4 year old in Germany. The „worst“ we have is fire drills (from kindergarten through school).
How do you make such a drill not traumatizing for kids? Is the advantage of minimizing the risk of the kids getting hurt by a few % worth the risk of kids getting scared of going to school?
If I remember correctly, everyone in the EU has health insurance. This is one of our values that we share. Solidarity is the background for health insurance.
Also dear Americans understand that we educate children very well about sex. They don't want sex because they hear about it. This is nonsense. We tell them how to protect themselves and only have it when they feel ready. As a result teenage pregnancies are way less than in the USA, and the average age of first sex actually is higher.
Yes the you want it because you heard about it is a total myth. I had "the talk" about sexual education, periods, puberty, etc when I was 11 and I was like: "people actually DO that?! For FUN?!?! man... There's no end to the weirdness of adults."
@@dianespix Thats why its good to teach boys and girls that no is perfectly good answer and must be respected. I still remember the crap we heard that no doesn't always means no when i was young. It doesn't stop a real predetor but at least it stops the stupid abuse.
@@Pannenkoekenplantje The way you tell it made me lmao. Perhaps some conservatives should read your version of the warning. ;) If they really wanted to solve something, that is, rather than stay in fairy tale land.
It was a massive surprise to me when my wife and I arrived in the Netherlands. We moved from South Africa which is probably 10x worse than the USA. In South Africa, screw the care of a child, the child has no future there. There is not much hope for kids in South Africa if their parents aren't wealthy. I was never allowed to do anything on my own when I was a kid because it was always so unsafe. All our houses have high walls to keep the monsters out. I once dared to venture on my own to go say hi to my mom's one friend which stayed in the street parallel to us, but when I got back, I got the biggest hiding of my life, because my mother really thought I was taken or killed. I was gone for 15 min! That is how bad it is over there. Currently, South Africa has an issue with a lot of kids being snatched up by human traffickers. It has become a real problem of late. They would even go to pre-schools and pretend they are a kid's parents and snatch the kid that way. Almost happened to my wife once when she was small, but luckily the teacher knew who her parents were. I have heard some real horror stories. It is a breath of fresh air to experience freedoms that I never had as a child and to know that my kids will have much more freedom than I had when I was a kid. The only thing that shocked me (not in a bad way) over here was how Euthanasia is legal. I was also surprised to hear that there is a waiting list for Euthanasia which is a bit sad, but those people have their reasons. I am happy to know that if I have cancer that is terminal, instead of suffering, I could just end it painlessly. I was also presently surprised at how organ donorship is managed nationwide over here. There is a national donor registry which one needs to register at. If you are not registered, by default, you become an organ donor. Only when you are registered, can you opt-out or ask that someone else make the decision for you if you can't. I think that is pretty neat. Love it here in the Netherlands and intend to make it a home. I have never felt this free before. I am Afrikaans, so I can at least understand 80% Dutch already, which is a plus.
One thing I strongly advice and that is really important here if your child plays unmonitored in parcs and neighbourhood: Please put your children on swimming lessons asap. Actually that is the main danger here. Playing unmonitored and not having any swimming diploma is actually something you should never do.
@@lienbijs1205 It depends on where you live though. The only river that was close to my hometown was 2 towns away and often shallow enough to walk through.
@@Vincrand Every place has neighbourhoods with ponds between houseblocks. Your child might go on a playdate by a friend living in such neighbourhood or neighbours do have a pond in their garden.
@@Vincrand Still, it's a good advice. I believe every 5 year old here starts to learn swimming. There's so much water here, not just rivers, but also ponds, lakes, canals, ditches and tranches, even an occasional swimming pool.😁 And given the amount of freedom they have to move around, there a big change they fall into water one day.
I was 6 years old, when I traveled the first time alone by train. From home to grandma, 5 stations down the line to Rotterdam. And proud as a peacock when grandma picked me up at the platform. I did not see that mum kept an eye out in the next compartiment the first trip, but that's an other story. Fact is it is safe for kids to grow up in the Netherlands.
At age 9 I travelled with a bus to station Eindhoven, took the train to Utrecht, switched trains to Amersfoort, there I took a bus, then walked 15 minutes of forest, to my grandparents who lived middle of the Veluwe. Scary but awesome. This was way before mobile phones.
If I remember I was 7 and I walked myself and my little brother of 4 to school. The whole 4 km every day, except the weekend. This was next to roads with somewhat more then mediocre traffic. Multiple crossovers, alongside canals, a traincrossing and through town. Nothing ever, ever happened. Of course in the beginning and randomly my mother followed us. It just shows what even a suggestion of independence can do for a child.
Bit different, but when my eldest son insisted on walking the mile to school with his friends at age 7, I spent the 1st few days stalking him to make sure he was using the zebra crossings correctly, but once I was satisfied he was safe without me, I was happy to let him go. It never crossed my mind that he wouldn't be safe from child abusers.
When I was 13 I traveled from Hengelo to Schiphol by train. Then took the plane to Heathrow where I was supposed to be picked up by mij 14 year old friend from scouts who had spend part of his summercamp in my home the previous year. I did not find my friend at Heathrow so I traveled by public transport (train and bus) to Bridge road in Willesden, London to the house of my friend and got there before he did and their German Shepherd almost ate me. I also vividly remember the first meal I had at their house. Fire burned in my throat. They were originaly from Barbados and used to eating very spicy food .... I wasn't. When I got home after three weeks I was fluent in Cockney.
Everyone who's now amazed at the existence of bullet-proof backpacks: the USA is the only country in the world that has separate statistics for toddler-related deaths. I do not mean the death _of_ toddlers, but the death _by_ toddlers because a firearm was lying around the house unsupervised and without safety measures. Yes, people are getting shot by toddlers, accidentally, often enough to keep a separate statistic on the topic. Ponder about this fact, and let it sink in for a while.
@@JoviesHome 2000 was the first year where gun related accidents (not active shooting mind you) was the nr 1 accidently killer of children in the US. Imagine that, not getting run over by cars or drowning or whatever, but guns. About 1 full shoolbus full of children die from ACCIDENTLY shootings pr. 9 days in the US... now thats insane
I'm always amazed at how some people in the States shout how much freedom they have, but listening to you, I know more and more that there's a lot less freedom in the US than here (or, at least, it feels that way). I'm really glad that, as a child, I could play outside freely without supervision. And no shooter drills, just the occassional fire drill :p
We sure do have freedom! We have the freedom to go into debt for simply wanting to be educated We have the freedom to be forced to pay hundreds of dollars a month for a car that we can’t afford because public transportation doesn’t exist… Because freedom We have the freedom to have medical debt, better put some essential oils on Little Johnny’s finger if it gets cut!
So many here in the States value their guns over everything else... Anywhere else ONE school shooting would've brought radical change, here mass shooting events are at least a weekly occurance.
It’s just madness but why do they put up with it. No holidays and we here in U.K. would def be able to change that law with protesting etc . A democratic right. Just as Suffragettes did.
@@phoenix-xu9xj I don’t really know how we put up with it…. Personally I’m really stressed about all the problems here in the US and it just feels too BIG to ever make a change. I think our government is extremely corrupt and most of us don’t know where to even start…
To the issue of abortion you might add that your daughter will have free access to birth control until the age of 18 and from the age of, I think, 14 she will have it as a private matter between her and her doctor. In other words: she can go and see your family doctor without even telling you and the doctor isn’t allowed to inform you, much less ask for your consent. The result is a teenage pregnancy rate that is an order of magnitude (at least) lower than that in the US. Consequently, there is also a much lower need for abortions.
And free and open education. Tell kids at an early age where babies come from. The older they get the more details they will ask. What to do and not to do, how to prevent a pregnancy, and transmittable uncomforts, etc. That love isn't giving in to sex, and that a kid can talk with its parents about anything, and always. And that teachers, doctors and relatives can be there for advice or help.
There Was a small portion of time in the United States and particularly Arizona where minors could do this exact same thing it was about 1986 and I don’t really understand why it changed.
@@goodsmile5170 Probable the farma industry not making enough money in combination with the false Prudence of amercans.Not saying that in a lot occaisions that prudence is false but when it comes to actual sex it is.
Same in the UK. Birth control is always ‘free’ ( for adults too) and the doctor will not inform the parent or guardian although they will encourage the girl to have that conversation. If there are safeguarding issues ( for example, if the doctor has reason to believe the sexual partner is much older or abusive) I think there are certain protocols that have to be followed so that a social worker or in extreme cases the police will be informed-with the girl’s knowledge.
Why don't they provide birth control for free after the age of 18? That doesn't make any sense. At least with the Affordable Care Act in the USA, birth control is covered regardless of your age.
lol.... yet we still complain about having to pay them all the time. We also complain about our taxes going towards asylum seekers, benefits for people who don't have a job.... "Only a person who loves to pay their taxes is truly enlightened".... (adapted from Byron Katie)
MSc some people think it’s not fair that the money they earned is used to help people who have problems they don’t understand. They like to think that people who lost their job did that to themselves bc they are lazy, and they translate the word fugutives to ‘fortune seekers’. I think it’s bc they want to believe that these kind of misfortunes are not real, and that these things could never ever happen to them. There will always be a few ppl who try to misuse the system, does this mean that ppl who do need help should be punished along with them? Bc that worked so well with the childcare allowances…
@@Peacefrogg Agree with you. Life is easier when we have the privilege of being able to deny any problems that exist. I work with fugitives daily and I see them struggle to build a life in a foreign country after having had to leave everything behind. It's really hard for most of them. The majority of the fugitives who receive benefits want to work for their income. And in the past two years we have all seen that it's easy to lose a job due to external circumstances. Our financial system is very complicated even if we grew up with it. The allowance system is hideous and should be reformed asap. That system is the biggest reason people get into debt and that's not new either. I don't know many people who've never had to pay back allowances.
@@MSchipper i know this. A statusholder i knew had no idea if and if so, how much, he was allowed to work. He was offered a job but was afraid to take it, not knowing what it was going to do to the allowance of his family. He would first have to arrange to speak with someone regarding this and ofc need an interpreter present and all that bc the rules of this country are way to complicated for us who live here, let alone for someone with no knowledge of computers, internet, telephones, driving a car or using public transport, etc who is still learning our language and our alphabet. Most people have no idea how far apart two worlds can be. Still he is grateful for the opportunity and working hard at getting a chance to make himself useful.
I have never understood why US citizens moan about taxation when the only benefit they get from it is the biggest (and most expensive) military in the world. We may pay slightly more in tax but have free education, free healthcare, access to welfare benefits if you become unemployed or physically disabled: imagine being terrified of calling an ambulance when you've just lost your leg or suffered a heart attack 🥴🙄😱
I often get the question from Ukrainian friends why I don't (want to) move to the States, because everything is so much better. I only respond with, I don't want my life standard to drop down that much. I am blessed living in the Netherlands - it ain't perfect, but it is definitely nice (nice enough to complain about the little stuff in life XD).
Those bulletproof backpack just blow my mind🤯 I can't even. I'm from the netherlands si all of the things you mentioned from here are completely normal to me, so it's funny to see them trough someone else's eyes..and actually see that they are not "normal" everywhere.
The sense of freedom, safety and security can, in my case, best be illustrated with my son's realization that after having stayed with me for a month, that he had not once heard any police (or 1st responder) sirens, whereas where he grew up (which wasn't a particularly raucous or dangerous neighbourhood) he would have heard those several times on at least a daily basis. Upon my explanation that sirens have a different sound here in NL and that they are only used when really needed, he remarked that lacking the melodrama of wailing sirens, made him feel more at ease and safer.
Well i live next to police department, firestation and ambulance station so if he ever feels homesick he can stay here for a week he probably will here one once or twice. Unfortunatly the don't seem to need it more then that 😉.
Tbf, here in Europe you can have that effect by just moving into a big city. I grew up (and still live) in a small town near the Alps. If you hear sirens here you know something big is up. One week of staying in Berlin and I didn't even pay attention to the sirens anymore because they could be heard so frequently.
@@arturobianco848 I live near a major police station for 30 years and haven't heard a police siren near hom in all that time. I did hear ambulances though. Portugal BTW.
Well, there are two nursing homes on our street and there is a main road through our small town nearby (in DE), so you often hear ambulance sirens. One of our children lived for 3 years on a street that leads to the hospital, yes sirens were heard several times a day. Police sirens can be heard much less often. I can only consciously remember 5 or 6 police operations in the last 5 years or so, because afterwards there were also small reports in the newspaper. Depending on the area (district) in a big city (there are no nearby hospitals, fire brigade or police stations, many restaurants / clubs, larger train stations, etc.) one can hear the corresponding sirens just as rarely as in the "village".
We moved to the Netherlands earlier this year and I've never felt this level of safety for myself and my child. I wish housing wasn't so impacted because if we don't find a new flat soon we will have to go back to the US and I don't know how to go back to feeling scared for my son at school all the time. A woman in Texas pulled a gun on a 7yr old who was trick-or-treating last weekend. Nothing is safe there anymore. There are also bulletproof zip-up hoodies now that will stop a handgun. I'd rather be here forever.
I hope you will find a nice place to stay. If you have this (Stephen Lynch: Craig) on one of your playlists, you definitely don't belong in the US. ( i was just curious)
Housing is hard at the moment. Are you looking for a rental or to buy? If it's renting then maybe look in a different city. Also look at the company's that are called social Huurwoning or woningbouwcorporaties because they also have free market rentals too. Dare to call rental agencies ( politely) ever day! Try to make it the same time of day. You want to try to get a rental before it is advertised! Know what you are looking for, location, size, budget... These tricks have helpen friends of mine find a house fast.
