Playing outside in the Sun?

Poor snowflakes will melt.

FTA: A whopping 78 per cent of mums and dads polled in a new survey said they would never let children under ten play outside in the street.

And over half don't think youngsters are safe online either.

Playing outside, and playing outside in the street are two different things subtard. Do wish more parents understood the dangers of hanging around online though.

There are not many things I detest more than modern parents of young children.

I understand giving into the peer pressure to keep your kids on lock down at all times. I periodically make my kids go outside. I have neighbors come over and report that my children were riding their bikes in the road. Yes, well circling the front lawn gets awfully boring. On another occasion, a neighbor dropped by because he thought I should know my kids were playing in the narrow strip of woods behind our house. He looked perfectly horrified when I said "Yeah, I gave them a choice between going out to play or scrubbing the toilet."

I haven't done that in a while and it's time for me to get back on my toes. Yesterday, my kids spent about 10 hours on electronic devices. One spent the entire day playing a single video game. We all love our computerized activities, but geesh, that's not healthy.

Nem Wan: We live in the safest, most peaceful time in history.

This is not a repeat from 1913.

What shavs downing cider, kicking in mail boxes and stealing purses from old ladies. innit great.

I remember when my parents wouldn't let me play inside.

Lunaville: I understand giving into the peer pressure to keep your kids on lock down at all times. I periodically make my kids go outside. I have neighbors come over and report that my children were riding their bikes in the road. Yes, well circling the front lawn gets awfully boring. On another occasion, a neighbor dropped by because he thought I should know my kids were playing in the narrow strip of woods behind our house. He looked perfectly horrified when I said "Yeah, I gave them a choice between going out to play or scrubbing the toilet."

I haven't done that in a while and it's time for me to get back on my toes. Yesterday, my kids spent about 10 hours on electronic devices. One spent the entire day playing a single video game. We all love our computerized activities, but geesh, that's not healthy.

I love my games too, but there were times my mother had to practically put out an APB to figure out where my friends and I had wandered off to.

The comments in the article seem to support what the article claims, sadly. People are idiots. Crime is way down from a couple decades ago. Go read the UCR (uniform crime reports) from the FBI. The sensationalism in media is what makes everyone think crime is all over and higher than ever. If I ever have kids, they damn well will be outside. Might even make them drink hose water.

kd8our: What shavs downing cider, kicking in mail boxes and stealing purses from old ladies. innit great.

Speak English to me, Tony. I thought this country spawned the farking language, and so far nobody seems to speak it.

Stantz: [img.photobucket.com image 460x276]

I don't think there is room to print pictures of the million five-year-olds who haven't been abducted and killed by trusted friends of the family this year. Still, it's nice to hear that somebody is thinking of teh children.

I grew up outside.
born in 1960
raised in Georgia
we had a creek about 100yds from the house so there was plenty of swimming and fishing.
rode dirt bikes and played ball.
had a dog ,a bike,a skateboard and didn't have to be home until after dark.

way south: I remember when my parents wouldn't let me play inside.

ain't that the truth.

Uhhh, kids under 10 shouldn't play in the street. Hell, unless you live on a quiet cul-de-sac, no one should play in the street. The street is for cars.

INeedAName: there were times my mother had to practically put out an APB to figure out where my friends and I had wandered off to.

My parents didn't have that problem, because they didn't call us.
They'd call the dogs.

/Dogs went where we went.
/we went where the dogs went.
/German shepherds know where the action is at.

Hell,when I was a young-un we didn't have an inside.Yup,we worked and played under the sun,slept and farked under the stars.Least ways that's how I 'member it.

The shock findings also reveal most people feel less safe than they did ten years ago, even though crime is DOWN.

Not that sensationalist, fear-mongering media like THE SUN have anything to do with this.

Uh, no, I'm not going to let my under-10 year old children play in the street. Especially considering our road is a high traffic road. In our yard, though? Of course. At the playground? Definitely. Let them on a computer? Not yet. Not sure how "playing outside" got equated to "playing in the street". I would hope that no parents were letting their kids play in the street.

bborchar: Uh, no, I'm not going to let my under-10 year old children play in the street. Especially considering our road is a high traffic road. In our yard, though? Of course. At the playground? Definitely. Let them on a computer? Not yet. Not sure how "playing outside" got equated to "playing in the street". I would hope that no parents were letting their kids play in the street.

It makes me wonder how much the other 22% hate their kids.

Cerebral Knievel: A childhood without an oppertunity operatunitee to loose a finger is a childhood wasted.

