I almost ran over your son on cross street

amother

OP ↓

Tue, May 25 2021, 6:56 pm

I was not on my phone. I was paying full attention to the road. Had I sneezed at that second I likely would have hit him. He was on the white line by the shoulder hitching, dressed in black. In the dark, barely visible. And this is definitely not the first time I had a close call. Please insist that your children be more careful. I honestly would not send to one of these yeshivas for this reason.

amother

Royalblue

Tue, May 25 2021, 6:59 pm

I saw two boys cross the middle of cedarbridge today, in middle of he street, not at a red light!

And another boy got out of a car that he was hitching in that was in the second lane, and went right in front of my car to get to the sidewalk. It's lucky I saw him! I don't expect people to pop out of cars in middle of the road!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, May 25 2021, 8:11 pm

flowerpower wrote:

Why are boys asking for a hitch? Don’t they have transportation???!

No idea. This isn’t a world I can relate to.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, May 25 2021, 8:35 pm

Please write a letter to.the lakewoodscoop about what happened. Parents have to be aware and speak their sons about hitching in places that are dangerous and make no sense. The boys will always hitch but there should be a set of guidelines and boys should be aware of where a normal place to ask for a ride is. I have given rides to boys but only if their in a safe place.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, May 25 2021, 8:40 pm

amother [ Seafoam ] wrote:

Why are they hitching? They should not be allowed to.

amother

Powderblue ↓

Tue, May 25 2021, 8:59 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Why are they hitching? They should not be allowed to.

Ha! Not allowed to? Who is stopping them.
My son Knows he is not allowed to hitch. I will pick him up from anywhere at anytime. I drive him to yeshiva at 7:40 every morning with a house full of children.pick him up. I’ll get him an Uber if I can’t get there. His yeshiva doesn’t allow hitching. He walks and bikes a lot to get around.
I found out recently he sometimes hitches by lunch break.
What am I supposed to do? They are 15/16 yrs old and as parents we are only so much in control. My son is a fantastic responsible kid. Just if his friends are doing it he’ll go along. Giving him mussar speeches at this point isn’t going to stop him. I speak to him about safety and dangers but after that it’s out of my control.

imasinger

Wed, May 26 2021, 3:30 am

Many development shuls give out reflective belts. Can't the teens start getting them and using them at night?

I'd suggest making that part of the letter to the Scoop.

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Wed, May 26 2021, 4:50 am

imasinger wrote:

Many development shuls give out reflective belts. Can't the teens start getting them and using them at night?

I'd suggest making that part of the letter to the Scoop.

His place boys blazer now includes a reflective strip under the collar. It’s smart. You stand up the collar and have an automatic reflector.

The high school boys are out a lot at night. The law allows high school children to be dropped off much further from home. My son has a 10 min walk home from the bus at 9:00 at night. Then he still has to walk to and from maariv.

amother

↑ OP

Wed, May 26 2021, 5:18 am

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

I don’t mind my son walking at night in safe areas. Cross street is not meant for pedestrians at any time of day, let alone in the dark.

avrahamama

Wed, May 26 2021, 5:45 am

I think the current climate against Jews would be a great time to educate the boys against hitching. It may have been safe a few months ago. But people are crazy and irrational right now.

Mommyg8

Wed, May 26 2021, 5:53 am

imasinger wrote:

Many development shuls give out reflective belts. Can't the teens start getting them and using them at night?

I'd suggest making that part of the letter to the Scoop.

I think they do give them out a lot and I'm always seeing letters and advertisements about the reflective belts. I guess not enough?

amother

Burlywood

Wed, May 26 2021, 7:25 am

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

I did not know that. my son wears his place blazers. the TO brand? I'm going to check it out.

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Wed, May 26 2021, 7:54 am

amother [ Burlywood ] wrote:

I did not know that. my son wears his place blazers. the TO brand? I'm going to check it out.

My son just got a new TO blazer and it had it.

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, May 26 2021, 2:40 pm

avrahamama wrote:

I think the current climate against Jews would be a great time to educate the boys against hitching. It may have been safe a few months ago. But people are crazy and irrational right now.

The nonJews in Lakewood/Toms River/Jackson are always crazy and irrational. Don’t believe me? Come check out The Lakewood Scoop and Lakewood News Network’s Facebook posts. I don’t even know why they’re on FB. Their target audience isn’t there, and it’s just a collection of all the ‘Rise Up Ocean County’ idiots making anti-Semitic comments about how the Jews ruined the whole area.

amother

Peach ↓

Wed, May 26 2021, 6:46 pm

I have bean living in Lakewood for many years. Every year someone writes to a magazine like the Voice,shopper,ect. about hitching then there is a "discussion" for the next week or 5. Guess what nothing happens, people who don't believe in hitching still don't, people who think that it is the ultimate of Chessed still do.

There are a lot of things I thing pedestrians in Lakewood should learn:
1-How to cross a street
2-How to walk on a street
3-How to ride a bike on the street
4-How to hitch safely

amother

Teal ↓

Wed, May 26 2021, 6:53 pm

My husband gives hitches. I’ve talked to him about it a few times because I don’t like the fact that they’re on the road. But he feels if he’s going in that direction then he ought to give them a ride. I can’t argue with that. We’re not going to convince all the men in Lakewood to stop giving hitches. Many of them hitched when they were younger. (As it happens my husband never did. He still thinks they should have that option though) Basically hitching seems to be the men vs the women lol

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Wed, May 26 2021, 7:12 pm

I wouldn’t discourage my dh from taking hitchers.
My Jewish mother heart wants them to be safe.
I’m terrified if my dh doesn’t pick them up they could end up in a dangerous situation.
I wouldn’t pass up a chesed just like that even if I don’t agree with it.
The boys I feel the worst for are the boys who hitch in the morning in the rain or cold. It’s pitiful.

I guess I feel more sadness and fear then anger.

amother

Jade

Wed, May 26 2021, 9:48 pm

amother [ Powderblue ] wrote:

I feel pity when I see boys standing as waiting as well. On the other hand I think that if people wont pick them up, they will have to figure out other safer means of transportation so it is for their own good not to be picked up and enabled to do something dangerous.

Notsobusy

Wed, May 26 2021, 10:29 pm

[quote="amother [ Jade ]"7]I feel pity when I see boys standing as waiting as well. On the other hand I think that if people wont pick them up, they will have to figure out other safer means of transportation so it is for their own good not to be picked up and enabled to do something dangerous.[/quote]

I agree with you and so I only pick them up when the weather is really bad. Even though hitching really upsets me and I don't let my sons hitch, I can't leave a boy waiting in bad weather.