Back in the old days, kids in the summertime would go out and play all day. Kids would play baseball or other games. Kids could just ride bikes and explore the neighborhood, go to friends houses, etc. without having the parents have to make a play date.
Nowadays, parents want their kids supervised at all times, and don’t let them have the freedom that previous generations of kids did to go outside and play. I know that the fear of crime, perverts, and accidents is what has driven today’s parents to want their children supervised at all times.
If the alternative is for kids to sit around, watch TV, and play video games, then that explains part of the obesity problem. They aren’t getting enough exercise.
I remember vividly leaving the house around 9 or so, coming back for a quick lunch, then leaving and not coming back until dinner. The rule was to never be out of range of my mom’s yell. If she called me for and I couldn’t hear her, I was too far away. That being said, she had quite a voice and other moms would relay messages. I biked, built forts, raced, climbed trees and yep, did some things I shouldn’t have. The rains would come down and we wouldn’t come in, that was the time to go build a damn in the culvert. Nowadays? Kids are inside all day long in my neighborhood all summer long. Kind of sad.
One thing you missed. Back in the good ol’ days, moms were at home and didn’t send their kids to camps all summer long.
We’re home, and there are no kids to play with.
It’s a pain to schedule “playdates”.
That describes my summer days. In the summer of 1960, when I was nine years old, would take frequent bike rides and came to know every alley in the five-square-mile area surrounding my home in West Whittier, Calif. I would often run errands, riding up the alley to the supermarket or the drugstore--which would be unthinkable today, with gang graffiti covering the walls along many of these same alleys.
All that is gone, not only the exercise, but the freedom.
We used to ride our bikes everywhere while carrying baseball bats, gloves, golf clubs, basketballs and other sports equipment. Guess what, *gasp* we NEVER wore helmets.
The best way to ruin a kid's good time is for the parents to get involved with the kid's play. LEAVE THEM ALONE! Kids need to make their own rules and solve their own problems, and left alone, they do a pretty good job until the parents screw thinks up.
“...Kids could just ride bikes and explore the neighborhood, go to friends houses, etc. without having the parents have to make a play date.
“Nowadays, parents want their kids supervised at all times, and don’t let them have the freedom that previous generations of kids did to go outside and play.”
In many large cities kids can’t go outside to play thanks to the perverts and gang-bangers shooting like they are at an Afghani wedding. Unfortunately some parents are unwilling or unable to supervise their kids plaing outside. It is a shame.