Sorry, pet peeve.

Hobodeluxe: I grew up outside.
born in 1960
raised in Georgia
we had a creek about 100yds from the house so there was plenty of swimming and fishing.
rode dirt bikes and played ball.
had a dog ,a bike,a skateboard and didn't have to be home until after dark.

way south: I remember when my parents wouldn't let me play inside.

ain't that the truth.

Hello, I also grew up in Georgia. My mother shoved us all outside right after breakfast or, when we were older, the second homework was completed. Then, she locked the doors and we stayed outside until dark. If I needed to use the restroom, I had to knock on the door. She would open the door wide enough for me to see one eye and say "What?" When I told her what I needed she'd say "Straight to the bathroom and right back outside! You're not spending the day slumped in front of the television." We would spend the whole day in the woods. As we got older and began to wander a bit further, we spent long hours in a local creek and found an empty lot that was perfect for mud-sledding in wet weather. We loved getting a running start, belly-flopping and zooming down hill through the twists and turns at that site. My mother, despite her love of outdoor play, did despise what the red clay did to our clothes when we went mud-sledding though.

bborchar: Uh, no, I'm not going to let my under-10 year old children play in the street. Especially considering our road is a high traffic road. In our yard, though? Of course. At the playground? Definitely. Let them on a computer? Not yet. Not sure how "playing outside" got equated to "playing in the street". I would hope that no parents were letting their kids play in the street.

Because cyclists have no right to use the road? Most kids get their first bike at around age six. The road is where most people ride their bikes. I'm certain that's where you rode yours and still do if you own a bike.
You're why I went to my doctor when my kids received their first bicycles and said "Help, I need a Valium prescription." Wisely, he said "No."
Yes, I know you're going to argue that things are different now than when you were a kid and that's why todays' children shouldn't be allowed to ride their bikes in the street. And you're right things are different. A lot more people are a$$holes about kids now.

Nem Wan: We live in the safest, most peaceful time in history.

Yes, we have personal firearms now. The great equalizer.

I'm so nervous I won't even let my kid be born.

thurstonxhowell: Uhhh, kids under 10 shouldn't play in the street.

"Play in the street" is UK -speak for "play around the neighbourhood", as opposed to playing in parks, gardens and other set-aside areas.

So when the question was posed via song, why don't we do it in the road, what they really meant was, why won't we knock on our neighbor's door and see if he wouldn't mind us coming in for a fark?

Lunaville: I understand giving into the peer pressure to keep your kids on lock down at all times. I periodically make my kids go outside. I have neighbors come over and report that my children were riding their bikes in the road. Yes, well circling the front lawn gets awfully boring. On another occasion, a neighbor dropped by because he thought I should know my kids were playing in the narrow strip of woods behind our house. He looked perfectly horrified when I said "Yeah, I gave them a choice between going out to play or scrubbing the toilet."

I haven't done that in a while and it's time for me to get back on my toes. Yesterday, my kids spent about 10 hours on electronic devices. One spent the entire day playing a single video game. We all love our computerized activities, but geesh, that's not healthy.

Do you live in my neighborhood? People are ridiculous here. Most of them either have no kids or have one precious snowflake

ninotchka: Lunaville: I understand giving into the peer pressure to keep your kids on lock down at all times. I periodically make my kids go outside. I have neighbors come over and report that my children were riding their bikes in the road. Yes, well circling the front lawn gets awfully boring. On another occasion, a neighbor dropped by because he thought I should know my kids were playing in the narrow strip of woods behind our house. He looked perfectly horrified when I said "Yeah, I gave them a choice between going out to play or scrubbing the toilet."

I haven't done that in a while and it's time for me to get back on my toes. Yesterday, my kids spent about 10 hours on electronic devices. One spent the entire day playing a single video game. We all love our computerized activities, but geesh, that's not healthy.

Do you live in my neighborhood? People are ridiculous here. Most of them either have no kids or have one precious snowflake

I've found people with no kids at all are nearly always parenting experts.

I admit that I give my children about an 1/8th of the freedom I had as a child. Big difference in times though. If my boys were to partake in the type of behavior we did as children, I would be constantly dealing with child services ~ usually due to calls made by those nosey neighbors with a greater perception of how your children should be parented.
The choice to keep a tighter tether on the kids isn't from fearing the trouble the children may wander into. The choice is derived from child services being far too trigger happy when it comes to taking children from their parents and the obstacle course you're put through in order to earn them back.