Seeing all these comments breaks my heart.. I always felt safe here, even alone on the street or at night. Maybe there where certain moments not so much but I can count those on one hand. I can't imagine feeling unsafe most of the time or having to send my kids to school with bullet proof anything 😶 I also really don't understand why people insist on keeping their gun policy the way it is but maybe that's to politicians to talk about..
On kids playing outside on their own, that was normal in the US too until sometime in the 1990s, when mass shootings began to become more common. As children in the seventies, we used to ride our bikes with no adult supervision all over our big urban suburb, climb trees, and walk everywhere with little thought of being attacked or of our parents being reported to the police for neglect. Plus, our interactions with other children weren't totally structured and scheduled by adults into "play dates" the way it's done in the US today, so, yes, we were much more independent and free, the way children before us had always been. People calling the police on parents for letting their kids play outside would have been unthinkably dystopian back then, like something from an apocalyptic novel. Aside from the mass shootings, I'm not sure it was otherwise safer than it is today, but people are definitely more fearful today and there is more meanness among Americans in general than there was even forty years ago, meaning not only might there be greater chance of people being mean to a child but also adult Americans seem to look for opportunities to cause other people distress, like by calling the US's notoriously murderous cops on parents who let their kids play outside. White Americans are also much more racist than they were back in the seventies, even toward children, but that's due to the deregulation of media in the late 1980s, giving us now thirty years of completely unregulated right-wing media stirring up baseless hatred. Unregulated right-wing media is also a big part of the reason, maybe the main reason, the US has now had frequent mass shootings for a quarter century.
Internet and the algoritm of most media that seems to react more on disturbing/vile news rather then on connecting/nice happenings ! Is is a war of clicks(bait) and their revenues .
I grew up in the U.S. in the 1950s and I remember having tremendous amounts of unstructured freedom. It was just normal! No helicopter parents to solve my day to day problems. Handled most issues myself as did other kids. Glad there are still places on earth where that is still true.
The one about the US and children I don't get and no-one in the US is even talking about it. Is children being tried as adults, given adult length sentences and put in adult prisons (even when on remand). Usually in solitary which is torture for an adult but actually causes brain developmental damage for children. I don't know if any other countries do this, but it is very weird.
Here in Austria parents also get "Kinderbeihilfe" a payment every two months i believe, to help paying for school supplies or clothing, they get that until you're 18, or until you finished school, in my case until I was 20, my friend got it until she was 25 that's the maximum age. When my father died my mother got an additional payment of around 300,- per month for me
Thank you for your video. Your mention of the bulletproof bacpacks reminded me of something I read a while ago. A mother would not let her son wear shoes with lights because he will be an easy target when there is a schoolshooting. It broke my heart to read it.
As a Brit. It shocked me to learn just how little independence and freedom American kids have compared to European kids. And consequently, how immature and less capable American kids are compared to European kids. Unlike European kids who are increasingly given way more independence and free will choice as they get older. American kids from Kindergarten till they finish High School at age 18. Permanently have their day to day life highly regimented and regulated for them under much heavier supervision.
While I agree American kids do not have as much safety, and kidnappings, predators, people with ill intentions are certainly a massive problem. I think it’s a mistake to make such a massive blanket statement about the entirety of American kids ability to do things alone. The states are huge. It’s hard to explain how massive the country is to people outside of it. Each city and region vary so much from one another. We get culture shock traveling within our own country sometimes. Many kids still grow up in towns that are quiet and safe to play outdoors by themselves. Elementary age kids play in neighborhoods and parks by themselves. Middle school aged children go to events and hang out without supervision. High schoolers have incredible independence and take themselves to school in their own cars and then go where they want after school including jobs. Safety is where it varies for kids here.
@@MA-zg2pz Sorry, but I stand by what I say. In most European countries, kids take themselves to school from age 6. By walking, cycling and public transportation. (Europe doesn't have dedicated school buses like America does). It's also normal at that age. For them to also make their own way from their home to their local play areas and back by themselves. By age 8 my friends and I were walking and cycling up to 3 miles away from home. This is normal in Europe. But in America, it would be considered child neglect. By the time European kids reach middle school ages. They increasingly manage most aspects of their life with extremely little supervision. And are increasingly given way more personal responsibility. From age 11 it's perfectly normal for European kids to regularly venture many miles away from home for the entire day without supervision. Again by cycling and public transportation. At age 12 my friends and I began regularly travelling by bus and train into 2 different cities. Each 30 miles away from home. Spending the whole day unsupervised in either city from 10am - 8pm. Such practice is perfectly normal and common in Europe. But rare in America. Much of this is also due to major differences in infrastructure. Most of America's infrastructure is extremely car orientated with very poor public transportation. Europe's infrastructure is way more pedestrian and kid friendly. Europe's got an abundance of very safe pedestrian and bicycle only infrastructure. Abundant, safe and efficient public transportation. And much safer highways. Consequently, it's so much easier and safer for European kids to quickly cover much larger distances by themselves on foot or bicycle. European kids are also exposed to alcohol at much younger ages. In most European countries It's legal and acceptable for kids to drink alcohol with adult supervision both at home and in public places from as young as age 7. That just doesn't happen in the USA. That difference really shows in American college students. They partake in silly frat party drinking antics. Which to European 18-year-olds look laughingly immature. Because Europeans undertake those silly drinking antics much younger between ages 14-16, if at all. European kids are also given way more personal responsibility in Education. From age 13, European education becomes increasingly less rigid, directed and supervised than American education. European, kids are expected to self direct much of their studying. And undertake much more unsupervised self-learning and discovery. Day to day. It's mostly their own choice and responsibility, what they study, when they study, and for how long they study. They largely don't follow a strict and precise timetable of classes. Such that in some European countries from around age 15 - 16. They're also not required to be permanently on the school campus for the entire school day. They're only required to physically attend campus for their scheduled classes. In my final school year aged 17-18. Fridays were great for me. As I luckily only had classes between 10am -12:30pm. So on Fridays, I usually attended school for just those 2.5 hours. And then spent the rest of the afternoon studying or resting at home. European kids are also required to personally choose (with guidance from their teachers) a specific field of in-depth study at around age 12-14. For example, if a European kid wishes to become a doctor. He or she must largely make that decision by ages 12-14. Because having made that choice. From age 14 - until they graduate university. Their education will primarily focus on the specialist, in-depth and intensive science-based study required to be a doctor. USA students aren't required to make a major decision on what specific subjects they will specialise in and study in-depth until their final years of college.
@@andywilliams7323 I am a Brit (specifically Scottish) and I do get where you're coming from, especially the public transportation stuff. But the thing is that European public transportation only really works as efficiently as it does because of the MUCH smaller distances between, well, everything, than in the US. Here in Scotland unless you're in the Highlands you can barely travel five to ten miles without hitting another town or village whereas in the US the nearest town or village to yours might be fifty to a hundred miles. Everything's just much more compact here in Europe than in the US which is why we can get away with such expansive public transportation systems. I still think the Americans could stand to have much stricter regulations on their cars and driving but I've ranted about that in the comments of a few other videos so I wont boher here.
@@scottguffie7759 "in the US the nearest town or village to yours might be fifty to a hundred miles." Yes, that's true in places like Montana and Wyoming. But, most Americans live in urban areas. Over 80% of the population lives in less than 5% of the land area of the US. In the urban US, the population density is higher than the population density in the Netherlands. I'm an American and I know the urban US could have public transportation equivalent to Europe. We won't spend the money.
@@andywilliams7323 To be honest, the system where kids are tested in primary school on their "intelligence" is horrible. Having to make a decision about your future at 15 or 16 years old is just as bad. It suks, leads to education inequality, because it favours the families that can pay for extra tuition. Watch the documentary "Klassen" and you might understand what I mean.
As a German, I can absolutely understand your lack of understanding for the „pro-life but not pro-living“ thinking some people in the USA show. Thank you very much for this description, it’s perfect! I also can’t imagine raising my child in the USA - for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned.
In my perception (as a Dutch), life for children in Germany is quite similar to Dutch kids, looking a what Jovie mentioned in her video. Am I right, or are there differences? Just curious.....
@@anneliesS04 it’s very similar. Some things depend one (the part of) the town or city you live in. I now live on the outskirts of Köln/Cologne and here kindergarten children of five or six are allowed to go a few hundred meters alone (without big streets) to get to and back home from the playground or to visit friends. But in the more city-like parts it’s a little different, but school children are usually allowed to go or drive to school alone or in groups after a month or two.
@@anneliesS04 my pleasure, my memories of childhood in the Netherlands (well summers in the Netherlands) are more than 25 years old, so I didn’t dare compare it to today. 😉
my daughter is the only grand kid of my in-laws outside the USA, she is the oldest and never had a shooting drill etc. her younger cousins had a few drills and 1 real one.... so figure who is visiting who, kid the grandparents or grandparents the kid?
I've spent my whole childhood outside here in the Netherlands. Always playing outside with other kids, playing soccer and so on. My kids always play outside. In front of my house there are alot of those play fields for them to play as much as they want.
I’ve been watching your videos for a while and appreciate the way you express your views. I live in the US and am studying into places I’d like to move. I’ve been stuck on the Netherlands for weeks now, and you are VERY good at convincing me to leave 😂 as the USA continuously falls backwards I’m more and more eager to leave. It seems to only be getting worse, or at least, standing in place. Europe seems to have a better grasp at achieving quality of life.
Ik weet dat je het Nederlands aardig beheerst dus ik doe dit even in mijn eigen taal. Ik heb twee dochters, nu 21 en 23 jaar en ik ben ook heel blij met de wetenschap dat abortus wordt gedekt door de verzekering. Niet dat het nodig is, ze zijn best voorzichtig, maar stel dat het gebeurt......geen gezeur, geen gedoe. Een geruststellende gedachte :-)
Het hoeft niet eens een ongewenste zwangerschap te zijn. Maar als er bijv iets ernstig mis is met kind of moeder kan een abortus ook nodig zijn. Maar idd fijn dat het kan hier zonder al te veel poespas (moeder van dochters)
In the states in the last ten years there were only 350 cases of minors being abducted by strangers on a population of 300 mill. So it sounds like the perception of danger is much greater than the actual risk.
When my American niece by marriage came to stay with us in rural Essex sh heard a bird scarier go off and said that she didn’t expect to hear gun fire here. She had no idea what a bird scared was but she is from New York!
Hi Jovie. Like the points you list. I have followed your channel for almost 2 years and it's been a valuable source to me and my family now living in the Netherlands (11 months now). As we come from South Africa I think crime there far outweighs anything going on in the US at the moment. We left for our 2 boys to be able to experience freedom and it has been a wild culture shock as Dutch society is super-normal (like 'doe normaal'). Anyway, here we are and you helped us along the way. Keep them coming. Victor
Hi Jovie, I agree these topics accurately show some important aspects of life in the Netherlands. I am very much aware that life in The Nederlands is far from 'perfect'. However, compared to countries such as USA, life seems more stable, organized and 'inclusive' for all. To those who say who say we are 'socialists or communists' [both are different systems all together].... "Different is not bad / worse", it's only different! First walk a mile in my / those shoes and then make up your own mind! Most importantly: freedom [here] means you have a broad range of options and opportunities available; While you have the right to make your own choices, it is expected you respect others to make their own // different choices freely!
We put strollers with babies sleeping outside restaurants in all of scandinavia. I think you do in other parts of Europe too? As a father off too little fighting brothers at the ages 5 and 7 it is quite nice to let them out to play here in the city of Oslo Norway. The thing we are conserned about is them wearing reflex-cloathing so that cars see them in the dark and that they watch out for traffic. Other than that we don’t have any conserns.
@@ellen3131 yes and no. In some colder parts of the region that is a reason, but this is done all year around and we did it because the baby often slept better in fresh air. There are often parked a whole row off strolers outside cafe/restaurants and if someone goes out to check their baby if it is awake and se some other baby moving, they usually tell people in the restaurant that some baby is awake and all the parents rush outside at once to see if its their child.
Born in The Netherlands, we moved to the USA when I was 9. Ah... the boredom!! After school, no kids on the streets to play with. Always having to rely on your parents to take you anywhere. So happy when we moved back and we could play on the streets until dinner time. Cycling to school and back was not so fun, but I didn't need my parents to take me to sports or to my job. A word of warning tho. Free healthcare for kids is wonderful, but be aware that your kids are obligated to have health insurance from the day they turn 18. Either you, as parents pay it for them, or they get a job after school to pay for it themselves. Nowadays, I see a lot of young people get into financial trouble, because all of a sudden they are expected to be financially independent, without being prepared for it. (I am an income consultant for people on benefits in a small municipality).
The very fact that you felt the need to justify yourself in the beginning shows how much more "hypersensitive" Americans are, compared to Europeans. That's a pretty good indicator of how people have been pampered and overprotected in their childhood. Whenever I hear about "safe spaces" required by some students in college, to shield them from "hate speech" or "oppression", it always reminds me of a Lebanese comedian who said "Imagine kids asking for safe spaces here... listen, we are in the Middle East, there are NO safe spaces here, for anybody!"
The US used to have some of these freedoms (kids playing outside with friends all day), back in the 1950's. It is so refreshing that it still exists in many places. I had it as a child growing up in Czechoslovakia. We did have bombing drills though, and got to practice using gas masks, good times... We lived in a rural area in the states and did let the kids play in the countryside around our house, but they didn't really go far. A lot of my kids' friends' parents were always shocked at how much freedom we gave our girls to explore, make mistakes, etc. We were often judged negatively for it. I find the UK (which is where we are now) is still way more permissive with kids' freedoms than the US. Readily available public transport helps with this a lot. My daughter frequently enjoys trips to a nearby city with her friends using the Metro system.
