Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The house I am buying has been under repair for 5 months and I have visited it countless times, morning, afternoon, summer, winter. All the neighbors have kids but I have not once seen them playing outside. Come to think of it, I don't really see many kids playing outside in my drives through Chappaqua at all. It's kind of the point of moving out of the city for me so I'm bummed my kids won't have playmates. Is it just me? Where are all the kids?
No one plays outside in Westchester. They don't have free time. They are busy little beavers with scheduled lives. They study vocab in the car between SAT prep, Cub Scouts and AYSO soccer.
My kids play outside but it is a bit of a lost art. We're in Cortlandt Manor and a few other neighbors also have outdoor playing kids. But most are very scheduled.
No, of course that isn't true. Compared to City Kids, Westchester kids' lives are relatively free and easy. The level of scheduledness depends on the parents of course, but most kids I know certainly spend a good amount of time playing outside (as well as in). Although who knows what goes on in Chappaqua.
My son is outside a lot of the time, whether he has a friend over or is by himself. Even with soccer, karate, and movie-making class (not to mention school or camp), he has plenty of free time and will happily spend hours out there. But you wouldn't know that by driving by since he's out behind the house or in the woods.
We did a lot of research moving back to the States, but of course were limited from abroad. Now that I'm here I'm panicking a little because we are stuck with this place at least for the next 5 years. Oh well, I guess I'm bringing outside-playing to Chappaqua. It's not healthy for kids to spend too much time indoors. I'm curious what other parents think. Do you really feel the need to schedule kids' lives so much? I think idle time (especially outdoors) is important in their development and creativity.
I'm totally anti-over scheduling, but alas it is very rare to see kids playing anywhere in my neighborhood, too. I was just in an average, middle class area of NJ yesterday visiting family and there were kids everywhere. Literally, groups of 10 running in sprinklers, riding bikes, etc...I commented to my husband how much I wished we had ended up in an area like that, but I do think that since parents are so much over-scheduled here, their kids are forced to be, too.
Do you really feel the need to schedule kids' lives so much? I think idle time (especially outdoors) is important in their development and creativity.
The Leave It To Beaver days of kids wandering next door to see if Suzy can come out to play kick the can are long gone. Along with over-programming comes overprotectiveness and helicopter partenting - fear the kids might scape scrape their knee (horrors!) or get kidnapped. Actual dangers aren't any greater than 40 years ago IMHO, but the internet fuels the perception. But there are still some "normal" people out there.
Interestingly, I think it's partly socioeconomic. I see kids in working class neighborhoods in New Rochelle outside playing ball, riding bikes, etc, all the time. It's just like a 50's movie. They simply can't afford traveling soccer teams, nannies, lessons etc. Kids are still expected to scrape their knees. In more affluent areas and what the kids do becomes less visible. In many cases it may be invisible even if they are outside, as somebody pointed out, cause lots are big, there are woods in back and there are better places to be than out in the street.
Still, for all I know there may be differences from town to town. It's well known that Chappaqua falls squarely into the high-achieving-programmed-kids category and I'd guess that correlates with your observations. Other towns may be less programmed (see sidebar below).
Sidebar comment: When my kids were 4 and 6 we moved from Tokyo to Pound Ridge. I'm hard pressed to imagine a greater contrast. Initially they were afraid to go outside - No walls! No parks!! No sidewalks! What do we do out there?!?? Soon enough they discovered tadpoles in the stream, salamanders and beetles under rocks and making jumps for sledding in the back yard. Soon after that they were off fishing with the dog trotting ahead, Tom Sawyer style. Sure, they had play dates and after school activities. But my wife and I didn't go nuts with it and supervise their every move. And they had a network of friends that shared the same kind of experience. It's baloney to make the unqualified assertion that nobody in Westchester plays outside.
As I was reading the comments about how kids never play outside anymore I kept think "where do these people live??" Then I decided to ask my son what he thinks, but I couldn't find him. Turns out he was outside, in the rain, building a twig fort under the pine trees.
My son is back inside now. He said that he spends more time playing outside than in classes. And he wanted to know if camp counted since so far this summer he's been in nature camp spending all day hiking and in sailing camp, but I said camp didn't count.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 15 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,220 posts, read 17,072,760 times
Reputation: 15536
Quote:
Originally Posted by kletter1mann
The Leave It To Beaver days of kids wandering next door to see if Suzy can come out to play kick the can are long gone. Along with over-programming comes overprotectiveness and helicopter partenting - fear the kids might scape scrape their knee (horrors!) or get kidnapped. Actual dangers aren't any greater than 40 years ago IMHO, but the internet fuels the perception. But there are still some "normal" people out there.
Interestingly, I think it's partly socioeconomic. I see kids in working class neighborhoods in New Rochelle outside playing ball, riding bikes, etc, all the time. It's just like a 50's movie. They simply can't afford traveling soccer teams, nannies, lessons etc. Kids are still expected to scrape their knees. In more affluent areas and what the kids do becomes less visible. In many cases it may be invisible even if they are outside, as somebody pointed out, cause lots are big, there are woods in back and there are better places to be than out in the street.
Still, for all I know there may be differences from town to town. It's well known that Chappaqua falls squarely into the high-achieving-programmed-kids category and I'd guess that correlates with your observations. Other towns may be less programmed (see sidebar below).
Sidebar comment: When my kids were 4 and 6 we moved from Tokyo to Pound Ridge. I'm hard pressed to imagine a greater contrast. Initially they were afraid to go outside - No walls! No parks!! No sidewalks! What do we do out there?!?? Soon enough they discovered tadpoles in the stream, salamanders and beetles under rocks and making jumps for sledding in the back yard. Soon after that they were off fishing with the dog trotting ahead, Tom Sawyer style. Sure, they had play dates and after school activities. But my wife and I didn't go nuts with it and supervise their every move. And they had a network of friends that shared the same kind of experience. It's baloney to make the unqualified assertion that nobody in Westchester plays outside.
Probally one of the most honest observations I have ever read on the subject. I especially like when they get to college with helicopter parents in tow. Too many crash and burn 1st semester because the world does not revolve around them anymore.
I once read an excellent article called "Let them eat Dirt", what it said was let your children play outside, run barefoot and eat dirt. The more exposed they are to the world/enviroment when young the less chance of allergy's and other health issues when older.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