We lease a townhouse. The front street IS the community playground, surrounded by other townhouses in a triangle formation. I can sit on my couch and watch my young children play at the park. I MAKE them play outside.

Lunaville: bborchar: Uh, no, I'm not going to let my under-10 year old children play in the street. Especially considering our road is a high traffic road. In our yard, though? Of course. At the playground? Definitely. Let them on a computer? Not yet. Not sure how "playing outside" got equated to "playing in the street". I would hope that no parents were letting their kids play in the street.

Because cyclists have no right to use the road? Most kids get their first bike at around age six. The road is where most people ride their bikes. I'm certain that's where you rode yours and still do if you own a bike.
You're why I went to my doctor when my kids received their first bicycles and said "Help, I need a Valium prescription." Wisely, he said "No."
Yes, I know you're going to argue that things are different now than when you were a kid and that's why todays' children shouldn't be allowed to ride their bikes in the street. And you're right things are different. A lot more people are a$$holes about kids now.

My kids are 3 and 1 :p And I live on a main street. Not all roads are safe for bicyclists, mine included. Now, when the weather is nice, we walk to the library, park or preschool. And when my daughter is old enough, she'll walk to school because it's very close. But I will take my daughter and son to ride their bikes down the trail that goes all through the city and down into the country for miles instead of in the middle of a street where no one obeys the traffic laws. We even closed the street down for our block party (we do it one day each year), and that still didn't stop some idiot from going around the barrier and almost hitting the group of kids playing in the road.

A child that grows up without at least one trip to the doctor / hospital because of a play-related injury hasn't had a real childhood. Children are supposed to push those boundaries. Sometimes they get hurt as a result. It's a learning experience.

Too many of today's parents are a bunch of sissies and the damage they're doing to their kids is worse than a broken arm or skinned knee.

Lunaville: I understand giving into the peer pressure to keep your kids on lock down at all times. I periodically make my kids go outside. I have neighbors come over and report that my children were riding their bikes in the road. Yes, well circling the front lawn gets awfully boring. On another occasion, a neighbor dropped by because he thought I should know my kids were playing in the narrow strip of woods behind our house. He looked perfectly horrified when I said "Yeah, I gave them a choice between going out to play or scrubbing the toilet."

I haven't done that in a while and it's time for me to get back on my toes. Yesterday, my kids spent about 10 hours on electronic devices. One spent the entire day playing a single video game. We all love our computerized activities, but geesh, that's not healthy.

This. My 3 yr old plays outside with parental supervision. There are several.older kids (5-8 yrs old) who play with him. He loves being outside, and by god we're going to nurture that.

Too many of my students are on devices constantly. Many of them have never really been allowed to be kids and explore because they have helicopter parents. The kids and parents both are outrageously obnoxious.

My son will be covered in dirt as much as possible. I want him to have the same freedom in childhood as i did.

Techincally, the people saying that its so much safer now for kids might be messing up the causality, i.e. its safer for kids because they are no longer playing outside unsupervised.

dittybopper: i52.tinypic.com

You were making a good point....till this pic. Packing a cannon may be a tad extreme.

dittybopper: ninotchka: Do you live in my neighborhood? People are ridiculous here. Most of them either have no kids or have one precious snowflake

In my neighborhood the average number of kids per house with kids is 2. We have one, neighbor has 2, then 1, then 1, then 5.

The neighborhood we're currently in is nice, but it doesn't compare to the awesome that was our old neighborhood. The old neighborhood was primarily working class and most of the house held two nuclear families with kids. So, a three bedroom house might contain two brothers, their wives and five or six kids. The kids played together all the time. We parents exchanged phone numbers to keep up with them. Some of the Moms worked and we made a list of houses the latch key kids could flee to in case of a dire emergency. I was deeply impressed with the fact that a few people in the area, who had adult children or who had never had children, came around and said "Put me on that emergency list for the kids."

I used to bake cookies from early October to late February. There were so many kids to gobble them up, they would disappear in an hour and no one got fat. In this neighborhood, a single batch of cookies goes stale before they are finished. It sucks a lot of the fun out of baking cookies.

There was a little girl next door that used to come over about three times a year and request a birthday cake for her Mom. She and I would look at recipes together. I would let several kids help make the cake giving out one egg each to three or four children, letting them take turns with the mixer, and so on. I would write "Happy Birthday xxxxx" on the cake with frosting. One day the Mom, who spoke little English, came over with a much older daughter to explain that she only had one birthday a year. It was so funny.

I like the new neighborhood, but it could use a lot more kids.