I'm shocked hearing about the differences. I mean bulletproof backpacks and special training. That's crazy! Not being able to play outside without a parent is understandable when they are very little but that it's not allowed for a 6 or 7 year old. I went to the playground at the end of our street when I was 4 or 5. Walked to school and back from that age with a friend as well just like most of the other classmates. If me and my friend where late our moms knew we couldn't resist going to the toystore around the corner on our way home to check new toys. When I moved I cycled to school for 10 minutes when I was 8.
Wow! What an amazing mom you are. I can only agree with all your points. Kids need to be kids, no extra outside BS. I grew up this way, and my mom had precisely the same parenting skills as you. (God bless her. She was a single mother)
On the flip side, there are a couple of things your kids will miss in the Netherlands or Europe for that matter which you did get to enjoy in the USA. 1. Extracurricular activities provided by the school. Think of the school band, glee club, the football or basketball team, the cheerleading squad, etc. 2. The high school prom or becoming valedictorian 3. Getting a license at 16 and usually paired with a car as a gift purchased by the parents. 4. The amazing college life on campus. 5. The suburban life. Large homes, pool parties, summer bbq's, weekend getaways As a kid, you can really have an amazing life in the USA as long as you are on the right side of the fence.
Those happen in Europe and the UK as well. School activities are common as are proms, driving licence is at age 17 in UK. University campus life is just as exciting but without the school shootings, same with suburban life, people still have parties, BBqs, city breaks etc. but with more foreign travel than the average US citizen
@@richardperks7366 The difference though is the school infrastructure in the US. Schools are usually equipped with a full-fledged auditorium, an athletic track, a football field with grandstands, an indoor gym and some schools even have an indoor Olympic size swimming pool. Plus sporting events on state-level between high schools are just phenomenal. As for school shootings, I haven't experienced that, to be honest. It happens but if you look at the number of schools versus the number of school shootings, the chances that your child could be a victim is quite slim.
@@halapunjete Nice that the U.S. school system offers those facilities (sports fields, theater, etc.). In most European countries these things are embedded in the general municipal facilities: schools simply use these.
@L M UK schools have them as well, but they don't have the spectator facilities as these are school sports. Spectator sports use proper municipal facilities
I am for Univeral Health care，paid leave， soforth like in Europe. US so difficult to find pay leave. I hope in the future I can raise my kids in Europe so they can feel safe and can get better worklife balance. In the US. My brother gotting 2 weeks unpaid leave and he wish he had more. In my opinion not enough time for anybody with newborn.
@@rubynelson1164 yes they are useless because you can defend yourself with the heavy textbooks that do a lot more damage than any gun, but still not as much damage as trying to read them, let alone study
I’m an American who lives half the year in Mexico; and while I don’t have children I can’t help but feel that American children being constantly being supervised is in fact harmful? Under such a situation the kids don’t learn how to solve problems and the like. My fellow ‘Muricans should also realize that we are in competition with the rest of the world and we’re falling behind in a lot of areas. Our car companies in the 70’s and 80’s believed that flag-waving and rah-rah nonsense could be a substitute for quality vehicles. They were wrong, and we will suffer if we don’t start to compete
I remember active shooter drills my high school after Columbine. Thankfully, never experienced if they were effective and it's sad to think how worrying about a shooting was in the back of my mind as I went throughout the school day. It's bizzare and scary that these drills occur like it's normal to this day at schools across the United States- and gun laws still aren't changed. But companies have bullet proof backpacks... Planning on leaving the US so my kids don't have to grow up this way (and many other American ways)
Het hangt af hoe lang je in Nederland bent, maar Amerika van tegenwoordig is niet dezelfde als het vroeger was. Ik ben blij dat mijn kinderen zijn wel in Nederland opgegroeid zijn. And yes I am American.
Jovie, I discovered you just recently and I am so glad! I too am an American woman living outside of the US - it’s been over 30 years now. (I’m currently 73.) I lived for ten years in Northern Germany and then moved to Sweden when I married my Swedish husband. While I was never blessed with children of my own, they have been a constant part of my life. In the past six years I have, quite seriously, offered “asylum” to my American Godson and his family EXACTLY on the grounds you are discussing in this video. An invitation which they, in the midst of building successful careers and surrounded by close family and friends, have not even considered accepting. I understand completely. But when you love someone, you yearn to keep them safe!
I'm glad I opted to be child-free, here in the Un-tied States--though at least I live in the advanced state of New York. I hear you and I hope you understand how mournful most of us are here. Go, EU.
I’m French and lived 7 years in the US. My wife and I decided to move back to France when our daughter turned 3 (so 2 years ago). The idea of dropping her off at school with a bullet proof back-back, and her going through active shooter drills etc. was just unbearable. I agree with everything you said except for leaving young kids okay by themselves in the park. Sure Europe feels pretty safe but there are still creeps everywhere. You never know.
I think you forget to mention Dutch children not having to deal with the stress of homework till they are are visiting highschool and when they do get some the end of elementry school it is to get them used to highschool routine.
The more I watch your videos, the more I love hearing everything you have to say. I'm visually impaired and it's really difficult for me to function here in the States (Oklahoma) and I am looking into what I need to do to move to the Netherlands.
I didn't know that kids in the US had to have bullet proof backpacks and drills for possible shootings....that's insane!! Also free healthcare, child support money and access to unsupervised play is what i love about Europe....I don't have kids myself by I remember my parents in the UK receiving payments for me and my sister and having the NHS on call for healthcare for free was good....its shocking that there is a stark difference between US and EU....its just nuts
55 (and even more) years ago we already had wednesday afternoons off: no school. We went to play at our grandparents and had dinner there too. (In those days it was not really dinner but bread etc.) We loved it!
This was a great video. We have 7 year old twins, and live in rural Vermont. It’s a little bit more balanced (no bullet proof back packs and they can play safely outside on their own because of our property) BUT there’s a lot of crap still going on, even here in the smaller communities. Active shooter drills, poor conflict resolution skills, general education issues, drug problems, poverty, lack of access to affordable healthcare (I’ve been dreading the braces the dentist said my son might need in a few years) and the list goes on. But, we’re actually looking to move to Italy in the near future, so until then… we’ll try to see the good things we do have. Btw, we have started to get child tax credit in advance, so the monthly assistance is helpful. Not sure what it’ll mean come tax time!
My little brother walked to school alone at age 4 here in the Netherlands. My mother followed him (unseen by my brother) the first time. My older brother and me also did that when he was 5 and I was 4, but we were together. Come to think of it: my mother probably followed us as well.
It feels like America does not want to change..I look around the world and see that healthcare can be so much better in the US..And they just don't want to do it..I do not understand..Because it would be so much more lucrative if healthcare is better then it is now. You can see that all around the world..I am just so surprised when i see a waiter in his/her 70's serving me dinner when i am there..It is weird to have to give your kids a bulletproof backpack and say no no guns must be available at all times..It is our right blah blah blah..I do not understand it..And really i am not an American but it makes me sad. The amount of homeless people in the USA is just so sad to see when the country is pretty wealthy..Something is so off and wrong and it is just so frustrating..*sigh*
Most Americans have never been to another country, so they have no idea how it COULD be. They are raised to believe America is the best. Trying to tell them about a different way to arrange healthcare and education and they start ranting about socialism and communism. They really don't want to change. In the meantime, the country is moving backwards in time with how it is run, but they don't see it.
@@ellen3131 Don't get me wrong i love going to America for a couple of weeks. Love the beautiful landscape/nature and the hospitality, love the space you have there. But i am so glad i live in Europe. And because i love to spend my holidays in America it hurts me a little that they do not want to change for the greater good..It really does..Now i know Americans can't really deal with criticism, but sometimes you need to hear it, to change.
From the UK. Many years ago it was normal to leave prams outside shops. One day my mother came out the shop and my pram was empty. After a short panic she saw me making a break for it crawling along the pavement.
Hi Jovie, I just found your channel today and I must congradulate you on your very smart move to The Netherlands, I can see why and how it makes you and your family happy. Your explanations about things in the USA make it even more clear to me how special The Netherlands is. Im born and raised in Rotterdam. so for me everything seems normal but the more I learn about the USA the more it worries me.I really enjoy your videos and I get to see my country trough diffrent eyes. Keep practicing the Dutch directness cause its really liberating to you, as a woman and a mother. Im happy for you, have a great and safe time. Love from Laura
Growing up in the US in the 70s, I was outside with my friends from sun up to sun down. We knew when to be back for meals. I walked to elementary school both ways and let myself into the house until my mom returned from work 1.5 hours later. I often had things to do to prep for dinner and felt grown up by washing and cutting the vegetables or starting a load of laundry. It was a wonderful childhood! My kids experience it here in Germany. I’m very thankful for this.
So I agree with your points. I live US we have to be more aware. Alot of divide in the country. My parent paid quite bit of money for my dental care. Since was not fully cover my insurance like in Netherland. Now school are putting in monitor for extra protection and clear packbacks. I see children being to supervise beccause safety. Boy recently in FL was riding his bike and go shot. Been so many shooting incident in the US. There was recent shooting at school in MI.
It’s a good thing that abortion is available and covered by health insurance, but anti-conception used to be free in the past so abortion would not be necessary. They changed that now. I am not against abortion, but it would be easier if it wasn’t necessary.
the abortion number in the Netherlands is very low, lower than the usa. That has to do of sexual education at home but also on school, no shaming and more or less cheap anti conception
@@eugenieC50 anti-abortion sentiments are up under teens recently, because they actively being targeted by pro-live organisations. Some are even invited into schools to give guest lectures.
The talk that health is not free here because it is paid in taxes is the stupidest excuse I see in Americans to defend the "wonderful" health care system they have. When in the US is One of the countrys where people pay more taxes per capita for the health system and then still have to pay and then you still have to pay insurance and fees.
2:50 In '77 primary-school children were taken, hostage. I was about the same age and see this on the news. I was afraid, very afraid it would happen to our school. How frightening it must be for kids that age to undergo a drill, what makes it even more realistic.
I can’t thank you enough for this video. I visited with Netherlands for 11 days and did not want to leave. I was solo and felt safe and happy like I have never felt before. I want to move to the Netherlands and I am working on figuring out how. I agree with everything you mentioned. I have 3 teenagers and the US isn’t safe for POC I have to get us out. Thank You for your transparency
You're very welcome, there's a lot of American expat video's on RUclips with tons of info how to start your life in the Netherlands. Every kid deserves a safe environment to grow up.
"Pro-life but not pro-living". Thanks for this, Jovie. It's one I've never understood, either. Video suggestion: What do people in the Netherlands do as leisure pursuits and what do they do as community service/charity work?
I think there's such a wide variety in what Dutch people do, both as leisure pursuits or community/charity work, that it's impossible or nearly impossible to make a video about it
In the UK we have a weekly payment (maybe paid out every 2 weeks now) for every child. It is called Child Benefit which is given to the parent (usually the Mother is the named beneficiary) for them to spend as they wish.
Interesting video that you have shown, Jovie. I always need words of encouragement and support for my life and times. Thanks for sharing this. Quite impressive. Yours truly Ed Parkhurst.
Wow! In america the kids have the "freedom" to wear bulletproof backpacks... Ffs america get you shit together and realise that someting is very wrong with your society when kids have to wear a bulletproof backpack. And when you have to start a video declaring that you are a patriot when pointing out actual problems in your country. It sounds a lot like North Korea. Dont you dare speak critically about our dear leader or the "best country in the world".
I have watched a number of your videos off and on, and can not imagine how you haven't been flamed by Trumpists for some of your comments. 1) As a retired teacher here in Washington State, it was not uncommon to have lock down drills and to go through active shooter trainings. It's simply insane. 2) My wife and I often look back at our childhoods growing up in the 50''s and 60's and marvel at the freedom we had in those days. We'd leave the house in the morning, maybe come home for lunch, and then be gone again until dinner. Anyway, Enjoy hearing your take on things. One question: Do you plan on restarting your series of visiting different sections of the Netherlands? I really enjoy those.
Hi Jovie About the schooltijden. Die staan niet echt vast maar kinderen moeten een bepaald aantal uur school hebben per jaar. Voor kinderen in de onderbouw (t/m groep 4) is dat minder. Veel scholen hebben daarom ook vrijdagmiddag vrij voor de lagere groepen. Ook zijn er veel scholen die continue rooster toepassen waarbij kinderen elke dag (ook woensdag en vrijdag) oom 14 uur uit zijn. Of op ma di do en vrij om 14:15 uit zijn. Even een google gedaan --Een kind op de basisschool moet het volgende aantal uren onderwijs krijgen: de eerste 4 schooljaren (onderbouw): minimaal 3.520 uur; de laatste 4 schooljaren (bovenbouw): 3.760 uur.--
Such great comparisons, Jovie. I wish I had raised my kids there. The picture of the babies, outside the restaurant, cracked me up and reminded me of seeing that in "Call the Midwife."
ellen3131 i get that fresh air is important, but i think of all the things that could happen, not just kidnappers, but maybe i won’t hear my baby cry, and what if a dog tips the carriage over or someone bumps into it? The walk to and from the restaurant will give the baby enough fresh air. And if the baby wakes up when i take it out, so be it. I wouldn’t even leave my dog outside, let alone my baby.
