# The Dutch have a tradition of "dropping" their children off in a forest at night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465 "2021-05-05T18:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/1 "2021-05-05T18:54:54Z")
Apparently the parents will take groups of young kids (preteen) out into the woods in the middle of the night to let them find their way home or to a campsite. This is, like, a normal thing in the Netherlands. Sometimes the parents will blindfold the children during the ride out, and sometimes the parents will follow the kids (refusing to help, sometimes even following in secret and making scary noises). > **[A Sinister Tradition for the Happiest Kids in the World](https://www.finephrases.com/post/2018/09/25/a-sinister-tradition-for-the-happiest-kids-in-the-world)** > > Whenever my husband blindfolds the children and steers them into the back of the car, I am reminded of the stark contrasts between childrearing in the U.S. and in his homeland, the Netherlands. Yet our family’s annual pilgrimage to Holland is not... I personally think it sounds like a wonderful tradition, especially when the parents tag along - they can make sure the kids don’t get hurt or anything. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/2 "2021-05-05T18:59:39Z")
In the sequel to "Cabin in the Woods " we discover that trolls demand the sacrifice of one child a year or they’ll destroy the Netherlands ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/3 "2021-05-05T19:04:37Z")
Is this where the Hansel and Gretel story comes from? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/4 "2021-05-05T19:06:10Z")
I think the story in Hansel and Gretel is that they were abandoned by the parents due to a lack of food, rather than a “dropping”. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/5 "2021-05-05T19:06:43Z")
For entertainment purposes, I’d love to observe a room full of helicopter parents reading this thread. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/6 "2021-05-05T19:08:22Z")
that sounds like fun. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/7 "2021-05-05T21:14:15Z")
Sounds like something that started as a population control method ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/8 "2021-05-05T21:17:19Z")
This is called Snipe Hunting ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/9 "2021-05-05T21:54:10Z")
The Scout magazine here got into trouble for suggesting a ‘snipe hunt’ as an activity. ‘Snipe’ is also a kind of small bird… I think that a ‘snipe hunt’ is a kind of ‘wild goose chase’ rather than specifically finding your way home. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/10 "2021-05-05T21:59:13Z")
![](https://media.tenor.com/images/5c735243bd7bf04b6bbe5c5b55b28b72/tenor.gif) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/11 "2021-05-05T22:17:04Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I think the story in Hansel and Gretel is that they were abandoned by the parents due to a lack of food, rather than a “dropping”. No, they weren’t abandoned. They were sent out to pick berries, and got lost before nightfall. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/12 "2021-05-05T22:19:33Z")
Like most of these stories, there are different versions. Perhaps in some the kids get lost picking berries, but in others, they’re deliberately abandoned by their father and stepmother because of a lack of food. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/13 "2021-05-05T22:22:59Z")
It obviously depends on the details of the environment. There are still places in the US where this would be a death sentence… but European forests are much smaller and tamer than those American forests. And there are plenty of tame American forests, too. The Cleveland Metroparks, for instance, would be perfectly safe for a ten-year-old with a modicum of outdoors training. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/14 "2021-05-06T03:55:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Like most of these stories, there are different versions. Perhaps in some the kids get lost picking berries, but in others, they’re deliberately abandoned by their father and stepmother because of a lack of food. Yep, the version I read as a child definitely had the parents deliberately abandoning them in the woods ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/15 "2021-05-06T03:59:53Z")
In middle school we called that orienteering. Except we were dropped off by a grumpy gym teacher and it was always raining. Then he’d go back inside and fall asleep on the bleachers. Come to think of it, he might have just wanted us to stay out there. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/16 "2021-05-06T04:24:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > No, they weren’t abandoned. They were sent out to pick berries, and got lost before nightfall. The “original” Grimm Brothers’ version had them abandoned by their biological mother the they later changed it to a step-mother. Reference: wiki ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/17 "2021-05-06T04:56:49Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > For entertainment purposes, I’d love to observe a room full of helicopter parents reading this thread. even more entertaining: Let’s imagine a room full of American lawyers. And wow–this “dropping” seems like a wonderful tradition! More fun than the scavenger hunts I did as a kid. . Related question about Holland: It is generally considered the most densely populated country in Europe: Do they have any “real” forests, with bears and snakes and stuff? You know—stuff that’s genuinely scarier than parents making noises? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/18 "2021-05-06T05:12:12Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Do they have any “real” forests, with bears and snakes and stuff? No bears, no wolves, no mountains, no extremes of heat, possibly some cold. They do have poisonous snakes, though. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/19 "2021-05-06T08:29:19Z")
You’re also more than likely to be pretty close to houses, roads and railway lines, at least where most Dutch people live. And with clues left for them to find, this is more like a treasure hunt, albeit somewhere larger than the back garden, and the treasure being to come home (not a bad life lesson in itself). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465/20 "2021-05-06T10:12:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > No, they weren’t abandoned. They were sent out to pick berries, and got lost before nightfall. This is my favorite fairy tale, and I’ve read lots of different versions, and I’ve _never_ encountered a “sent out to pick berries” version. Are you sure you’re not misremembering? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dutch-have-a-tradition-of-dropping-their-children-off-in-a-forest-at-night/941465.md?page=2)