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Old 07-14-2009, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Denver 'burbs
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Glad to hear that - I just had several moms tell me that when I started my DS in a new sport in grade 4 - it was basically too late....or if he was "only" playing rec center something by 8 or 10....I just wanted to say in my experience, this wasn't necessarily true. You are correct that starting a brand new sport at 14 can be difficult though.


Quote:
I wasn't fed a load of anything. It is just an observation I've made. Maybe it isn't making the team so much as being willing to try a new sport at age 14 when many of the others have been playing since age 4. Some kids would try anyway, but some wouldn't bother.
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Old 07-15-2009, 06:16 AM
 
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I believe some kids are overscheduled, mothers work, and parents are paranoid.

We live in a cul de sac and to be honest, at least 4 afternoons a week, we are outside, I set out my beach chair, my neighbor mom sets hers out next to me, we chat and the kids play. We do one activity (we are adding girl scouts this year), and that's it.
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Old 07-15-2009, 07:39 AM
 
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We live on a cul de sac with 12 homes. During the week no one is outside during the daytime b/c all of the moms work. Our kids attend various day camps (soccer, art, dance, etc.) or the town recreation program.

In the evening and on weekends all of the kids play outside. They ride their bikes to each other's houses, play soccer, catch frogs, etc. I don't think anyone in our neighborhood is paranoid about their kids being kidnapped.

For my kids, sitting inside and playing video games all day isn't an option. We only have one TV. It's an older 16" model I got for $10 at a garage sale. I don't think it would even be possible to hook up a video game system. My kids watch cartoons on Saturday mornings while I clean the house and they'll sometimes watch Disney while I make dinner, but they are more content to play outside with their friends.

I think the change the OP noticed is mostly due to the fact that most moms work these days. When i was a kid, most moms stayed home. They would sit inside and socialize while we played outside all day.
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Old 07-17-2009, 12:40 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LisaMc46 View Post
I think the change the OP noticed is mostly due to the fact that most moms work these days. When i was a kid, most moms stayed home.
I feel this way, too. I'm a stay at home mom, and there are so many days where my kids friends are not home and available to play because they are at after-school day care or holiday/summer break day care camps (all summer long) and things like that.

It's to the point where I actually know the schedule of the day care programs and we arrange to go to the pool when my sons friends day care camp is going to be there... that's one of the only ways he can see his friends over the summer because all their parents all work and his friends are all in day care camps over the summer.

During the school year, his friends are all in after school day care, and my son has asked if we could sign him up for after school day care so that he can play with his friends after school. To me, that's really sad, you know? That a kid would have to be in day care to hang out with his friends.

Our older son - he's 14 - has a lot of friends who stay home alone now while their parents work, as they are too old now for after school day care or summer day care programs. These boys are starting to get into trouble... which is really sad because they used to be really sweet boys. They've just never had their parents around, and now they have all this new freedom and are bored and keep trying to get away with stuff and their parents don't really know what to do because they are too busy with their jobs to really have the frame of mind or power to do anything about their kids. They haven't earned their kids respect.

What's funny is that while we never used day care when the kids were young, now for the past two summers we've enrolled our oldest son in an all-summer-long swim program at the pool to keep him busy during the summer. His swim coach actually suggested it for him, so we tried it and he loves it, and now is training to be a lifeguard. He gets tons of exercise, while his friends who are left home alone are now putting on extra weight (left home alone to eat junk food and play video games and look up dirty pictures on the internet and mess around on myspace and twitter and facebook and sneaking out to meet girls...)
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Old 07-18-2009, 11:07 AM
 
2,546 posts, read 6,861,720 times
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Originally Posted by 1phwalls View Post
There are may reasons, I'll post the ones I can think of right away.


In addition, we now have parents wanting to relive their childhood via their kids. Have you ever been to a kids soccer game? Do you see who is making the scene and throwing temper tantrums? It's the friggin parents! Yes there are some kids who are compelled to win above all else, but most kids just want to go play with friends.

Then of course there are the parents who believe their kids must play every organized sport possible so they can get a scholarship and get into a good school.

I agree, alot of parents now days put to much pressure on their kids and overwhelm them by putting them in to many after school activities.
Sometimes kids need to be able to just relax and just be a kid. You only get your childhood once.
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Old 07-18-2009, 02:33 PM
 
6,205 posts, read 7,434,042 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weekend Traveler View Post
When I was a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s there was tons of us kids hanging outside riding bikes, playing games, running around and doing sports right outside our home in the vacant lot next door. We had a great time and anyone who lived nearby was our friend. Now, even in the newer neighborhoods where there are lots of kids between 8-15 (our main hanging outside years), the street and yards are empty. Kids are all forced to be indoors, with 5 hours of homework or in formal organized activities. I wonder what happened.

What happened to spontaneous friends or fun? What happened to playing ditch or hide and go seek in the nearby woods? What happened to kids going places on their bikes? What happened to childhood?
Society has changed tremendously during these years, but since we live it day by day we don't notice it. It is more evident with kids and then we notice it more. School programs changed. The way kids learn today is quite different from ours. Their lives after school are different. All that is understandable because they will live in a different society. Our way might have been better, but its not coming back.
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Old 07-18-2009, 05:27 PM
 
Location: England
1,168 posts, read 2,499,151 times
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My children go over to their neighbours house and play in the streets. But I warn them.... "Beware of Yobbos, Hoodies, Weirdos and Traffic" Oh and "Do not go into the woods, fields, or anywhere isolated". If they have lots of homework, I encourage them to do it, but sometimes homework is set aside - cos the Sun is shining!!!! And Childhood is too short anyway.....so let them play.......
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Old 07-18-2009, 06:44 PM
 
3,644 posts, read 10,917,721 times
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Most of the kids in our neighborhood are in daycare until after dinnertime. When they do want to come play, they want to play on the Wii, watch TV or be entertained by me in some way.

They are used to adults structuring all of their lives/days. They have no idea what an imagination is or how to play without being told what and how to do it.
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Old 07-19-2009, 07:37 AM
 
6,764 posts, read 22,030,318 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sskkc View Post
Most of the kids in our neighborhood are in daycare until after dinnertime. When they do want to come play, they want to play on the Wii, watch TV or be entertained by me in some way.

They are used to adults structuring all of their lives/days. They have no idea what an imagination is or how to play without being told what and how to do it.
What you say is quite true. Kids today HANG AROUND grownups more than we did. When we were kids, we went with other kids who came over and left the grownups to their dull talk. Now 3 year olds, 7 year olds, what have you, they like to hang out with the adults..

My son is pretty good at playing on his own as he hasn't really any friends. But we structure when he can play his videogames, do chores, read. Otherwise he'd be aimless.
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