@@Peacefrogg Just a different way of living I guess. Any of those things can happen anwhere you take your baby. Take it inside and hot food can fall on it, or a glass. Or someone who's drunk trips and tips the stoller over.
In France we are supposed to have fire drills in our schools, and I know they did terrorist attack drills in schools after the attacks (ISIS and stuff). I think it's good to have training on what to do in case of an attack (especially during the terrorist period), but they shouldn't happen in the first place... During the ISIS time, we had soldiers on patrol with guns on the streets. It was very shocking (we are not used to seeing big war guns, not all the cops have guns in France). In France it was true finishing school Wednesday at noon. I don't know if it still is, if it varies depending on where you live. I've heard some go to school on Saturday morning in France! But the normal time is 5pm not 4 or 3. On Monday for example it's from 8am to 5pm etc. Yeah about the healthcare point and the values we are more sober but we don't notice some stuff. The healthcare is kinda seen as a basic right. Like you are reminding us of how lucky we are and that what seems normal isn't to everyone.
In Finland, the pandemic has really highlighted children's rights. We have our governmental children's rights expert in the news weekly, and the government has had spesific Covid Q&As with children etc. Recently, there has been a lot of emphasis on every child's right to decide about their own vaccination (and the right to leave the decision to caretakers, too, if the child so wants). I won't even go to our school system, it's so good. And yes, babies sleep outside here as well, I think it's the same for all Nordic countries. 😊
Here in the Netherlands we are not that advanced on those topics. And babies sleeping outside we did have but not anymore. It may have stopped in the seventies, I am not quite sure.
@@ankavoskuilen1725 I remember reading an article about a daycare where the babies would take naps outside, in the Netherlands, a few years ago. So it hasn't completely stopped. Or maybe (quite likely) it had stopped, but is becoming more and more common again, since I read that it was something that came from the scandinavian countries.
Same for me. We have had several school attacks since, but it hasn't affected the policy. There has just been discussion about preventing them with accessible mental health services etc
@@tuanoini I apologize, I did not specify that I was talking about my school in Italy, however I am happy that your ways do not change because of some idiots with an easy trigger (sorry for my English)
@@andreanecchi5930 Fire safety exercises , to get the kids as quick out of school on an ordered way as possible. Having kids to learn what to do if there is an idiot with a gun is in my opinion totally ridiculous. It's not a war zone. But as long as guns are not banned inside the US, they need to do it.
The "kinderbijslag" is actually one of the lower ones in Europe. In Germany for instance the amount is about the same monthly as in The Netherlands quarterly.
On the other hand there are subsidies for activities to keep the own contribution low, like sport clubs, music school, hobby and more. This lowers the barrier for joining a club or activity, no matter what the income of the parents is. This also makes sure the kids benefit and not the parents.
Schools ending at noon on wednesdays isn't a thing here in Germany, at least not anywhere that I know of. But, Realschule in many federal states ends at 1pm every day anyway.
When I was a child I had wednesday afternoons off and every fortnight the afternoon on fridays. I'm talking about what we call here 'basisschool' (ages 4-12). I found that to be a nice balance for school life. The idea that children cannot go out and play on their own seems awful to me. It's good for their development as it teaches them to become more independant. It is quite disturbing to me that parents can get into legal trouble for allowing their children to go out and play on their own. I reckon this is more of a big city thing and not everywhere in the US? E.g. I would expect children to have more freedom in rural parts with small towns.
First logical statement I've seen. You are correct. Small towns have less predatory concerns and everybody knows everybody. Also, these crimes against minors are frankly more talked about now. Actually acknowledged by media and school systems now. It seems to be safer there but certain crimes are higher per capita in The Netherlands just not against children. In the rural villages of Alaska I was surprised to seen that young children were walking to the store by themselves and playing by the Yukon river without fear of abduction or worse. In metropolis cities like here in Anchorage a little 4 year old girl was brought back home to her apartment by the police last week. She was playing outside with her big brother (10years) who ran inside for a minute and she had walked across three laned street to the local homeless shelter. They didn't take her away or charge her mother with neglect. The brother felt awful. In truth they were lucky though. There are bad people everywhere. I am curious if something 'were' to happen to a child there and there IS crime against children in The Netherlands. Are your hands tied? How do you protect your families? I have read that in 2019 a projection of 1/2 of the females and 1/5 of the males under age 18 may have been victimized without recourse. **I believe it is safer there in The Netherlands than Here in SOME states** But without any statistics reported about the number of children that HAVE gone missing from towns in The Netherlands how can we accurately compare crimes per capita? Desperately would love to know where to look. And would love some actual feed back from anyone.
I agree with everything you said, personally myself? I am against abortion but I’m like you I would not judge somebody else for having it done. And I don’t hate America at all, but I think that once your politicians actually back their words? That’s when they need to be in office. I am Dutch, obviously by my user name. And I’m very proud of it but I would never disrespect anyone else for who they are or anything. Thank you for this video Jovie. You are awesome! I watched it on my other page.
Playing outside is not completely "unsupervised" those playparks are often surrounded by houses. (i have no kids, but i live directly across such a playpark) The parks are often not that big so in one glance you can see what's going on. Every adult living near such a playpark will peek once in a while if everything is going alright (probably uncounchesly because vision follows movment.) If i hear something out of the ordinary you betya i will look what's going on, i will be outside in a hartbeat if needed if i was at home, while none of those kids are mine. It's a common trust that kids will be helped even by "just" a neigbour you only say hi to once in a while if they are aware of it first. The kids know that they are watched, but because they don't know who is whatching they will behave in a sociallly accepted manner because you never know who is going to tell your parents if you do something you shouldnt. (like vadalism) As long there are no accidents the neigbours won't meddle and leave the kids to their own buisness.
As an American who has grown up in the south east and moved to the west coast. I want to give more context on kids playing outside alone. Both in the south ( Georgia, South Carolina, and florida) and in the west coast California area kids play outside by themselves. If you’re in the suburbs, a park may be a car drive away. Kids play in the neighborhoods here by themselves unsupervised. They go from one friends house to another playing in yards and inside ( pre covid). If there is a park in their neighborhood you would see many kids there! Older siblings watch younger siblings. The US is a massive country ( Netherlands is approximately 41,543 sq km, while United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, making United States 23,571% larger than Netherlands). So safety/crime and layout of cities having accessible parks not over busy streets is going to vary greatly. 3-5 year olds would not be seen in a park a cars drive away in the suburbs alone. Context is key! You would see a 3-5 year old group of kids in someone’s yard and the moms on a porch talking. I live in an urban area and I have a 3 and 6 year old. They play in our yard and friends yards all the time, but we don’t leave them outside because we have a lot of foot traffic in our neighborhood who are not our neighbors. It can be very unpredictable who will come walking by at any time. However once they are a little older it would be fine.
As a Dutchmen following you for some time in an effort to learn how a non Dutchman sees Dutch behavior and what i can learn of it i realize you become more Dutch in your way of thinking than you perhaps realizing
One point of discussion on abortion in the Netherlands recently, was getting rid of the compulsory (and patronizing) 5-days thinking time you are subjected to if you require an abortion. This was, many years ago, a concession done to Christian parties to make it more palatable for their voters and most people think is not anymore something for his era. As someone else commented below, thanks to Sex-ed in schools in the NL unwanted teen pregnancies are rare and by no mean a social problem
Jovie, as a Canadian, and you probably know, what I'm going to say, but I've heard all this weird stuff from the US all my life. My childhood, on a farming community, albeit, was never supervised, and I always heard-couldn't not hear- about America this and America that. When I was older, there started to show weird differences with my American relatives. I found out I, and my country were commies, and baby haters, and tree huggers and were given our freedom from the US a thousand years ago, well Trump said that two years ago ( WTF?,eh?). My point is that my daughter grew up, here, similar to your children=unsupervised and safe, with confidence and warmth. Every country has faults, but, as you know a bit about Canada, we're living beside a country that needs bulletproof backpacks and emergency shooter drills. (Also, we never did an allegiance to the flag pledge in school. A friend of mine once compared that to the Nazi Youth. It may explain how some ant-science, Pro-life and Q-anon types came about.) Your channel keeps from getting smug with some of your criticisms-and Canada, I, need that. Of course I did grow up in a Dutch farming community of the West Coast, so I'm probably biased. Cheers, near Vancouver.
The fact that many people from the US are afraid of being seen as "not patriotic" for giving criticism, kinda says it all about why it's so difficult to fix some structural problems there.
Being able to see a problem and address it instead of just shouting "We are number one!" is true patriotism. A good patriot should want what's best for their country, improve it and make it a better place to be. This cannot be done if you're unable to utter critique.
This is what I see in Jovie, she's absolutely someone who wants the best for the US and US Americans. This makes her a better patriot than all those idiots who attack her for saying the US isn't perfect.
America is 21st century Rome in decline. Today in US, the more stupid you are, the more patriotic you're seen. Check out "John Stossel Stupid in America",. That will give you an idea how stupid we are.
We now are seeing "forced patriotism" rearing it's ugly head. In Iowa there is a proposal that would force teachers to stand for the "Pledge of Alligance" and they could be fired for saying anything critical of the United States...
And lets not even start on the book-banning proposals!
@@timnewman1172 Wow, that's some north-Korean level shit
@@gammaraider , they are completely nuts... we effectively have one-party rule in this state. They have even gone as far as kicking the press off the Senate floor, a tradition that goes back 140 years!
The abortion topic in the US is strange. On the one hand, they say children aren't equipped yet to make the decision to have an abortion. On the other hand, that same kid does have the capacity to raise a child?
Also, most of the anti abortion states are republican states. Republicans are against government involvement in their lives. Yet, they are ok with the government deciding on what women can do with their bodies.....
@@ellen3131 It is where schools still teach creation instead of evolution. Where pregnancies are the result of God, not of rape. Where the mayor opens the council meeting with an evangelical preach, and all have to respect it, even if you are atheist or of another belief. Where they pretend to be christian but have the worst conditions for poor and needy.
@@dutchman7623 Yes terrible hypocrites
This is all to ensure teenage girl who got pregnant will have miserable life and will not finish school. This is driven by hate towards women to make them suffer because of unwanted pregnancy. Conservatives believe women are worse sort of human beings, who cannot decide for themselves and needs male supervision and being impregnated from time to time to ensure they will never have time to get education, job etc.
@@Erintii evangelical conservatives in the south ( my family, neighbors, community etc) certainly believe that women should be submissive to their fathers and or husbands. Which is absurd. However as a collective group evangelical conservatives do not wish women to be miserable as a pillar of their platform. Women being miserable can be a side affect though for sure.
You might have mentioned that because we start sexual education for children in the Netherlands when they are (if I'm not mistaken) five, the chances that your children will get an STD or pregnant are significantly lessened. This means that the chances of your daughter needing an abortion are also much smaller because she knows what to do to avoid pregnancy from a young age.
In America the people who are so called pro life are also the same people who don't care at all what happens to the child after it is born. They are against any help that the family will need. If I was younger, I'd be gone from the USA
Absolutely! This is what I argue with my southern evangelical in laws about constantly. They’re not pro-life, they’re pro birth.
But the pro lifers are pro guns so is this a pheasant shoot for the halfwits ? The irony is astounding. And the heartbeat rhetoric doesn't hold up either for pro lifers...my son had a beat at 3 weeks !!!!
You are absolutely correct, and they are the first ones to take away aid for mothers of dependant children...
The "pro life" folks don´t care about life. They are pro control of the women´s body. Nothing more.
They are not pro-life, they are pro-birth, after that, you're on your own.
I was growing up in Poland and I, along with other kids I’ve ever met, spent our childhood playing outside home unsupervised even for the whole day. You were expected from time to time to show up in front of your door to let your guardians know that you were safe. I feel extremely sorry for any kid who couldn’t experience this level of freedom, safety and coolness in their lives.
Me too in the Netherlands. We'd go with 2 into the woods, had to run sometimes from bullies (adventure!) but never felt our lives in danger over there, or anywhere near our home. A kidnapping of a child was national news, still is. So it's not it doesn't happen, but it's so rare that most children grow up in safety. That is a huge win to mental health too.
I live in Italy, since I was at least 10 years old, I was away from home until 11pm, nothing ever happened, we played hide and seek for the whole neighborhood 😂, Sorry for my English
I heard that in the USA you are not even allowed to let your kids go to school on their own and you also have to pick up them. So there are always long long queues in front of the schools in the morning and in the afternoon.
Yep similiar here in germany, after school come home for lunch than homework and then .... come in when street lanterns switch on
A bunch of kids running around and periodically screaming "Moooooom, throw me the ball/drink/a bit of money", and various moms throwing said item out of the window or balcony (Poland, every Neighbourhood in the 90's).
My son was 3 year old in day care in MI and they had an "active shooter" drill . However, they framed it as " bear attack" where all the kids had to find a safe spot to hide from bears... Long story short we left USA and glad to be living here. Now I just need to learn to speak Dutch better
What the ….????
I can’t imagine something like that for my 4 year old in Germany. The „worst“ we have is fire drills (from kindergarten through school).
Active shooter or bear attack: both sounds horrible for such small children.
@@ankavoskuilen1725 Bears don't have rapid fire assault guns.
@@gordonwallin2368 unless it is an american bear...
How do you make such a drill not traumatizing for kids? Is the advantage of minimizing the risk of the kids getting hurt by a few % worth the risk of kids getting scared of going to school?
If I remember correctly, everyone in the EU has health insurance. This is one of our values that we share. Solidarity is the background for health insurance.
