Re:The High Cost of a Home Is Turning American Millennials i...
by yardie on Monday February 06, 2017 @05:04PM
(#13584664)
They were at home. Whether they were inside or in the backyard I can't say, big shrubs and picket fences. Some of the kids were whisked from school directly home by car even though it was a reasonable walk. These parents have an unreasonable fear that someone is going to kidnap their special snowflake.
We're back in the city now, not the downtown corridor but where the residential apartment buildings are. Lots of kids here. 3 parks within walking distance. 1 has an Olympic pool and kids splash pool. And in the week he's been enrolled lots of new friends. He's learning Spanish as well, not school Spanish but actual living Spanish. If he's like his father he'll learn the curse words first :-)
I think the poor planning of suburban neighborhoods caused the decline. Parks are too far apart. There are no sidewalks. Everyone is in a cul-de-sac making it difficult to pass by. I believe the suburbs are designed to be actively hostile to social interaction. This is the same adults as well as kids.
Did the other kids in your neighborhood mostly play in their backyards or inside at home?
When I was a kid, we were expected to go out and play in the front yard, or the street, or go ride our bikes to a park or open field or creek or convenience store, with the main restriction being that we be back for meals. Most suburbs kids were what would now be called a "free range" kid.
When families would go to a sporting event, or to a movie, or on a camping trip, it was common for their kids to be allowed to invite a friend to come along. There was enough interaction between the kids of different families that the parents had to talk on occasion, and so families tended to become acquainted somewhat through the relationships among their kids. If their kids participated in organized sports, parents would meet and talk with other parents in the stands while watching the games.
I wonder if the decline in free range kids is what caused the empty parks and insular behavior you experienced?