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My parents are baby boomers and they said there were just kids everywhere when they grew up. Every house on the street had at least two. Kids went outside to pl

My parents are baby boomers and they said there were just kids everywhere when they grew up. Every house on the street had at least two. Kids went outside to play. Parents had real perspective on the dangers and risks in life after living through ww2 and a kid falling out of a tree was not a concern.

ravenstine 9y ago
Growing up in the 90's, there were far more kids playing outside. Even in the early 2000's, I used to remark how kids aren't getting out much anymore. Now there are articles about this phenomenon that are being taken seriously, so I guess I was right.
conductr 9y ago
In the 80s/90s, I rarely had that many kids on my block but I was always outside. I had a bike and roamed ~10 mile radius around my house. So my friends and I would just meet up some place and decide where to go. I wouldn't say the war impacted the parental decision(s), historically kids always played outside so they were just continuing what they knew, but we kids did have safety in numbers and that's why I'd say this is a perpetuating issue. If a parent today told their kid to go outside and play, that kid would be alone and less safe. So parents just don't allow it.
- woolvalley 9y ago
  More like child services would be called and the parent charged with something. That foundational law is what prevents parents from sending out their kids nowadays.
mrfusion 9y ago
Makes me wonder how much of helicopter parenting is caused by emergency rooms becoming probibitevly expensive?
- AlecSchueler 9y ago
  It's the same all over the West, right? But emergency rooms are free in much of it as well.
mywittyname 9y ago
Don't forget the depression. The way my grandpa talked about growing up in the depression, I got the impression that kids were basically independent by the age of 7-8, out of necessity. Many of them had what could be considered part time jobs for after school and were responsible for running errands which could involve walking alone many miles from home to go shopping or drop something off.

ravenstine 9y ago

Growing up in the 90's, there were far more kids playing outside. Even in the early 2000's, I used to remark how kids aren't getting out much anymore. Now there are articles about this phenomenon that are being taken seriously, so I guess I was right.

conductr 9y ago

In the 80s/90s, I rarely had that many kids on my block but I was always outside. I had a bike and roamed ~10 mile radius around my house. So my friends and I would just meet up some place and decide where to go. I wouldn't say the war impacted the parental decision(s), historically kids always played outside so they were just continuing what they knew, but we kids did have safety in numbers and that's why I'd say this is a perpetuating issue. If a parent today told their kid to go outside and play, that kid would be alone and less safe. So parents just don't allow it.

woolvalley 9y ago
More like child services would be called and the parent charged with something. That foundational law is what prevents parents from sending out their kids nowadays.

mrfusion 9y ago

Makes me wonder how much of helicopter parenting is caused by emergency rooms becoming probibitevly expensive?

AlecSchueler 9y ago
It's the same all over the West, right? But emergency rooms are free in much of it as well.

mywittyname 9y ago

Don't forget the depression. The way my grandpa talked about growing up in the depression, I got the impression that kids were basically independent by the age of 7-8, out of necessity. Many of them had what could be considered part time jobs for after school and were responsible for running errands which could involve walking alone many miles from home to go shopping or drop something off.