I’ve lived in blue states all my live.. I’ve neither lived nor seen what the author describes.. The media exaggerates social memes and then tears them down.
So some people overschedule their kids, suddenly we’re supposed to believe it’s commonplace, and then we’re supposed to believe there’s a backlash against this imagined phenomenon.. Maybe they just lack the wits to face a world with real problems, and then to do their jobs and write about them.
It's commonplace in the areas where Time writers and editors live: in Washington D.C. and New York. I live in the suburbs of DC and I see it all the time. Parents and teachers here thought I was very neglectful that I let my children walk four blocks home from school through a tranquil neighborhood. (Apparently I should have driven them to school and back.) The children of such people have a heavy social schedule, full of lessons, parties, lunch dates, play dates, and other obligations; if the kids are going to play together they have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance. No knocking on the front door and asking, "Can Wilhelmina come out and play, Mrs Smith?"--in the unlikely event that someone answers the door, the answer will be that Wilhelmina is at her art lesson, or soccer camp, or shopping for a gift for someone's party, or having her riding or gymnastics or French lesson, or getting her hair cut or at a play date.
Some of these unfortunate children were delighted and mystified beyond words when my kids and I took them for a simple walk in the woods that lie only two blocks from their house. They had never seen such wonders before; their idea of recreation is shopping at Nordstrom and lunch at some fashionable little restaurant. The idea of going camping is mystifying and horrible to them.
I live in a blue state and I very rarely see kids out on the street.