Saying hat you are "a patriot" is something that a European would never say. It sounds absurd, uneccessary and just plain weird.
Indeed, why must you be a patriot? I am Dutch but feel more like a europe- or even world- citizin.
Also dear Americans understand that we educate children very well about sex. They don't want sex because they hear about it. This is nonsense. We tell them how to protect themselves and only have it when they feel ready. As a result teenage pregnancies are way less than in the USA, and the average age of first sex actually is higher.
True especially the part that No is also a perfectly fine answer and should be respected gives me a good feeling.
Yes the you want it because you heard about it is a total myth. I had "the talk" about sexual education, periods, puberty, etc when I was 11 and I was like: "people actually DO that?! For FUN?!?! man... There's no end to the weirdness of adults."
@@arturobianco848 Thats only working when both accept a no.
@@dianespix Thats why its good to teach boys and girls that no is perfectly good answer and must be respected. I still remember the crap we heard that no doesn't always means no when i was young.
It doesn't stop a real predetor but at least it stops the stupid abuse.
@@Pannenkoekenplantje The way you tell it made me lmao. Perhaps some conservatives should read your version of the warning. ;) If they really wanted to solve something, that is, rather than stay in fairy tale land.
It was a massive surprise to me when my wife and I arrived in the Netherlands. We moved from South Africa which is probably 10x worse than the USA. In South Africa, screw the care of a child, the child has no future there. There is not much hope for kids in South Africa if their parents aren't wealthy. I was never allowed to do anything on my own when I was a kid because it was always so unsafe. All our houses have high walls to keep the monsters out. I once dared to venture on my own to go say hi to my mom's one friend which stayed in the street parallel to us, but when I got back, I got the biggest hiding of my life, because my mother really thought I was taken or killed. I was gone for 15 min! That is how bad it is over there.
Currently, South Africa has an issue with a lot of kids being snatched up by human traffickers. It has become a real problem of late. They would even go to pre-schools and pretend they are a kid's parents and snatch the kid that way. Almost happened to my wife once when she was small, but luckily the teacher knew who her parents were. I have heard some real horror stories. It is a breath of fresh air to experience freedoms that I never had as a child and to know that my kids will have much more freedom than I had when I was a kid.
The only thing that shocked me (not in a bad way) over here was how Euthanasia is legal. I was also surprised to hear that there is a waiting list for Euthanasia which is a bit sad, but those people have their reasons. I am happy to know that if I have cancer that is terminal, instead of suffering, I could just end it painlessly. I was also presently surprised at how organ donorship is managed nationwide over here. There is a national donor registry which one needs to register at. If you are not registered, by default, you become an organ donor. Only when you are registered, can you opt-out or ask that someone else make the decision for you if you can't. I think that is pretty neat.
Love it here in the Netherlands and intend to make it a home. I have never felt this free before. I am Afrikaans, so I can at least understand 80% Dutch already, which is a plus.
One thing I strongly advice and that is really important here if your child plays unmonitored in parcs and neighbourhood: Please put your children on swimming lessons asap. Actually that is the main danger here. Playing unmonitored and not having any swimming diploma is actually something you should never do.
@@lienbijs1205 It depends on where you live though. The only river that was close to my hometown was 2 towns away and often shallow enough to walk through.
@@Vincrand Every place has neighbourhoods with ponds between houseblocks. Your child might go on a playdate by a friend living in such neighbourhood or neighbours do have a pond in their garden.
@@lienbijs1205 Not every in my area (multiple villages and cities) it was a rarity.
@@Vincrand Still, it's a good advice. I believe every 5 year old here starts to learn swimming. There's so much water here, not just rivers, but also ponds, lakes, canals, ditches and tranches, even an occasional swimming pool.😁 And given the amount of freedom they have to move around, there a big change they fall into water one day.
I was 6 years old, when I traveled the first time alone by train. From home to grandma, 5 stations down the line to Rotterdam. And proud as a peacock when grandma picked me up at the platform.
I did not see that mum kept an eye out in the next compartiment the first trip, but that's an other story.
Fact is it is safe for kids to grow up in the Netherlands.
At age 9 I travelled with a bus to station Eindhoven, took the train to Utrecht, switched trains to Amersfoort, there I took a bus, then walked 15 minutes of forest, to my grandparents who lived middle of the Veluwe. Scary but awesome. This was way before mobile phones.
If I remember I was 7 and I walked myself and my little brother of 4 to school. The whole 4 km every day, except the weekend. This was next to roads with somewhat more then mediocre traffic. Multiple crossovers, alongside canals, a traincrossing and through town. Nothing ever, ever happened. Of course in the beginning and randomly my mother followed us. It just shows what even a suggestion of independence can do for a child.
It's very similar in Switzerland
Bit different, but when my eldest son insisted on walking the mile to school with his friends at age 7, I spent the 1st few days stalking him to make sure he was using the zebra crossings correctly, but once I was satisfied he was safe without me, I was happy to let him go.
It never crossed my mind that he wouldn't be safe from child abusers.
When I was 13 I traveled from Hengelo to Schiphol by train. Then took the plane to Heathrow where I was supposed to be picked up by mij 14 year old friend from scouts who had spend part of his summercamp in my home the previous year. I did not find my friend at Heathrow so I traveled by public transport (train and bus) to Bridge road in Willesden, London to the house of my friend and got there before he did and their German Shepherd almost ate me. I also vividly remember the first meal I had at their house. Fire burned in my throat. They were originaly from Barbados and used to eating very spicy food .... I wasn't. When I got home after three weeks I was fluent in Cockney.
Everyone who's now amazed at the existence of bullet-proof backpacks: the USA is the only country in the world that has separate statistics for toddler-related deaths. I do not mean the death _of_ toddlers, but the death _by_ toddlers because a firearm was lying around the house unsupervised and without safety measures. Yes, people are getting shot by toddlers, accidentally, often enough to keep a separate statistic on the topic. Ponder about this fact, and let it sink in for a while.
How terrifying.
@@JoviesHome 2000 was the first year where gun related accidents (not active shooting mind you) was the nr 1 accidently killer of children in the US. Imagine that, not getting run over by cars or drowning or whatever, but guns.
About 1 full shoolbus full of children die from ACCIDENTLY shootings pr. 9 days in the US... now thats insane
@@JoviesHome na, just the USA!
I'm always amazed at how some people in the States shout how much freedom they have, but listening to you, I know more and more that there's a lot less freedom in the US than here (or, at least, it feels that way). I'm really glad that, as a child, I could play outside freely without supervision. And no shooter drills, just the occassional fire drill :p
We sure do have freedom!
We have the freedom to go into debt for simply wanting to be educated
We have the freedom to be forced to pay hundreds of dollars a month for a car that we can’t afford because public transportation doesn’t exist… Because freedom
We have the freedom to have medical debt, better put some essential oils on Little Johnny’s finger if it gets cut!
@@dariann1661 Ugh… Exactly 😣
So many here in the States value their guns over everything else...
Anywhere else ONE school shooting would've brought radical change, here mass shooting events are at least a weekly occurance.
It’s just madness but why do they put up with it. No holidays and we here in U.K. would def be able to change that law with protesting etc . A democratic right. Just as Suffragettes did.
@@phoenix-xu9xj I don’t really know how we put up with it…. Personally I’m really stressed about all the problems here in the US and it just feels too BIG to ever make a change. I think our government is extremely corrupt and most of us don’t know where to even start…
To the issue of abortion you might add that your daughter will have free access to birth control until the age of 18 and from the age of, I think, 14 she will have it as a private matter between her and her doctor. In other words: she can go and see your family doctor without even telling you and the doctor isn’t allowed to inform you, much less ask for your consent. The result is a teenage pregnancy rate that is an order of magnitude (at least) lower than that in the US. Consequently, there is also a much lower need for abortions.
And free and open education. Tell kids at an early age where babies come from. The older they get the more details they will ask. What to do and not to do, how to prevent a pregnancy, and transmittable uncomforts, etc. That love isn't giving in to sex, and that a kid can talk with its parents about anything, and always. And that teachers, doctors and relatives can be there for advice or help.
There Was a small portion of time in the United States and particularly Arizona where minors could do this exact same thing it was about 1986 and I don’t really understand why it changed.
@@goodsmile5170 Probable the farma industry not making enough money in combination with the false Prudence of amercans.Not saying that in a lot occaisions that prudence is false but when it comes to actual sex it is.
Same in the UK. Birth control is always ‘free’ ( for adults too) and the doctor will not inform the parent or guardian although they will encourage the girl to have that conversation. If there are safeguarding issues ( for example, if the doctor has reason to believe the sexual partner is much older or abusive) I think there are certain protocols that have to be followed so that a social worker or in extreme cases the police will be informed-with the girl’s knowledge.
Why don't they provide birth control for free after the age of 18? That doesn't make any sense. At least with the Affordable Care Act in the USA, birth control is covered regardless of your age.
I am dutch, and i love how taxes are used for the education, the safety and the health of our children.
lol.... yet we still complain about having to pay them all the time.
We also complain about our taxes going towards asylum seekers, benefits for people who don't have a job....
"Only a person who loves to pay their taxes is truly enlightened".... (adapted from Byron Katie)
MSc some people think it’s not fair that the money they earned is used to help people who have problems they don’t understand.
They like to think that people who lost their job did that to themselves bc they are lazy, and they translate the word fugutives to ‘fortune seekers’.
I think it’s bc they want to believe that these kind of misfortunes are not real, and that these things could never ever happen to them.
There will always be a few ppl who try to misuse the system, does this mean that ppl who do need help should be punished along with them?
Bc that worked so well with the childcare allowances…
@@Peacefrogg Agree with you. Life is easier when we have the privilege of being able to deny any problems that exist. I work with fugitives daily and I see them struggle to build a life in a foreign country after having had to leave everything behind. It's really hard for most of them. The majority of the fugitives who receive benefits want to work for their income. And in the past two years we have all seen that it's easy to lose a job due to external circumstances. Our financial system is very complicated even if we grew up with it. The allowance system is hideous and should be reformed asap. That system is the biggest reason people get into debt and that's not new either. I don't know many people who've never had to pay back allowances.
@@MSchipper i know this. A statusholder i knew had no idea if and if so, how much, he was allowed to work. He was offered a job but was afraid to take it, not knowing what it was going to do to the allowance of his family. He would first have to arrange to speak with someone regarding this and ofc need an interpreter present and all that bc the rules of this country are way to complicated for us who live here, let alone for someone with no knowledge of computers, internet, telephones, driving a car or using public transport, etc who is still learning our language and our alphabet.
Most people have no idea how far apart two worlds can be. Still he is grateful for the opportunity and working hard at getting a chance to make himself useful.
I have never understood why US citizens moan about taxation when the only benefit they get from it is the biggest (and most expensive) military in the world.
We may pay slightly more in tax but have free education, free healthcare, access to welfare benefits if you become unemployed or physically disabled: imagine being terrified of calling an ambulance when you've just lost your leg or suffered a heart attack 🥴🙄😱
I often get the question from Ukrainian friends why I don't (want to) move to the States, because everything is so much better. I only respond with, I don't want my life standard to drop down that much. I am blessed living in the Netherlands - it ain't perfect, but it is definitely nice (nice enough to complain about the little stuff in life XD).
Those bulletproof backpack just blow my mind🤯 I can't even. I'm from the netherlands si all of the things you mentioned from here are completely normal to me, so it's funny to see them trough someone else's eyes..and actually see that they are not "normal" everywhere.
I'm glad it can help you appreciate what is normal!
From the get-go my mouth fell open as soon as you said: "Bulletproof Backpacks". That's just, just... Lack of proper wording there.
I still cannot wrap my mind around it.. ☹️😭
That's a government not caring
The sense of freedom, safety and security can, in my case, best be illustrated with my son's realization that after having stayed with me for a month, that he had not once heard any police (or 1st responder) sirens, whereas where he grew up (which wasn't a particularly raucous or dangerous neighbourhood) he would have heard those several times on at least a daily basis. Upon my explanation that sirens have a different sound here in NL and that they are only used when really needed, he remarked that lacking the melodrama of wailing sirens, made him feel more at ease and safer.
Well i live next to police department, firestation and ambulance station so if he ever feels homesick he can stay here for a week he probably will here one once or twice. Unfortunatly the don't seem to need it more then that 😉.
Interesting! I wouldn't have thought of that but agree the sirens are rattling.
Tbf, here in Europe you can have that effect by just moving into a big city. I grew up (and still live) in a small town near the Alps. If you hear sirens here you know something big is up. One week of staying in Berlin and I didn't even pay attention to the sirens anymore because they could be heard so frequently.
@@arturobianco848 I live near a major police station for 30 years and haven't heard a police siren near hom in all that time. I did hear ambulances though.
Portugal BTW.
Well, there are two nursing homes on our street and there is a main road through our small town nearby (in DE), so you often hear ambulance sirens. One of our children lived for 3 years on a street that leads to the hospital, yes sirens were heard several times a day. Police sirens can be heard much less often. I can only consciously remember 5 or 6 police operations in the last 5 years or so, because afterwards there were also small reports in the newspaper.
Depending on the area (district) in a big city (there are no nearby hospitals, fire brigade or police stations, many restaurants / clubs, larger train stations, etc.) one can hear the corresponding sirens just as rarely as in the "village".
We moved to the Netherlands earlier this year and I've never felt this level of safety for myself and my child. I wish housing wasn't so impacted because if we don't find a new flat soon we will have to go back to the US and I don't know how to go back to feeling scared for my son at school all the time. A woman in Texas pulled a gun on a 7yr old who was trick-or-treating last weekend. Nothing is safe there anymore.
