How kid friendly is Oak Park/Evanston? (Chicago: public schools, club)
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Right or wrong, most people I know with kids don't let them wander alone by themselves like we did when we were kids growing up in the 80's and 90's. I think the awareness of child predetors have caused this shift in society. I used to walk to and from kindergarten which was a mile away, but I would never let my 5 year old do that now. For one thing, I never see young kids walking to school. Our neighborhood has a ton of kids, but you don't see any young children (under 10 or so) wandering about by themselves. It's kind of sad, but it's reality unfortunately. That said, we are constantly outdoors with our kids, whether it be at the park, the pool, etc. When we are at the park I always see tons of kids and their parents---could it be that this was the case when you visited Oak Park? In other words, most kid friendly areas don't have kids roaming around by themselves anymore? That's been my experience as a parent, at least here in IL.
I do feel that parenting has also become more time-consuming since parents now have to accompany their kids everywhere. .
Geez... you walked a mile to school when you were 5 years old in the 80's? That's psychotic.... I pray you are exaggerating slightly.
Yeah, I agree parents are also more concerned in general about safety, regardless of where you live, and that's probably wise. But it's more then that..... I agree with the over-scheduling, crazy pressure that life puts on kids and their parents to "succeed" and match the Jones. I mean..... 10 year old boys can kick a soccer ball in front of their own house safely.... they just don't do it. I miss seeing a lot of kids on the block. Childhood is just very different now.
My own 6 year old niece has a different scheduled summer camp every 2 weeks all summer long! Are you serious?!? Swimming camp... Dance camp.... music camp.... Karate camp.... Just crazy.
Geez... you walked a mile to school when you were 5 years old in the 80's? That's psychotic.... I pray you are exaggerating slightly.
Yeah, I agree parents are also more concerned in general about safety, regardless of where you live, and that's probably wise. But it's more then that..... I agree with the over-scheduling, crazy pressure that life puts on kids and their parents to "succeed" and match the Jones. I mean..... 10 year old boys can kick a soccer ball in front of their own house safely.... they just don't do it. I miss seeing a lot of kids on the block. Childhood is just very different now.
My own 6 year old niece has a different scheduled summer camp every 2 weeks all summer long! Are you serious?!? Swimming camp... Dance camp.... music camp.... Karate camp.... Just crazy.
Nope, not exaggerating. I used to walk to my friend's house three blocks away, then she and I would walk the rest of the way together to kindergarten. Wasn't unusual back then in our area. It really makes me sad that kids have no freedom anymore, but I completely understand why. When you are constantly hearing of the awful things happening to children, it is really scary. Back then, you just didn't hear about it happening that much.
You grew up in the highest-crime period the country has ever known. See United States Crime Rates 1960 - 2010. Murder is a pretty good indicator of crime in general. The year with the most murders was 1991. The number of murders is down 33% since then while the population is up about 25%.
So either your upbringing was atypical or people are reacting to crime information with a very long time lag. I think it's a little of both.
I think you're right about that. This too shall pass, one day.
In the 1990's it was me (as the kid) who was putting on the brakes about where I would or wouldn't go, because I had the street smarts in my family. There wasn't much if any panic/concern/awareness among the adults. CTA at 14 years old to go to high school, sure isn't what I would want my kid to ever have to deal with (like I did.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Siegel
Mostly what I see among my younger upper-middle-class neighbors is that the kids are scheduled within an inch of their life. They will have wonderful resumes for getting into college, but they won't know what it's like to do nothing and just be a kid.
Which is really sad. There still are suburban areas, small towns, and city blocks though were kids still do ride their bikes and skateboard around and do get to be kids. You just happen upon them only once in a while.
Nope, not exaggerating. I used to walk to my friend's house three blocks away, then she and I would walk the rest of the way together to kindergarten. Wasn't unusual back then in our area. It really makes me sad that kids have no freedom anymore, but I completely understand why. When you are constantly hearing of the awful things happening to children, it is really scary. Back then, you just didn't hear about it happening that much.
I just Google Mapped it - I walked 0.7 miles to school from K thru 4th. In West Philly.
From 5th thru 12th grades I took 2 buses and the El to get to a magnet school downtown. Took about 45 minutes to an hour each way. My mom showed me the way the first couple of days, after that I was on my own. I tell that story to new parents now and they look at me like I have 2 heads, or like I was lucky to survive some kind of child abuse. What's humorous is that in Philly kids were taking public trans all over the city - I wasn't particularly rare.
I just Google Mapped it - I walked 0.7 miles to school from K thru 4th. In West Philly.
From 5th thru 12th grades I took 2 buses and the El to get to a magnet school downtown. Took about 45 minutes to an hour each way. My mom showed me the way the first couple of days, after that I was on my own. I tell that story to new parents now and they look at me like I have 2 heads, or like I was lucky to survive some kind of child abuse. What's humorous is that in Philly kids were taking public trans all over the city - I wasn't particularly rare.
Yup, I hear you. My mom tells me she used to take the subway in NYC when she was in grade school. A lot of kids in the cities did that---not sure if that still happens or not. It's just different now. I wouldn't even let my daughter at 5 walk to school like I did, so I cannot claim to be much different than other parents, lol.
I am so glad I found this thread. I have lived in Evanston the past 5 years and I went to middle school and high school there. I have a 7 year-old son and I am considering leaving Evanston to move to Oak Park to live with my boyfriend (who has 2 kids and he has shared custody with his ex.) I love Evanston and I hate to leave, but I also love my boyfriend and he can't leave Oak Park because of his custody situation.
Evanston is extremely kid-friendly and one thing I love about it is the numerous options for school age children both before school, after school and during the summer. Evanston is also very "working parent friendly". Every school in Evanston has an on-site before and after school program that is fairly inexpensive and they do fantastic activities. There are also options for clubs at all the schools too. As a working single parent, my child could participate in all sorts of extra-curricular activities which I don't have time to take him to myself. The YMCA in Evanston is fantastic and they also have after school and summer programs. Beyond this, there are many other options for working parents that will pick the child up at school and provide transportation to off-site locations and keep them until 6:00 - 7:00.
I could be wrong, but the options in Oak Park seem pretty dismal. As far as I can tell, some schools have some after-school programming but most are over at 4:00. There are lots of after school programs, but again - unless you are home to drive a child from school to the program and pick the child up, these aren't possibilities. (I work downtown.) There is one after school program called Hepzibah or something weird, but it is hard to get into because it's in such high demand. As far as I can tell, there is only one summer camp at the schools with extended care and it is very expensive, about $1300 per month if you need extended care. It seems like a lot of moms don't work and for those that do, they tend to send their children to other people's homes after school. Does anyone have any insight?
Thank you chitownperson! This is a fantastic resource. :-)
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