6 ms·

It’s a strange article from an outside-US perspective. My 2.5 year old in daycare has lots of play time (at least 3 hours a day), plus at an hour at home in th

It’s a strange article from an outside-US perspective. My 2.5 year old in daycare has lots of play time (at least 3 hours a day), plus at an hour at home in the morning and evening. Usually about 1 hour is on the iPad (Toca Blocks is her free play game), the rest with books, blocks, in the garden with flowers, on her tricycle... The 9 year old’s “before and after school” program is all about free play time, plus two hours max screen time at home, though in summer this is usually replaced by bike rides and/or play dates or day camps, with ... lots of free time to balance out any structured activities. Other than studying for spelling quizzes, there has been no homework from Kindergarten through grade 3. I regularly see kids at the mall or hanging out in parks. Free time abounds in our world... the biggest issue is there are fewer clusters of neighbourhood kids, friends are more geographically dispersed over a wider area, so play date coordination by parents is a must.

konart 7y ago
>the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression rose by more than 60 percent among those ages 14 to 17, and 47 percent among those ages 12 to 13. I also find this article strange, from where I live 12-15 year olds have plenty of free time and time to play. And after 16, well, it is to be expected to have less free time. You are about to become an adult.
Grzegrzolka 7y ago
USA is just slowly rotting away. From what I read here about how modern life in US looks like I seriously suspect that there will be some kind of massive epidemic mind deseases outburst there in 15-30 years.
- codingslave 7y ago
  Yeah, I agree. There's real issues that arent being addressed, and maybe they can't be addressed. I consider myself smart, but can't really tell whats true anymore. Which side should I be on, why is the USA declining, its complicated
  - Pimpus 7y ago
    The US became too prosperous, too fast. They're an example for other countries to learn from in their own development - emulate the good parts, avoid the bad. In Eastern Europe smart phones are just starting to become commonplace and people are already aware of how harmful they are, parents especially. The US does have one huge advantage the other countries don't though. > I can't really tell what's true anymore This is by design, and politics is just stagecraft meant to hypnotize the masses, distract and confuse them.
    - scroy 7y ago
      > The US does have one huge advantage the other countries don't though. What's that?
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
    There are plenty of good organizations out there still, providing good data. You have to use logic to rule out the impossible and improbable, look for biases, and support initiatives for open access to data. America’s true success was in having a large contingent of people trustworthy enough to cultivate a society that didn’t get bogged down in small transaction costs like needing to bribe town officials or worry about deliveries or food/vehicle/road/etc safety and quality. If we lose that trust in America for each other overall, then we will unravel.
  - Apofis 7y ago
    Not enough is being said publicly. This is one of the main issues.
- dougmwne 7y ago
  That epidemic is here. After the opiod crisis, overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50. Suicide is increasing for all age cohorts, not just teenagers. Deaths from alcohol are increasing. Life expextancy in the US has been declining for 3 years. I actually suspect we'll start to get a handle on these problems in the next few years since we're beginning to collectively wake up to the importance of mental health and the damage our screens and isolation are doing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_Unite... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/11/16/alcohol-deaths-emergency-room-increase-middle-aged-women-addiction-opioids/1593347002/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/11/16/alcohol...
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    >That epidemic is here. After the opiod crisis, overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50. I'm 34, in the past month or so 2 people I went to high school with have died via overdose. It's ridiculous.
  - idoubtit 7y ago
    You forgot the most mind-related epidemic disease in the USA: obesity. Without the proper education or mind sanity, it's hard to resist the constant assault of junk food. Now 21% of the American teenagers are obese, and 39% of adults. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
  - nscalf 7y ago
    You don't have to wait until people get that old to see an epidemic, we have a mass shooting in a school nearly daily.
    - WarDores 7y ago
      It's false ideas like this that lead to the "we need to bubble wrap our kids" mentality.
- tasssko 7y ago
  This is a sweeping generalisation, I bet there are parts of the USA that are thriving and communities that are booming. What we need is more clarity about what is the root cause of the problem. The motivation for my comment is we see similar trends in all developed countries and the symptoms are identical so calling out this issue as being USA is a missed opportunity to focus on the problem. My follow up would be which people and communities are most affected ?
  - m_mueller 7y ago
    As a Swiss, when I see that constant supervision is mandated in many US states until 12 years old, then I have to think that there's more than just isolated communities there where it's going wrong. You basically have laws that make anything other than what we call helicopter parenting illegal.
    - neuronic 7y ago
      As a European who spent more than half a decade in the US, this is the US in general. Not just with children. The entire society is build as if its members are too ignorant/not educated enough to follow even basic principles or etiquette. It's like instead of education the society revolves around babysitting.
    - _trampeltier 7y ago
      But even here in switzerland. For ex. we played cooking on my grandmothers house on a small toy kitchen where you have to use "META Tabletten" to make a fire. On my parents house we coocked with small children electric plates (10cm or less diameter). The panes where just large enough for an egg or so. Today it is possible to buy large toy kitchen, but on no of them you really can cook. There are just no real children kitchen anymore .. to dangerous.
      - m_mueller 7y ago
        I remember those too. I still think there's a difference between making kids toys a bit safer and literally taking away their time and space to flourish and replace it with some insane adult-mandated schedule, and then have f-ing Jira boards with your kids as recently discussed here.
- ocschwar 7y ago
  It's here: depression. Opiate addiction. And the whole 2016 derangement.
- Apofis 7y ago
  It's already happening.
fangsout 7y ago
I grew up in Florida in the late 80's/early 90's and now have 2 children under the age of 7. Their days are almost exactly as you describe your children's days (and in public school). I think you need to take anything coming from US news with a healthy dose of skepticism. I do think it's healthy to discuss these topics to help remind us of its importance, but it's not as bad as everyone would have you believe in the online world.

konart 7y ago

>the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression rose by more than 60 percent among those ages 14 to 17, and 47 percent among those ages 12 to 13. I also find this article strange, from where I live 12-15 year olds have plenty of free time and time to play. And after 16, well, it is to be expected to have less free time. You are about to become an adult.