There are also bulletproof zip-up hoodies now that will stop a handgun. I'd rather be here forever.
What a terrible story..... I really hope you find a home to stay
I hope you will find a nice place to stay.
If you have this (Stephen Lynch: Craig) on one of your playlists, you definitely don't belong in the US. ( i was just curious)
Housing is hard at the moment. Are you looking for a rental or to buy? If it's renting then maybe look in a different city. Also look at the company's that are called social Huurwoning or woningbouwcorporaties because they also have free market rentals too. Dare to call rental agencies ( politely) ever day! Try to make it the same time of day. You want to try to get a rental before it is advertised! Know what you are looking for, location, size, budget... These tricks have helpen friends of mine find a house fast.
A government that doesn't care resolves in actions like this. And Americans Love their guns more than actual safety. That's the sad part.
Seeing all these comments breaks my heart.. I always felt safe here, even alone on the street or at night. Maybe there where certain moments not so much but I can count those on one hand. I can't imagine feeling unsafe most of the time or having to send my kids to school with bullet proof anything 😶 I also really don't understand why people insist on keeping their gun policy the way it is but maybe that's to politicians to talk about..
On kids playing outside on their own, that was normal in the US too until sometime in the 1990s, when mass shootings began to become more common. As children in the seventies, we used to ride our bikes with no adult supervision all over our big urban suburb, climb trees, and walk everywhere with little thought of being attacked or of our parents being reported to the police for neglect. Plus, our interactions with other children weren't totally structured and scheduled by adults into "play dates" the way it's done in the US today, so, yes, we were much more independent and free, the way children before us had always been. People calling the police on parents for letting their kids play outside would have been unthinkably dystopian back then, like something from an apocalyptic novel. Aside from the mass shootings, I'm not sure it was otherwise safer than it is today, but people are definitely more fearful today and there is more meanness among Americans in general than there was even forty years ago, meaning not only might there be greater chance of people being mean to a child but also adult Americans seem to look for opportunities to cause other people distress, like by calling the US's notoriously murderous cops on parents who let their kids play outside. White Americans are also much more racist than they were back in the seventies, even toward children, but that's due to the deregulation of media in the late 1980s, giving us now thirty years of completely unregulated right-wing media stirring up baseless hatred. Unregulated right-wing media is also a big part of the reason, maybe the main reason, the US has now had frequent mass shootings for a quarter century.
Everything you describe sounds to me like a dystopia.
Fox News and the others are working to establish authoritarianism. Fear is the key.
Internet and the algoritm of most media that seems to react more on disturbing/vile news rather then on connecting/nice happenings ! Is is a war of clicks(bait) and their revenues .
Interesting insight in the changes of American society over the last decades!
I grew up in the U.S. in the 1950s and I remember having tremendous amounts of unstructured freedom. It was just normal! No helicopter parents to solve my day to day problems. Handled most issues myself as did other kids. Glad there are still places on earth where that is still true.
The one about the US and children I don't get and no-one in the US is even talking about it. Is children being tried as adults, given adult length sentences and put in adult prisons (even when on remand). Usually in solitary which is torture for an adult but actually causes brain developmental damage for children. I don't know if any other countries do this, but it is very weird.
It is not only weird, it is cruel!
I agree, what is the point of child sentences if the judge just can decide he is being tried as an adult
@@robox91 judge doesn't have a say whether the child is tried as an adult or not, It is entirely the decision of the prosecutor.
@@Fiddling_while_Rome_burns ok
Here in Austria parents also get "Kinderbeihilfe" a payment every two months i believe, to help paying for school supplies or clothing, they get that until you're 18, or until you finished school, in my case until I was 20, my friend got it until she was 25 that's the maximum age.
When my father died my mother got an additional payment of around 300,- per month for me
Thank you for your video. Your mention of the bulletproof bacpacks reminded me of something I read a while ago. A mother would not let her son wear shoes with lights because he will be an easy target when there is a schoolshooting. It broke my heart to read it.
It really is so sad.
american paranoia must come from something, America!
As a Brit. It shocked me to learn just how little independence and freedom American kids have compared to European kids. And consequently, how immature and less capable American kids are compared to European kids. Unlike European kids who are increasingly given way more independence and free will choice as they get older. American kids from Kindergarten till they finish High School at age 18. Permanently have their day to day life highly regimented and regulated for them under much heavier supervision.
While I agree American kids do not have as much safety, and kidnappings, predators, people with ill intentions are certainly a massive problem. I think it’s a mistake to make such a massive blanket statement about the entirety of American kids ability to do things alone. The states are huge. It’s hard to explain how massive the country is to people outside of it. Each city and region vary so much from one another. We get culture shock traveling within our own country sometimes.
Many kids still grow up in towns that are quiet and safe to play outdoors by themselves. Elementary age kids play in neighborhoods and parks by themselves. Middle school aged children go to events and hang out without supervision. High schoolers have incredible independence and take themselves to school in their own cars and then go where they want after school including jobs. Safety is where it varies for kids here.
@@MA-zg2pz Sorry, but I stand by what I say. In most European countries, kids take themselves to school from age 6. By walking, cycling and public transportation. (Europe doesn't have dedicated school buses like America does). It's also normal at that age. For them to also make their own way from their home to their local play areas and back by themselves. By age 8 my friends and I were walking and cycling up to 3 miles away from home. This is normal in Europe. But in America, it would be considered child neglect.
By the time European kids reach middle school ages. They increasingly manage most aspects of their life with extremely little supervision. And are increasingly given way more personal responsibility.
From age 11 it's perfectly normal for European kids to regularly venture many miles away from home for the entire day without supervision. Again by cycling and public transportation. At age 12 my friends and I began regularly travelling by bus and train into 2 different cities. Each 30 miles away from home. Spending the whole day unsupervised in either city from 10am - 8pm. Such practice is perfectly normal and common in Europe. But rare in America.
Much of this is also due to major differences in infrastructure. Most of America's infrastructure is extremely car orientated with very poor public transportation. Europe's infrastructure is way more pedestrian and kid friendly. Europe's got an abundance of very safe pedestrian and bicycle only infrastructure. Abundant, safe and efficient public transportation. And much safer highways. Consequently, it's so much easier and safer for European kids to quickly cover much larger distances by themselves on foot or bicycle.
European kids are also exposed to alcohol at much younger ages. In most European countries It's legal and acceptable for kids to drink alcohol with adult supervision both at home and in public places from as young as age 7. That just doesn't happen in the USA. That difference really shows in American college students. They partake in silly frat party drinking antics. Which to European 18-year-olds look laughingly immature. Because Europeans undertake those silly drinking antics much younger between ages 14-16, if at all.
European kids are also given way more personal responsibility in Education. From age 13, European education becomes increasingly less rigid, directed and supervised than American education. European, kids are expected to self direct much of their studying. And undertake much more unsupervised self-learning and discovery. Day to day. It's mostly their own choice and responsibility, what they study, when they study, and for how long they study. They largely don't follow a strict and precise timetable of classes.
Such that in some European countries from around age 15 - 16. They're also not required to be permanently on the school campus for the entire school day. They're only required to physically attend campus for their scheduled classes. In my final school year aged 17-18. Fridays were great for me. As I luckily only had classes between 10am -12:30pm. So on Fridays, I usually attended school for just those 2.5 hours. And then spent the rest of the afternoon studying or resting at home.
European kids are also required to personally choose (with guidance from their teachers) a specific field of in-depth study at around age 12-14. For example, if a European kid wishes to become a doctor. He or she must largely make that decision by ages 12-14. Because having made that choice. From age 14 - until they graduate university. Their education will primarily focus on the specialist, in-depth and intensive science-based study required to be a doctor. USA students aren't required to make a major decision on what specific subjects they will specialise in and study in-depth until their final years of college.
@@andywilliams7323 I am a Brit (specifically Scottish) and I do get where you're coming from, especially the public transportation stuff. But the thing is that European public transportation only really works as efficiently as it does because of the MUCH smaller distances between, well, everything, than in the US. Here in Scotland unless you're in the Highlands you can barely travel five to ten miles without hitting another town or village whereas in the US the nearest town or village to yours might be fifty to a hundred miles. Everything's just much more compact here in Europe than in the US which is why we can get away with such expansive public transportation systems. I still think the Americans could stand to have much stricter regulations on their cars and driving but I've ranted about that in the comments of a few other videos so I wont boher here.
@@scottguffie7759 "in the US the nearest town or village to yours might be fifty to a hundred miles."
Yes, that's true in places like Montana and Wyoming. But, most Americans live in urban areas. Over 80% of the population lives in less than 5% of the land area of the US. In the urban US, the population density is higher than the population density in the Netherlands. I'm an American and I know the urban US could have public transportation equivalent to Europe. We won't spend the money.
@@andywilliams7323 To be honest, the system where kids are tested in primary school on their "intelligence" is horrible. Having to make a decision about your future at 15 or 16 years old is just as bad. It suks, leads to education inequality, because it favours the families that can pay for extra tuition. Watch the documentary "Klassen" and you might understand what I mean.
As a German, I can absolutely understand your lack of understanding for the „pro-life but not pro-living“ thinking some people in the USA show. Thank you very much for this description, it’s perfect!
I also can’t imagine raising my child in the USA - for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned.
In my perception (as a Dutch), life for children in Germany is quite similar to Dutch kids, looking a what Jovie mentioned in her video. Am I right, or are there differences? Just curious.....
@@anneliesS04 it’s very similar. Some things depend one (the part of) the town or city you live in.
I now live on the outskirts of Köln/Cologne and here kindergarten children of five or six are allowed to go a few hundred meters alone (without big streets) to get to and back home from the playground or to visit friends. But in the more city-like parts it’s a little different, but school children are usually allowed to go or drive to school alone or in groups after a month or two.
Yes, it really sounds similar. Same here. Thank you for the quick response!
@@anneliesS04 my pleasure, my memories of childhood in the Netherlands (well summers in the Netherlands) are more than 25 years old, so I didn’t dare compare it to today. 😉
my daughter is the only grand kid of my in-laws outside the USA, she is the oldest and never had a shooting drill etc.
her younger cousins had a few drills and 1 real one.... so figure who is visiting who, kid the grandparents or grandparents the kid?
I've spent my whole childhood outside here in the Netherlands. Always playing outside with other kids, playing soccer and so on. My kids always play outside. In front of my house there are alot of those play fields for them to play as much as they want.
I’ve been watching your videos for a while and appreciate the way you express your views. I live in the US and am studying into places I’d like to move. I’ve been stuck on the Netherlands for weeks now, and you are VERY good at convincing me to leave 😂 as the USA continuously falls backwards I’m more and more eager to leave. It seems to only be getting worse, or at least, standing in place. Europe seems to have a better grasp at achieving quality of life.
Ik weet dat je het Nederlands aardig beheerst dus ik doe dit even in mijn eigen taal. Ik heb twee dochters, nu 21 en 23 jaar en ik ben ook heel blij met de wetenschap dat abortus wordt gedekt door de verzekering. Niet dat het nodig is, ze zijn best voorzichtig, maar stel dat het gebeurt......geen gezeur, geen gedoe. Een geruststellende gedachte :-)
Het hoeft niet eens een ongewenste zwangerschap te zijn. Maar als er bijv iets ernstig mis is met kind of moeder kan een abortus ook nodig zijn. Maar idd fijn dat het kan hier zonder al te veel poespas (moeder van dochters)
Very well said. It’s important to provide information of what’s happening in other parts of the world. Education can bring about change.
In the states in the last ten years there were only 350 cases of minors being abducted by strangers on a population of 300 mill. So it sounds like the perception of danger is much greater than the actual risk.
I agree but I'm afraid most Americans will say that that number is so low BECAUSE they supervise their children the whole time.....
When my American niece by marriage came to stay with us in rural Essex sh heard a bird scarier go off and said that she didn’t expect to hear gun fire here. She had no idea what a bird scared was but she is from New York!
Auto correct has changed scarer.
Nice to see you comparising Dutch and American children, enjoyed your info!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Here in Portugal, students have at least one morning and one afternoon, changing the day between the different classes, without school
Hi Jovie. Like the points you list. I have followed your channel for almost 2 years and it's been a valuable source to me and my family now living in the Netherlands (11 months now). As we come from South Africa I think crime there far outweighs anything going on in the US at the moment. We left for our 2 boys to be able to experience freedom and it has been a wild culture shock as Dutch society is super-normal (like 'doe normaal'). Anyway, here we are and you helped us along the way. Keep them coming. Victor
Hi Jovie, I agree these topics accurately show some important aspects of life in the Netherlands. I am very much aware that life in The Nederlands is far from 'perfect'. However, compared to countries such as USA, life seems more stable, organized and 'inclusive' for all. To those who say who say we are 'socialists or communists' [both are different systems all together].... "Different is not bad / worse", it's only different! First walk a mile in my / those shoes and then make up your own mind! Most importantly: freedom [here] means you have a broad range of options and opportunities available; While you have the right to make your own choices, it is expected you respect others to make their own // different choices freely!
We put strollers with babies sleeping outside restaurants in all of scandinavia. I think you do in other parts of Europe too?
As a father off too little fighting brothers at the ages 5 and 7 it is quite nice to let them out to play here in the city of Oslo Norway. The thing we are conserned about is them wearing reflex-cloathing so that cars see them in the dark and that they watch out for traffic. Other than that we don’t have any conserns.
I heard parents leave the strollers outside to have the baby get used to colder weather. Is this true? Or is it another reason?
