We forbid our kids from going outside, and then we we wonder why they're always inside on their phones (bullying, games)

[redguitar77111]

We tell kids that they can't go outside and/or hang out with friends because of kidnapping, bullying, peer pressure, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, falling behind on schoolwork, etc., and then we complain about our kids always being inside on their phones. Such hypocrisy.

[BirdieBelle]

You tell your kids they can't play outside "because of sex"?

Parenting is about management and is an active process, not a passive one. Hopefully those who are complaining aren't doing it while looking down at their own phones.

[redguitar77111]

Originally Posted by BirdieBelle

You tell your kids they can't play outside "because of sex"?

By "we", I meant "the public".

[Magritte25]

I agree with the general message of the OP.

It cracks me up when people lament the use of phones then complain when kids are :gasp: outside playing by themselves. I've taken it upon myself to thumb my nose at detractors and do what I think is right with my kids. They go to the park by themselves, they go for walks by themselves, ODS goes out for pizza, to the mall, etc. by himself. YDS will be allowed the same independence when he is ready for it.

And for the adults in the neighborhood, the mall, pizza shop etc who don't like it? Too bad.

[annabanana123]

We encourage our son to play outside as much as possible as do our neighbors. Our son has a limited free range (he can go to certain neighbors and in limited parts of a park but not out of eyesight from our windows/deck). We don’t have a phone and if he does anything on the tablet he has 30 mins max.

[Metaphysique]

?

My kids are in school most of the day and there aren't as many kids their age in my neighborhood. Most are too young or high school students, or too obnoxious and have zero interest in interacting with them.

So they stay inside and enjoy solitary activities, especially when it's cold or ungodly hot.

[nana053]

Kids here in my town go outside to play frequently.

With the youngest, we usually had one or more parents sitting outside watching them to make sure that they were not going to be hit by a car. With the older kids, they walk to the park in our subdivision and play by themselves (usually by the time they are 8 or 9). They also walk to the pool once they are 13 (that's the age when they are allowed in without parental supervision).

This is true of pretty much everyone here in our subdivision.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by redguitar77111

By "we", I meant "the public".

You're not speaking for me. My grandkids are allowed to play outside, in fact are encouraged to do so.

[Pincho-toot]

I'm raising my kids to go outside. Thats how it was for me. I played video games and watched TV (didn't use a computer til I was like 11-12 and then it was my mom's, not my own) but my parents made sure I got plenty of outdoor play whether its baseball in the backyard, jumping on the trampoline, riding the swings, hanging out with the neighbour kids etc. etc.

I actually used my imagination as a kid. Had sword fights with sticks, pretended to be pirates, made up adventure stories with my brother etc. And we didn't have a pool so every summer we went to my aunt's pool, or we just played in the backyard with a hose or had water balloon fights. Kids need to be able to do that. Don't keep them locked up inside. Don't spoil them with unlimited internet access (there's more danger to them from a cyber predator than a random creep picking them off the front yard) Encourage imagination and play.

My kids are going out year round. Going to parks, riding bikes around the neighbourhood, making snowforts, going sledding, swimming in pools and lakes. Its only a "sign of the times" because of how parents raise their kids. I also don't understand how parents who grew up in the 80s and 90s, in a time where kids had more outdoor play and more freedom, have raised their kids so differently then how their generation was raised. What brought this shift? Its funny you watch a show like Stranger Things or you watch something that actually came out in the 80s like the Goonies, and kids today are nothing like that. Parents shelter them too much and give them all these gadgets, even if they have bad grades or misbehave, and I've seen it with my youngest step-brother. The kid is literally illiterate, misbehaves all the time, has repeated 2nd or 3rd grade, how many times? What does his dad do? Nothing. Give him as many video games and tablets as he wants, doesn't emphasise him working on homework or school work. I also think its this overhype of crime in the media. Its safer now than the 80s and 90s and you wouldn't realise it.

[nana053]

Yeah, I wonder who this *we* is because no one here does that.