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I think that in this day and age it is irresponsible unfit parenting to send your young kids outside to play by themselves without any parental supervision. Am I being judgmental? Yes. Overprotective? Maybe, but that is my belief. I live in a safe neighborhood of 950k homes and up. The streets are quiet and the homes are in immaculate condition. However, a simple random search of sex offenders in the area scared me. Idk why my neighbors allow their kids to roam freely in the front yard riding their bikes around multiple corners and back. We have large backyards (for the sf bay area) so our children and their friends/cousins can play in the back of the house.
I guess I should rephrase that first sentence to children under 10 yrs old.
I think that in this day and age it is irresponsible unfit parenting to send your young kids outside to play by themselves without any parental supervision. Am I being judgmental? Yes. Overprotective? Maybe, but that is my belief. I live in a safe neighborhood of 950k homes and up. The streets are quiet and the homes are in immaculate condition. However, a simple random search of sex offenders in the area scared me. Idk why my neighbors allow their kids to roam freely in the front yard riding their bikes around multiple corners and back. We have large backyards (for the sf bay area) so our children and their friends/cousins can play in the back of the house.
I guess I should rephrase that first sentence to children under 10 yrs old.
Seriously, you need to look at the actual facts about sexual predators.
Statistics indicate that the majority of rape victims know their offender. A 1998 National Violence Against Women Survey revealed that 76% of rapes were committed by a current or former husband, live-in partner, or date acquaintance.
A Bureau of Justice Statistics study found 9 out of 10 rapes involved a single offender with whom the victim had a prior relationship as a family member, intimate partner, or acquaintance. (Greenfield 1997)
For child abuse victims, 60% of boys and 80% of girls were assaulted by a family member or acquaintance. (Lieb, Quinsey, Berliner, 1998)
“Almost two thirds of all rapes were committed by someone who is known to the victim. 73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger—38% of perpetrators were a friend or acquaintance of the victims, 28% were an intimate and 7% were another relative.” (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2005)
You might want to keep your kids away from their relatives or friends and coaches.
esearch is still evolving around what risk factors presage child sexual abuse due to the difficulty involved in getting data.
However, some general characteristics have been identified:
Age
Older children tend to be at greater risk for sexual abuse
0-3 y/o: 10% of victims
4-7 y/o: 28.4% of victims
8-11 y/o: 25% of victims
12 and older: 35.9% of victims
Note that children who are 12 and older are *more* at risk than younger children, so if you think that you should keep younger kids from playing outside alone, you might want to think about the fact that older kids are *more* likely to be targeted.
Every generation says this about the preceding one. When I was a little kid back in the late 90s/early 2000s, I remember hearing people say that kids our age never go outside anymore. Now, our generation is saying this about the little kids these days. Ten years from now, today's little kids will be saying the same thing about the new generation.
It just dawned on me the other day that when I'm driving through neighborhoods, I never see children, ever.
I grew up in the 90s (not that long ago), and I was always riding my bike or rollerblading up and down our street. When I would hang out with my friend a few houses down after school or on weekends, either I would walk to his house or he would walk to mine. There were always kids outside, especially during summer break. You never see that anymore. It's bizarre.
You do realize that the PS4 and Xbox One just came out.
None of my family members will be hearing from me for quite sometime .
My 6 year old boys say, "Can I go over to XYZ's house?" If I say yes, they are out the door running down the sidewalk...unsupervised. There are probably 6 other parents on my block that do the same. We have kids knocking on the door asking if my kids can play every weekend during the school year.
I could not wait to get outside and play when I was a kid!
Skateboards, bikes, building forts, Tonka Toys and Hot Wheel cars, football, tennis, picking up shells, etc.
Staying inside was boring. Although I learned at a young age to NEVER say "I'm bored" - my Dad would say "I will give you something to do that won't make you bored - clean out the garage, mow the yard, wash the car, read, study, do homework, etc.
We had one television, in the living room, with rabbit ears. And I was the remote control! When my parents wanted to watch something different, I was the one who changed the channel.
No Wii, X-Box, computer, internet, I-pod, I-pad, etc. We did play Life, Monopoly, Yaht-Zee, cards, etc.
Saturday night was "The Dukes of Hazard" and "ChiPs", and trying to stay up late enough to watch "Saturday Night Live"
The worst part of playing outside was that EVERYONE knew EVERYONE, meaning that if I misbehaved, other parents could scold me, and my parents would hear about it that night.
Good times. Each family knew each other and you knew your mom or dad or sibs would hear about it.
When my kids were growing up in the 90's and 00's, same thing - we knew all the neighbors - same thing. In fact, I just got off the phone with Mrs. Jones and that really is her name! I heard her son just got married - he's 24 - and that made me feel old!!
My neighborhood is filled with kids playing outside when the weather is good, or at least not brutally cold.
It's one of the best things about living where I do.
I know quite a few people who are terrified of letting their kids play "out front" and are even uncomfortable with playgrounds but think nothing of shuttling them here and there and back again.
Lessons and play-dates are all well and good, but, there is nothing like the freestyle, creative, cooperative play that kids devise themselves when allowed to embrace that little bit of independence.
My favorite experience from not too long ago: a bunch of elementary-school-aged kids trooping around the close-in streets and cul-de-sac of our sub-division with snow shovels asking residents if they wanted their driveways cleared of leaves.
Cutest thing ever.
My children have been playing outside alone, unsupervised, since they were 2 & 4 years old, sometimes for 2 hours straight. Granted, it was a fenced-in area and we have tons of space & almost no neighbors, but it's still somewhat unusual nowadays it seems.
I have no issues doing it. I think it's a great way to parent your kids. Kids need outdoor time & so do the parents. Having your kids joined at your hip 24/7 is just unhealthy in my opinion. They need entertainment beyond the TV and computer etc.
I think it depends on your neighborhood. Are the residents young families or retirees, etc? My neighborhood has a mix of young families, retirees and empty nesters. I walk my baby in his stroller around the neighborhood about 3 times a day, and in the afternoons and on the weekends there are often children out playing, riding bikes, scooters or running around playing games, especially in the cul de sacs (weather permitting of course).
As it has been getting colder here however, I see less children out. However, there is an outdoor ice skating rink within walking distance and that is packed with kids every night! I can't wait until my son is old enough to go
This^^. I've lived in several neighborhoods since having kids, my present hood for 24 years. My kids were 2 and 5 when we moved here. Some of the hoods had lots of kids out playing, some hardly any. The SES of the neighborhood didn't seem to matter too much, though the higher income 'hoods (2) did/do seem to have more kids outside than the other two, which were slightly lower cost houses.
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So true....