@@ellen3131 yes and no. In some colder parts of the region that is a reason, but this is done all year around and we did it because the baby often slept better in fresh air. There are often parked a whole row off strolers outside cafe/restaurants and if someone goes out to check their baby if it is awake and se some other baby moving, they usually tell people in the restaurant that some baby is awake and all the parents rush outside at once to see if its their child.
@@andywessel Thanks for the info! :D
Nop, in the Netherlands we take the strollers inside, bad wet weather. ...and some other reasons
Born in The Netherlands, we moved to the USA when I was 9. Ah... the boredom!! After school, no kids on the streets to play with. Always having to rely on your parents to take you anywhere. So happy when we moved back and we could play on the streets until dinner time. Cycling to school and back was not so fun, but I didn't need my parents to take me to sports or to my job.
A word of warning tho. Free healthcare for kids is wonderful, but be aware that your kids are obligated to have health insurance from the day they turn 18. Either you, as parents pay it for them, or they get a job after school to pay for it themselves. Nowadays, I see a lot of young people get into financial trouble, because all of a sudden they are expected to be financially independent, without being prepared for it. (I am an income consultant for people on benefits in a small municipality).
The very fact that you felt the need to justify yourself in the beginning shows how much more "hypersensitive" Americans are, compared to Europeans. That's a pretty good indicator of how people have been pampered and overprotected in their childhood.
Whenever I hear about "safe spaces" required by some students in college, to shield them from "hate speech" or "oppression", it always reminds me of a Lebanese comedian who said "Imagine kids asking for safe spaces here... listen, we are in the Middle East, there are NO safe spaces here, for anybody!"
The US used to have some of these freedoms (kids playing outside with friends all day), back in the 1950's. It is so refreshing that it still exists in many places. I had it as a child growing up in Czechoslovakia. We did have bombing drills though, and got to practice using gas masks, good times...
We lived in a rural area in the states and did let the kids play in the countryside around our house, but they didn't really go far. A lot of my kids' friends' parents were always shocked at how much freedom we gave our girls to explore, make mistakes, etc. We were often judged negatively for it.
I find the UK (which is where we are now) is still way more permissive with kids' freedoms than the US. Readily available public transport helps with this a lot. My daughter frequently enjoys trips to a nearby city with her friends using the Metro system.
I'm shocked hearing about the differences. I mean bulletproof backpacks and special training. That's crazy! Not being able to play outside without a parent is understandable when they are very little but that it's not allowed for a 6 or 7 year old. I went to the playground at the end of our street when I was 4 or 5. Walked to school and back from that age with a friend as well just like most of the other classmates. If me and my friend where late our moms knew we couldn't resist going to the toystore around the corner on our way home to check new toys. When I moved I cycled to school for 10 minutes when I was 8.
Wow! What an amazing mom you are. I can only agree with all your points.
Kids need to be kids, no extra outside BS.
I grew up this way, and my mom had precisely the same parenting skills as you.
(God bless her. She was a single mother)
On the flip side, there are a couple of things your kids will miss in the Netherlands or Europe for that matter which you did get to enjoy in the USA.
1. Extracurricular activities provided by the school. Think of the school band, glee club, the football or basketball team, the cheerleading squad, etc.
2. The high school prom or becoming valedictorian
3. Getting a license at 16 and usually paired with a car as a gift purchased by the parents.
4. The amazing college life on campus.
5. The suburban life. Large homes, pool parties, summer bbq's, weekend getaways
As a kid, you can really have an amazing life in the USA as long as you are on the right side of the fence.
Those happen in Europe and the UK as well. School activities are common as are proms, driving licence is at age 17 in UK. University campus life is just as exciting but without the school shootings, same with suburban life, people still have parties, BBqs, city breaks etc. but with more foreign travel than the average US citizen
@@richardperks7366 The difference though is the school infrastructure in the US. Schools are usually equipped with a full-fledged auditorium, an athletic track, a football field with grandstands, an indoor gym and some schools even have an indoor Olympic size swimming pool. Plus sporting events on state-level between high schools are just phenomenal.
As for school shootings, I haven't experienced that, to be honest. It happens but if you look at the number of schools versus the number of school shootings, the chances that your child could be a victim is quite slim.
@@halapunjete Nice that the U.S. school system offers those facilities (sports fields, theater, etc.). In most European countries these things are embedded in the general municipal facilities: schools simply use these.
@L M UK schools have them as well, but they don't have the spectator facilities as these are school sports. Spectator sports use proper municipal facilities
I am for Univeral Health care，paid leave， soforth like in Europe. US so difficult to find pay leave. I hope in the future I can raise my kids in Europe so they can feel safe and can get better worklife balance. In the US. My brother gotting 2 weeks unpaid leave and he wish he had more. In my opinion not enough time for anybody with newborn.
We are so behind here in the U S., how anyone can rationally think we are the "greatest country in the world" is insane!
In my youth we could play outside on our own until the street lanterns went on.
For the bullet proof backpacks, in the other video i didn’t believed at all that they really existed, so i checked and can confirm they are real 😅
Well done, Willy.
They are real but useless. If an active shooter enters a school the backpacks are hanging on the wall.
@@rubynelson1164 yes they are useless because you can defend yourself with the heavy textbooks that do a lot more damage than any gun, but still not as much damage as trying to read them, let alone study
@@rubynelson1164 On the other hand, if the kids get into a mall shooting situation, rather than a school shooting one, they might be of some use...
I’m an American who lives half the year in Mexico; and while I don’t have children I can’t help but feel that American children being constantly being supervised is in fact harmful? Under such a situation the kids don’t learn how to solve problems and the like.
My fellow ‘Muricans should also realize that we are in competition with the rest of the world and we’re falling behind in a lot of areas. Our car companies in the 70’s and 80’s believed that flag-waving and rah-rah nonsense could be a substitute for quality vehicles. They were wrong, and we will suffer if we don’t start to compete
The rise of rabid "nationalism" here in the States is the most concerning, both the rhetoric as well as proposed laws are scary!
I remember active shooter drills my high school after Columbine. Thankfully, never experienced if they were effective and it's sad to think how worrying about a shooting was in the back of my mind as I went throughout the school day. It's bizzare and scary that these drills occur like it's normal to this day at schools across the United States- and gun laws still aren't changed. But companies have bullet proof backpacks...
Planning on leaving the US so my kids don't have to grow up this way (and many other American ways)
Het hangt af hoe lang je in Nederland bent, maar Amerika van tegenwoordig is niet dezelfde als het vroeger was. Ik ben blij dat mijn kinderen zijn wel in Nederland opgegroeid zijn. And yes I am American.
Jovie, I discovered you just recently and I am so glad! I too am an American woman living outside of the US - it’s been over 30 years now. (I’m currently 73.) I lived for ten years in Northern Germany and then moved to Sweden when I married my Swedish husband. While I was never blessed with children of my own, they have been a constant part of my life. In the past six years I have, quite seriously, offered “asylum” to my American Godson and his family EXACTLY on the grounds you are discussing in this video. An invitation which they, in the midst of building successful careers and surrounded by close family and friends, have not even considered accepting. I understand completely. But when you love someone, you yearn to keep them safe!
I'm glad I opted to be child-free, here in the Un-tied States--though at least I live in the advanced state of New York. I hear you and I hope you understand how mournful most of us are here. Go, EU.
I’m French and lived 7 years in the US. My wife and I decided to move back to France when our daughter turned 3 (so 2 years ago). The idea of dropping her off at school with a bullet proof back-back, and her going through active shooter drills etc. was just unbearable. I agree with everything you said except for leaving young kids okay by themselves in the park. Sure Europe feels pretty safe but there are still creeps everywhere. You never know.
Ow, you beautiful brave woman🏋️♂️. Thank you for speaking your mind and being an advocate for freedom to make own life choices. Love you🤗
Thank you so much!
I think you forget to mention Dutch children not having to deal with the stress of homework till they are are visiting highschool and when they do get some the end of elementry school it is to get them used to highschool routine.
How is it done regarding tests? Here in Germany, we start having tests in school in 3rd grade.
@@leDespicable Getting tested is something different from having to do homework at a far too young age.
@@maartjewaterman1193 Depends on how the tests are done, but I agree
The more I watch your videos, the more I love hearing everything you have to say. I'm visually impaired and it's really difficult for me to function here in the States (Oklahoma) and I am looking into what I need to do to move to the Netherlands.
not being sick and become a burden to the health system....and i am sure your 10% Dutchness will not help!
I didn't know that kids in the US had to have bullet proof backpacks and drills for possible shootings....that's insane!!
Also free healthcare, child support money and access to unsupervised play is what i love about Europe....I don't have kids myself by I remember my parents in the UK receiving payments for me and my sister and having the NHS on call for healthcare for free was good....its shocking that there is a stark difference between US and EU....its just nuts
55 (and even more) years ago we already had wednesday afternoons off: no school.
We went to play at our grandparents and had dinner there too. (In those days it was not really dinner but bread etc.) We loved it!
This was a great video. We have 7 year old twins, and live in rural Vermont. It’s a little bit more balanced (no bullet proof back packs and they can play safely outside on their own because of our property) BUT there’s a lot of crap still going on, even here in the smaller communities. Active shooter drills, poor conflict resolution skills, general education issues, drug problems, poverty, lack of access to affordable healthcare (I’ve been dreading the braces the dentist said my son might need in a few years) and the list goes on. But, we’re actually looking to move to Italy in the near future, so until then… we’ll try to see the good things we do have. Btw, we have started to get child tax credit in advance, so the monthly assistance is helpful. Not sure what it’ll mean come tax time!
My little brother walked to school alone at age 4 here in the Netherlands. My mother followed him (unseen by my brother) the first time.
My older brother and me also did that when he was 5 and I was 4, but we were together.
Come to think of it: my mother probably followed us as well.
I'm so glad you were able to make it here, thank you for sharing your thoughts and stories. What a sad and scary situation over there in South Africa.
It feels like America does not want to change..I look around the world and see that healthcare can be so much better in the US..And they just don't want to do it..I do not understand..Because it would be so much more lucrative if healthcare is better then it is now. You can see that all around the world..I am just so surprised when i see a waiter in his/her 70's serving me dinner when i am there..It is weird to have to give your kids a bulletproof backpack and say no no guns must be available at all times..It is our right blah blah blah..I do not understand it..And really i am not an American but it makes me sad. The amount of homeless people in the USA is just so sad to see when the country is pretty wealthy..Something is so off and wrong and it is just so frustrating..*sigh*
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the US has been getting worse and worse. It's a direct correlation.
Most Americans have never been to another country, so they have no idea how it COULD be. They are raised to believe America is the best. Trying to tell them about a different way to arrange healthcare and education and they start ranting about socialism and communism. They really don't want to change. In the meantime, the country is moving backwards in time with how it is run, but they don't see it.
@@ellen3131 Don't get me wrong i love going to America for a couple of weeks. Love the beautiful landscape/nature and the hospitality, love the space you have there. But i am so glad i live in Europe. And because i love to spend my holidays in America it hurts me a little that they do not want to change for the greater good..It really does..Now i know Americans can't really deal with criticism, but sometimes you need to hear it, to change.
From the UK. Many years ago it was normal to leave prams outside shops. One day my mother came out the shop and my pram was empty. After a short panic she saw me making a break for it crawling along the pavement.
I went to year around school, in Reno Nevada in the late 70s. I liked it because when I was on break people use to say, "Shouldn't you be in school?"
Allowing kids to be more independent is maybe why we have the happiest children in the World?
Hi Jovie, I just found your channel today and I must congradulate you on your very smart move to The Netherlands, I can see why and how it makes you and your family happy. Your explanations about things in the USA make it even more clear to me how special The Netherlands is. Im born and raised in Rotterdam. so for me everything seems normal but the more I learn about the USA the more it worries me.I really enjoy your videos and I get to see my country trough diffrent eyes. Keep practicing the Dutch directness cause its really liberating to you, as a woman and a mother. Im happy for you, have a great and safe time. Love from Laura
Growing up in the US in the 70s, I was outside with my friends from sun up to sun down. We knew when to be back for meals. I walked to elementary school both ways and let myself into the house until my mom returned from work 1.5 hours later. I often had things to do to prep for dinner and felt grown up by washing and cutting the vegetables or starting a load of laundry. It was a wonderful childhood! My kids experience it here in Germany. I’m very thankful for this.
So I agree with your points. I live US we have to be more aware. Alot of divide in the country. My parent paid quite bit of money for my dental care. Since was not fully cover my insurance like in Netherland. Now school are putting in monitor for extra protection and clear packbacks. I see children being to supervise beccause safety. Boy recently in FL was riding his bike and go shot. Been so many shooting incident in the US. There was recent shooting at school in MI.
It’s a good thing that abortion is available and covered by health insurance, but anti-conception used to be free in the past so abortion would not be necessary. They changed that now. I am not against abortion, but it would be easier if it wasn’t necessary.
for girls up to 21 anti conception is still covered in the basic health insurance.
the abortion number in the Netherlands is very low, lower than the usa. That has to do of sexual education at home but also on school, no shaming and more or less cheap anti conception
Anti-conception is still covered by the basic insurance untill you are 21, for females. From 21 onwards you have to pay for it.
@@Ingescreativeworld thanks for that correction.
@@eugenieC50 anti-abortion sentiments are up under teens recently, because they actively being targeted by pro-live organisations. Some are even invited into schools to give guest lectures.