Grzegrzolka 7y ago

USA is just slowly rotting away. From what I read here about how modern life in US looks like I seriously suspect that there will be some kind of massive epidemic mind deseases outburst there in 15-30 years.

codingslave 7y ago
Yeah, I agree. There's real issues that arent being addressed, and maybe they can't be addressed. I consider myself smart, but can't really tell whats true anymore. Which side should I be on, why is the USA declining, its complicated
- Pimpus 7y ago
  The US became too prosperous, too fast. They're an example for other countries to learn from in their own development - emulate the good parts, avoid the bad. In Eastern Europe smart phones are just starting to become commonplace and people are already aware of how harmful they are, parents especially. The US does have one huge advantage the other countries don't though. > I can't really tell what's true anymore This is by design, and politics is just stagecraft meant to hypnotize the masses, distract and confuse them.
  - scroy 7y ago
    > The US does have one huge advantage the other countries don't though. What's that?
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  There are plenty of good organizations out there still, providing good data. You have to use logic to rule out the impossible and improbable, look for biases, and support initiatives for open access to data. America’s true success was in having a large contingent of people trustworthy enough to cultivate a society that didn’t get bogged down in small transaction costs like needing to bribe town officials or worry about deliveries or food/vehicle/road/etc safety and quality. If we lose that trust in America for each other overall, then we will unravel.
- Apofis 7y ago
  Not enough is being said publicly. This is one of the main issues.
dougmwne 7y ago
That epidemic is here. After the opiod crisis, overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50. Suicide is increasing for all age cohorts, not just teenagers. Deaths from alcohol are increasing. Life expextancy in the US has been declining for 3 years. I actually suspect we'll start to get a handle on these problems in the next few years since we're beginning to collectively wake up to the importance of mental health and the damage our screens and isolation are doing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic_in_the_Unite... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/11/16/alcohol-deaths-emergency-room-increase-middle-aged-women-addiction-opioids/1593347002/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2018/11/16/alcohol...
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  >That epidemic is here. After the opiod crisis, overdose is now the leading cause of death for those under 50. I'm 34, in the past month or so 2 people I went to high school with have died via overdose. It's ridiculous.
- idoubtit 7y ago
  You forgot the most mind-related epidemic disease in the USA: obesity. Without the proper education or mind sanity, it's hard to resist the constant assault of junk food. Now 21% of the American teenagers are obese, and 39% of adults. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
- nscalf 7y ago
  You don't have to wait until people get that old to see an epidemic, we have a mass shooting in a school nearly daily.
  - WarDores 7y ago
    It's false ideas like this that lead to the "we need to bubble wrap our kids" mentality.
tasssko 7y ago
This is a sweeping generalisation, I bet there are parts of the USA that are thriving and communities that are booming. What we need is more clarity about what is the root cause of the problem. The motivation for my comment is we see similar trends in all developed countries and the symptoms are identical so calling out this issue as being USA is a missed opportunity to focus on the problem. My follow up would be which people and communities are most affected ?
- m_mueller 7y ago
  As a Swiss, when I see that constant supervision is mandated in many US states until 12 years old, then I have to think that there's more than just isolated communities there where it's going wrong. You basically have laws that make anything other than what we call helicopter parenting illegal.
  - neuronic 7y ago
    As a European who spent more than half a decade in the US, this is the US in general. Not just with children. The entire society is build as if its members are too ignorant/not educated enough to follow even basic principles or etiquette. It's like instead of education the society revolves around babysitting.
  - _trampeltier 7y ago
    But even here in switzerland. For ex. we played cooking on my grandmothers house on a small toy kitchen where you have to use "META Tabletten" to make a fire. On my parents house we coocked with small children electric plates (10cm or less diameter). The panes where just large enough for an egg or so. Today it is possible to buy large toy kitchen, but on no of them you really can cook. There are just no real children kitchen anymore .. to dangerous.
    - m_mueller 7y ago
      I remember those too. I still think there's a difference between making kids toys a bit safer and literally taking away their time and space to flourish and replace it with some insane adult-mandated schedule, and then have f-ing Jira boards with your kids as recently discussed here.
ocschwar 7y ago
It's here: depression. Opiate addiction. And the whole 2016 derangement.
Apofis 7y ago
It's already happening.

fangsout 7y ago

I grew up in Florida in the late 80's/early 90's and now have 2 children under the age of 7. Their days are almost exactly as you describe your children's days (and in public school). I think you need to take anything coming from US news with a healthy dose of skepticism. I do think it's healthy to discuss these topics to help remind us of its importance, but it's not as bad as everyone would have you believe in the online world.