After reading our first section I decided to investigate latchkey kids, because I think this is going to be pertinent to the plot of the book. I had never heard of the term "latchkey kid" and was interested in learning more about it. The term is said to have originated during and after World War II, while one parent was enlisted in the armed forces, the other had to work and often children came home to no parental supervision. Interestingly enough, when I searched "latchkey kid" on Google, most of the links referred to legal issues that arise with latchkey kids. Parents are not enlightened on an acceptable age to leave children at home alone and so often children are left alone with no supervision at too young of an age. The United States government does not establish criteria for leaving children under 18 home alone, these laws are left to state and local governments to establish and often are never established. I found the effects of being a latchkey kid interesting, a lot of latchkey kids face loneliness, fear and boredom. When latchkey kids are older they are more likely to have behavior problems and fall into such behaviors as smoking and alcohol use. There are also some positive effects associated with being a latchkey kid including independence at a young age.
As for Miranda, I think she is going to run into some problems being a latchkey kid. Now that she doesn't walk home with Sal, she faces obstacles before she even gets home (the laughing man) and her mom has hidden a key, I feel something bad coming on. "Mom's rules for life in New York City" (p. 25) also lead me to think that something is going to happen while Miranda is home alone. I'm interested to see if any of the effects of being a latchkey kid listed above affect Miranda.
Eve, I agree with you that Miranda's status as a latchkey kid will somehow be pertinent to the plot. After reading your investigation into the latchkey kids, I also started thinking about the day Sal got punched. When they returned back to their apartments, Sal locked himself in the apartment and was left to deal with his trauma by himself.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, clearly there are fearful things awaiting Miranda on her trips home: the laughing man and the puncher being only a couple of the possibilities. I too am anxious to see how these things will affect Miranda throughout the book.
While I agree with your both, I can't help but feel the opposite. I kind of feel like Miranda's status as a latch-key kid makes her more independent and willing to explore things. It is possible that living in New York City is not the best place for a latch-key kid, but I feel like at Miranda's age (6th grade) at which a child is usually 10-12, she is plenty old enough to walk home from school and hang out at home. I say this because I feel too like Miranda is very mature for her age...what other kid would sit through apartment building meetings or spend hours helping their parents prepare for a game show.
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