The talk that health is not free here because it is paid in taxes is the stupidest excuse I see in Americans to defend the "wonderful" health care system they have. When in the US is One of the countrys where people pay more taxes per capita for the health system and then still have to pay and then you still have to pay insurance and fees.
Way to go Jovie seems you've been 'ingeburgerd' very well!!
Thank you, that's nice to hear!
2:50 In '77 primary-school children were taken, hostage. I was about the same age and see this on the news. I was afraid, very afraid it would happen to our school. How frightening it must be for kids that age to undergo a drill, what makes it even more realistic.
I can’t thank you enough for this video. I visited with Netherlands for 11 days and did not want to leave. I was solo and felt safe and happy like I have never felt before. I want to move to the Netherlands and I am working on figuring out how. I agree with everything you mentioned. I have 3 teenagers and the US isn’t safe for POC I have to get us out. Thank You for your transparency
You're very welcome, there's a lot of American expat video's on RUclips with tons of info how to start your life in the Netherlands. Every kid deserves a safe environment to grow up.
"Pro-life but not pro-living". Thanks for this, Jovie. It's one I've never understood, either.
Video suggestion: What do people in the Netherlands do as leisure pursuits and what do they do as community service/charity work?
I think there's such a wide variety in what Dutch people do, both as leisure pursuits or community/charity work, that it's impossible or nearly impossible to make a video about it
Charity is not so big in Ned as it is in the US. simply because it is not needed as much. People's needs are taken car of.
@@brian5154 Charity (charity work) is a big thing in the Netherlands.
In the UK we have a weekly payment (maybe paid out every 2 weeks now) for every child. It is called Child Benefit which is given to the parent (usually the Mother is the named beneficiary) for them to spend as they wish.
Interesting video that you have shown, Jovie. I always need words of encouragement and support for my life and times. Thanks for sharing this. Quite impressive. Yours truly Ed Parkhurst.
So, a word of support from the Netherlands. Have a good day!
🌷🌷🌷🌼🌼🌼🌷🌷🌷
Thank you for your support too!
Wow! In america the kids have the "freedom" to wear bulletproof backpacks... Ffs america get you shit together and realise that someting is very wrong with your society when kids have to wear a bulletproof backpack. And when you have to start a video declaring that you are a patriot when pointing out actual problems in your country. It sounds a lot like North Korea. Dont you dare speak critically about our dear leader or the "best country in the world".
I have watched a number of your videos off and on, and can not imagine how you haven't been flamed by Trumpists for some of your comments. 1) As a retired teacher here in Washington State, it was not uncommon to have lock down drills and to go through active shooter trainings. It's simply insane. 2) My wife and I often look back at our childhoods growing up in the 50''s and 60's and marvel at the freedom we had in those days. We'd leave the house in the morning, maybe come home for lunch, and then be gone again until dinner. Anyway, Enjoy hearing your take on things. One question: Do you plan on restarting your series of visiting different sections of the Netherlands? I really enjoy those.
Hi Jovie
About the schooltijden. Die staan niet echt vast maar kinderen moeten een bepaald aantal uur school hebben per jaar. Voor kinderen in de onderbouw (t/m groep 4) is dat minder. Veel scholen hebben daarom ook vrijdagmiddag vrij voor de lagere groepen. Ook zijn er veel scholen die continue rooster toepassen waarbij kinderen elke dag (ook woensdag en vrijdag) oom 14 uur uit zijn. Of op ma di do en vrij om 14:15 uit zijn. Even een google gedaan --Een kind op de basisschool moet het volgende aantal uren onderwijs krijgen: de eerste 4 schooljaren (onderbouw): minimaal 3.520 uur; de laatste 4 schooljaren (bovenbouw): 3.760 uur.--
Such great comparisons, Jovie. I wish I had raised my kids there. The picture of the babies, outside the restaurant, cracked me up and reminded me of seeing that in "Call the Midwife."
I would never do that. I would take the baby with me inside.
@@Peacefrogg I heard they do this in countries like Sweden and Finland to have the babies get used to the cold weather.
ellen3131 i get that fresh air is important, but i think of all the things that could happen, not just kidnappers, but maybe i won’t hear my baby cry, and what if a dog tips the carriage over or someone bumps into it? The walk to and from the restaurant will give the baby enough fresh air. And if the baby wakes up when i take it out, so be it. I wouldn’t even leave my dog outside, let alone my baby.
@@Peacefrogg Just a different way of living I guess. Any of those things can happen anwhere you take your baby. Take it inside and hot food can fall on it, or a glass. Or someone who's drunk trips and tips the stoller over.
ellen3131 you’re right.
And these are just a few of the reasons that I want to move to the Netherlands
In France we are supposed to have fire drills in our schools, and I know they did terrorist attack drills in schools after the attacks (ISIS and stuff). I think it's good to have training on what to do in case of an attack (especially during the terrorist period), but they shouldn't happen in the first place...
During the ISIS time, we had soldiers on patrol with guns on the streets. It was very shocking (we are not used to seeing big war guns, not all the cops have guns in France).
In France it was true finishing school Wednesday at noon. I don't know if it still is, if it varies depending on where you live. I've heard some go to school on Saturday morning in France!
But the normal time is 5pm not 4 or 3. On Monday for example it's from 8am to 5pm etc.
Yeah about the healthcare point and the values we are more sober but we don't notice some stuff. The healthcare is kinda seen as a basic right. Like you are reminding us of how lucky we are and that what seems normal isn't to everyone.
In Finland, the pandemic has really highlighted children's rights. We have our governmental children's rights expert in the news weekly, and the government has had spesific Covid Q&As with children etc. Recently, there has been a lot of emphasis on every child's right to decide about their own vaccination (and the right to leave the decision to caretakers, too, if the child so wants). I won't even go to our school system, it's so good. And yes, babies sleep outside here as well, I think it's the same for all Nordic countries. 😊
Here in the Netherlands we are not that advanced on those topics.
And babies sleeping outside we did have but not anymore. It may have stopped in the seventies, I am not quite sure.
@@ankavoskuilen1725 I remember reading an article about a daycare where the babies would take naps outside, in the Netherlands, a few years ago. So it hasn't completely stopped. Or maybe (quite likely) it had stopped, but is becoming more and more common again, since I read that it was something that came from the scandinavian countries.
when I went to school, at most they taught us how to behave in the event of a fire
Same for me. We have had several school attacks since, but it hasn't affected the policy. There has just been discussion about preventing them with accessible mental health services etc
@@tuanoini I apologize, I did not specify that I was talking about my school in Italy, however I am happy that your ways do not change because of some idiots with an easy trigger (sorry for my English)
@@andreanecchi5930 Fire safety exercises , to get the kids as quick out of school on an ordered way as possible. Having kids to learn what to do if there is an idiot with a gun is in my opinion totally ridiculous. It's not a war zone. But as long as guns are not banned inside the US, they need to do it.
The summer break difference is interesting, I had not realised that that was different before.
Pro life but not pro living. Best way to describe the USA.
The short summer break sounds horrifying. I'd take the long summer break (2,5 months where I grew up) over short breaks year round any day
The "kinderbijslag" is actually one of the lower ones in Europe. In Germany for instance the amount is about the same monthly as in The Netherlands quarterly.
On the other hand there are subsidies for activities to keep the own contribution low, like sport clubs, music school, hobby and more. This lowers the barrier for joining a club or activity, no matter what the income of the parents is.
This also makes sure the kids benefit and not the parents.
Je hebt ook nog het kindgebondenbudget en de kinderopvangtoeslag . Dat is inkomens afgankelijk
Schools ending at noon on wednesdays isn't a thing here in Germany, at least not anywhere that I know of. But, Realschule in many federal states ends at 1pm every day anyway.
In Denmark, children sleep in strollers outside cafés and restaurants. No problem!
When I was a child I had wednesday afternoons off and every fortnight the afternoon on fridays. I'm talking about what we call here 'basisschool' (ages 4-12). I found that to be a nice balance for school life.
The idea that children cannot go out and play on their own seems awful to me. It's good for their development as it teaches them to become more independant.
It is quite disturbing to me that parents can get into legal trouble for allowing their children to go out and play on their own. I reckon this is more of a big city thing and not everywhere in the US? E.g. I would expect children to have more freedom in rural parts with small towns.
First logical statement I've seen. You are correct. Small towns have less predatory concerns and everybody knows everybody. Also, these crimes against minors are frankly more talked about now. Actually acknowledged by media and school systems now.
It seems to be safer there but certain crimes are higher per capita in The Netherlands just not against children.
In the rural villages of Alaska I was surprised to seen that young children were walking to the store by themselves and playing by the Yukon river without fear of abduction or worse. In metropolis cities like here in Anchorage a little 4 year old girl was brought back home to her apartment by the police last week. She was playing outside with her big brother (10years) who ran inside for a minute and she had walked across three laned street to the local homeless shelter. They didn't take her away or charge her mother with neglect. The brother felt awful. In truth they were lucky though.
There are bad people everywhere. I am curious if something 'were' to happen to a child there and there IS crime against children in The Netherlands. Are your hands tied? How do you protect your families? I have read that in 2019 a projection of 1/2 of the females and 1/5 of the males under age 18 may have been victimized without recourse. **I believe it is safer there in The Netherlands than Here in SOME states** But without any statistics reported about the number of children that HAVE gone missing from towns in The Netherlands how can we accurately compare crimes per capita?
Desperately would love to know where to look. And would love some actual feed back from anyone.
I agree with everything you said, personally myself? I am against abortion but I’m like you I would not judge somebody else for having it done. And I don’t hate America at all, but I think that once your politicians actually back their words? That’s when they need to be in office. I am Dutch, obviously by my user name. And I’m very proud of it but I would never disrespect anyone else for who they are or anything. Thank you for this video Jovie. You are awesome! I watched it on my other page.
I agree with Jovie and you cousin Elisea.
Playing outside is not completely "unsupervised" those playparks are often surrounded by houses. (i have no kids, but i live directly across such a playpark) The parks are often not that big so in one glance you can see what's going on.
Every adult living near such a playpark will peek once in a while if everything is going alright (probably uncounchesly because vision follows movment.) If i hear something out of the ordinary you betya i will look what's going on, i will be outside in a hartbeat if needed if i was at home, while none of those kids are mine.
It's a common trust that kids will be helped even by "just" a neigbour you only say hi to once in a while if they are aware of it first. The kids know that they are watched, but because they don't know who is whatching they will behave in a sociallly accepted manner because you never know who is going to tell your parents if you do something you shouldnt. (like vadalism)
As long there are no accidents the neigbours won't meddle and leave the kids to their own buisness.
It's great that people have that sense of community and awareness.
As an American who has grown up in the south east and moved to the west coast. I want to give more context on kids playing outside alone. Both in the south ( Georgia, South Carolina, and florida) and in the west coast California area kids play outside by themselves. If you’re in the suburbs, a park may be a car drive away.
Kids play in the neighborhoods here by themselves unsupervised. They go from one friends house to another playing in yards and inside ( pre covid). If there is a park in their neighborhood you would see many kids there! Older siblings watch younger siblings.
The US is a massive country ( Netherlands is approximately 41,543 sq km, while United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, making United States 23,571% larger than Netherlands). So safety/crime and layout of cities having accessible parks not over busy streets is going to vary greatly.
3-5 year olds would not be seen in a park a cars drive away in the suburbs alone. Context is key! You would see a 3-5 year old group of kids in someone’s yard and the moms on a porch talking. I live in an urban area and I have a 3 and 6 year old. They play in our yard and friends yards all the time, but we don’t leave them outside because we have a lot of foot traffic in our neighborhood who are not our neighbors. It can be very unpredictable who will come walking by at any time. However once they are a little older it would be fine.
Dat is heel interessant om te weten, bedankt voor het delen
You have touched on the subject of facilities available for parents/children a few times.
I find the idea of bullet proof backpacks amazing.
As a Dutchmen following you for some time in an effort to learn how a non Dutchman sees Dutch behavior and what i can learn of it i realize you become more Dutch in your way of thinking than you perhaps realizing
One point of discussion on abortion in the Netherlands recently, was getting rid of the compulsory (and patronizing) 5-days thinking time you are subjected to if you require an abortion. This was, many years ago, a concession done to Christian parties to make it more palatable for their voters and most people think is not anymore something for his era. As someone else commented below, thanks to Sex-ed in schools in the NL unwanted teen pregnancies are rare and by no mean a social problem
Wednesdays school till noon also happens in Belgium
The 6 week summer break, with other breaks during the year is the same as the UK.
Jovie, as a Canadian, and you probably know, what I'm going to say, but I've heard all this weird stuff from the US all my life. My childhood, on a farming community, albeit, was never supervised, and I always heard-couldn't not hear- about America this and America that. When I was older, there started to show weird differences with my American relatives. I found out I, and my country were commies, and baby haters, and tree huggers and were given our freedom from the US a thousand years ago, well Trump said that two years ago ( WTF?,eh?). My point is that my daughter grew up, here, similar to your children=unsupervised and safe, with confidence and warmth. Every country has faults, but, as you know a bit about Canada, we're living beside a country that needs bulletproof backpacks and emergency shooter drills. (Also, we never did an allegiance to the flag pledge in school. A friend of mine once compared that to the Nazi Youth. It may explain how some ant-science, Pro-life and Q-anon types came about.) Your channel keeps from getting smug with some of your criticisms-and Canada, I, need that. Of course I did grow up in a Dutch farming community of the West Coast, so I'm probably biased. Cheers, near Vancouver.
"my DAUGHTERS grew up"
Thanks for sharing about your life. I'm glad your daughters had a good experience here.