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When I was a kid, I played outside everyday. Rode my bike through all parts of the city. I'm still alive and well. These helicopter parents need to understand that their kids are probably exposed to worse things on the internet while at home...not to mention living a sedentary lifestyle being conducive to adverse health conditions.
my neighborhood is full of kids playing outside; basketball, soccer, riding bikes, the usual stuff. My next door neighbor has two kids, I have no idea what they look like. They never come out of the house except by the garage in the car. So bizarre to me. I have lived here two years and would not recognize them on the street. But then, I don't think their mother has ever even said hello to me so, guess it's a family thing.
I don't forbid my kids from going outside, but I tell the older one that she needs to be somewhere on the street where I can see both her and younger sister. She was a little irritated when she asked if she could walk home from school and I said she could, but she needed to have a group with at least two responsible classmates that also walked home with her.
Last school year (5th grade), my oldest daughter was the only one in her class that didn't have a cell phone.
Personally, my kids don't have phones to be on, and I would prefer for them to play outside more (however, there are typically no kids outside) and interacting with other kids. However, we don't live in a vacuum, but there are definitely options of things to do all out and about, but if I go to the park and it's only my kids, they definitely aren't as motivated as they would be if they had friends to play with on the jungle gym, slide, etc.
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.
"Who is We" society in general, there is so much fear projecting on people by the media it's alarming. Plus, you have people who will not hesitate to call CPS on you if your child is out alone. Also, we as a whole, society in general, forces kids to grow up too quickly. We allow them to spend all their time on social media, and devices, and tell them that they should be over playing outside and being kids by the time their 12.
"Who is We" society in general, there is so much fear projecting on people by the media it's alarming. Plus, you have people who will not hesitate to call CPS on you if your child is out alone. Also, we as a whole, society in general, forces kids to grow up too quickly. We allow them to spend all their time on social media, and devices, and tell them that they should be over playing outside and being kids by the time their 12.
No society in general doesn't. Any of that. And we don't expect them to be over being kids by 12, except to become teenagers who are a whole 'nother species.
I have to wonder, where are all these areas where kids don't/are forbidden to play outside? Because every neighborhood I've lived in since college has been full of kids constantly outside, trespassing and screaming at the top of their lungs at all hours of day (and night). My last house, they started running the neighborhood unsupervised by age three at the latest.
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