• Devi
    link
    fedilink
    723 months ago

    Not all, but most don’t seem to have adventures. When I was a kid I’d go off into the woods and build a den or climb a tree, we once spent a whole week trying to dam a stream, god knows why. None of my friends kids go anywhere by themselves, a lot of them do ‘forest school’ where they’ll be taken by adults to a sanitised woodland and taught how to build a teepee with pre cut wood, and it’s just not the same thing.

    • @pixelscript@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      573 months ago

      A lot of folks blame this on kids simply not wanting to go outside anymore. But I believe a significant dimension to it also lies in the fact that the world is a lot more hyper vigilant about punishing things like trespassing, loitering, hooliganism, and the like.

      The woods? Whose woods? Someone owns that land. Are they gonna call the cops on you if they notice you’re in there? Do they not want you damming up their creek? Is that going to be considered vandalism? Do they not want to be liable if you injure yourself on their property? All questions that probably aren’t in a kid’s head, but I imagine would be on a modern parent’s. The safety risks are high. Always were, that’s not new. But the legal risks are new.

      And yeah, it’s not like getting in trouble for these sorts of things didn’t happen back in, say, my dad’s childhood. But I’d wager my dad would have gotten picked up by cops in his youth and sent off with stern tut-tut by the local sheriff for being just another incident of rowdy boys being boys, while my kid (if I had one) would be far more likely to make it out with a criminal record if they’re old enough, or trigger a lawsuit against me for my negligence if they aren’t.

      • Devi
        link
        fedilink
        13 months ago

        Woods aren’t often ‘owned’ here.

    • Fleppensteyn
      link
      fedilink
      353 months ago

      I never see kids playing outside. There are parks, fields, forests around where I live.

      Over time I learned there are actually kids living in my apartment building but I have no clue what they do all day. It’s kind of depressing.

      • @Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        143 months ago

        The town I live in renovated a park to have a gigantic playground, and every nice weekend day I’ve been there there’s tons of kids and parents there. On Halloween there were tons of kids out despite it being around 0F out that night. But random weeknights? I don’t see kids playing in yards much. I don’t see kids riding their bikes to convenience stores to get snacks. I think the risk acceptance of parents has shifted a lot plus kids are more able to occupy themselves with fondleslabs so they have multiple reasons to not go outside

        • Fleppensteyn
          link
          fedilink
          133 months ago

          Playgrounds are fenced off and parents constantly stay within 2 steps of their helmet wearing kids here in Czech Republic. When those kids are older than toddler age, they disappear from public life.

          It’s not like that in my home country where maybe they just sit around playing with their phones, but at least they’re outside with friends.

      • Apathy Tree
        link
        fedilink
        English
        123 months ago

        A building down the street from where I live has like 3 families with kids renting and they are always outside in a big gaggle. Like is the weather close to halfway decent? They are out.

        I think because their parents are never around supervising them. But that’s about the only place with obvious kids. There must be more, but I have no idea where.

      • Matengor
        link
        fedilink
        4
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        I read an article recently about kids not spending much time outdoors anymore. One of the main reasons not mentioned here seems to be that the majority has nice rooms for themselves at home, and they enjoy the time they spend there.

        Kids rooms are a lot nicer nowadays, and often they don’t need to share it with a sibling as they might have 30 years ago. Also the amount of toys has risen, I suppose.

        Not that this is entirely a good thing. Children need to spend more time outdoors. But let them enjoy their indoor time if they want to.

      • @AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        4
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Do the parks have benches? Cities keep ripping out the benches and plants so the kids (and those experiencing homelessness) have no privacy

        • Fleppensteyn
          link
          fedilink
          33 months ago

          Yes, for some reason shrubs and plants are ripped out more and more. Lots of nice areas are now just empty patches of grass. Not sure about the homeless but it is much harder now to find a place to pee in private if you’re outside a lot

      • Devi
        link
        fedilink
        23 months ago

        Same. There are a few kids in my road that will play directly outside their houses, but when I say ‘kids’, definitely 12+. One kid about 15 sets up skateboard ramps and does jumps which I love to see, but actual kids? Never see them without their parents. Kids are taken to school into their teens, I’d have been mortified if my parents came to school past like 9 or 10.

    • @Alice@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      103 months ago

      I’d be so scared to let a kid do that now. Barbed wire is everywhere, everyone wants to brandish a gun at strangers, and truck drivers can’t even see pedestrians anymore.

      I don’t have kids though, because I couldn’t force a kid to hide indoors all day, either.

      • Devi
        link
        fedilink
        33 months ago

        We used to scramble over barbed wire fences like it was nothing. My dad actually speared his leg on a fence spike as a kid, at least barbed wire just cuts you up a bit. None of our parents had any idea we were doing that though, we’d come home if we needed a plaster and say we fell off a bike or something.

        • Alto
          link
          fedilink
          13 months ago

          Or more likely, they knew nut didn’t care, because they did all the same tbings.

          • Devi
            link
            fedilink
            13 months ago

            Nah, we definitely got in trouble if they found out we were doing stupid shit.

      • Devi
        link
        fedilink
        23 months ago

        Haha, yes. “What are you doing here?” the parents ask of the child in their own house where they live.