What happened to playing outside?

[devilsadvocate]

i was at my grans house over the weekend. we're a very close and large family so on saturdays there's always at least 16 of us in the house. big meal etc etc. i was there for a good five hours. in that time i didnt even realise that four of my little cousins were in the house. i went into one of their rooms. found 3 of them engrossed in their ps2 and the other on the internet. it made me think for a couple of seconds. were we like this growing up? me i'm only 22 and i remember begging to go outside and play football. now it seems a much better idea to play it on playstation. just found it a bit disheartening and odd that four kids of 10, 8, and two 7 year olds wouldn't leave a room for five hours because it had the internet and a playstation2.

 

[lespieds]

The weather around here is too perfect right now and some kids do play out.
Part of it may be the kids are afraid of getting into fights maybe? But that is every generation...
If there are kids there that do not live there, it is probably not comfortable to go out to a strange neighborhood.
Today is lazy Sunday also. I know when I was a kid, I would spend most of the day indoors dreading school the next day..

I think a lot of kids get wrapped up in games but they soon get bored and want to explore the world of outdoors. I went thru a couple times like that.

We can hardly keep our kid indoors most of the time.

 

[goddess_nemesis]

I remember when I was younger I'd follow my older cousins outside and play the games they were playing. Sometimes baseball, sometimes basketball, or whatever they were doing.

Maybe it just takes you and the other older cousins to draw the younger cousins outside. Start up a game outside, like basketball, and encourage them to play. If you're in town, encourage them to go with you to the park. Sometimes all it takes is an older cousin showing interest in them and wanting to play with them.

 

[ChosenofMystra]

When I was between the ages of 7 and 12, I grew up on a little cul-de-sac in the suburbs. Plenty of kids on that street and in the summer months, as soon as the sun peaked out, we were all outside playing until the streetlights started to come on and our folks would call us one by one back in for dinner. Sometimes even after dinner, when our curfew was long gone, we would convince our parents to let us all play some more for just a little while longer, be it shooting hoops, organizing a water gun fight, or just riding our bikes all together.

Those years were some of my best childhood memories...shame you don't see many kids playing outside the way past generations used to.

 

[subZer0]

But you've also got the kidnap factor - there is an increasing chance your child may be kidnapped by pedo's, etc. I suppose that's why some just won't let them take the chance. And I don't blame them.

However, supervised play, ie. at local parks, should be commonplace, and, sadly, it is not. A huge number of parents just can't be arsed to interact with their kids. It's a shocking state of affairs.

 

[chicago]

If you had the internet and PS2 back then, you'd be inside more too.

Although, some kids need to get out or they turn into weird antisocial crazies.

 

[nerobob]

there is an increasing chance your child may be kidnapped by pedo's, etc.

I don't see why, I reckon there must be as many paedophiles around as there ever has been...

 

[Ray<3tiklishft]

Whenever this conversation comes up, I usually make this statement:

Kids can't field a ground ball with a glove on the playground, but they can turn a triple play on a video game like it was nothing.

 

[maniactickler]

We are breeding a new generation of lazy ass lumps thanks to technology.

 

[chicago]

We are breeding a new generation of lazy ass lumps thanks to technology.

If it weren't for technology, you'd have no Flatulence thread.

 

[jugner]

More children are overweight in America now than ever before. Parents are generally lazy. It's easier too watch kids in front of a TV then when they are outside.

 

[Bugman]

But you've also got the kidnap factor - there is an increasing chance your child may be kidnapped by pedo's, etc. I suppose that's why some just won't let them take the chance. And I don't blame them.

That happens so rarely,despite what you might think.Most children are molested by friends or family members.When i was growing up computers,cable tv and video games did not exist.We were always outside doing something,even in the winter for the most part.I think parents should kick their kids out the door and force them to interact with other children,perhaps they would find ways to amuse themselves as we did.

We could almost always get a pickup baseball game going,or ride our bikes around,anything to avoid being in the house.That was considered punishment in my day.

 

[Timewarp]

I think it's a new generation of children. I liked to call them the "Boomerang" generation. Eventually they'll come back home.

 

[maniactickler]

If it weren't for technology, you'd have no Flatulence thread.

True, but there would still be flatulence.

 

[chicago]

Despite my previous statements, I have to agree.

In the summer, especially at night, I tend to get pretty nostalgic about when I was younger and hanging out on the block with the other kids, playing tag, catching lightening bugs, chasing the ice cream man, jumping fences, climbing trees, finding a sandlot to play baseball in, and not coming in until after dark all skinned-knees, sun-burned, and mosquito-bitten.

Those were some good times.

 

[subZer0]

I don't see why, I reckon there must be as many paedophiles around as there ever has been...

That may be true. But this sort of thing seldom happened then, and seldom got into the media until a spate of these incidents forced many stories into public domain. I know it isn't a regular occurence now, but, in my opinion, I have known of more stories in the past decade than I have in the previous one.

 

[Chaneda]

Techno Kid

Growing up, even though I belonged to a large extended family, I never really partook in games outside of my house...mostly because in Peru that is a very dangerous thing to do. All of my cousins and myself discovered the NES and Super Nintendo and N64 early on and became hooked to playing games on different consoles and on the PC from an early age. We would play against and with each other, even forming clans for games such as Counter Strike...it got to a point that we no longer needed to go out because we could entertain ourselves completely using electronics.

In today's society we have created a multimedia bubble that engulfs our youth at an early age. They become exposed to technology, learn how to use it, discover its limitless entertainment value, and disregard all other forms of joy or play, including going outside. Ironically, a large portion of these individuals become loners who at some point crave attention or become socially awkward as a result of technology removing the time that would normally be dedicated to interacting with other people.

Technology could also potentially be seen as something that is causing our youth to become hopelessly lazy. For the most part, American children do not need to undergo rigorous labor, and have no way to burn off extra calories from the plentiful food that can be found on their plates. Technology has led to an easier life, but with simplicity comes obesity, and with obesity comes the eventual laziness or incapacity to work effectively.

Playing outside is not even a requirement today because for many it can be experienced digitally. Consider games such as World of Warcraft; the entire game takes place in a vast universe with multiple landscapes, creatures, and live players who, for the most part, are willing to interact and play online with others. Social opportunities and diversion has now taken a very indirect route. The same can be said about instant messengers and forums such as this one.

- Chaneda

 

[AffectionateDan]

Poetic.

In the summer, especially at night, I tend to get pretty nostalgic about when I was younger and hanging out on the block with the other kids, playing tag, catching lightening bugs, chasing the ice cream man, jumping fences, climbing trees, finding a sandlot to play baseball in, and not coming in until after dark all skinned-knees, sun-burned, and mosquito-bitten.

Those were some good times.

Couldn't have said it better.

Funny, though, that kids who have no game consoles or computers or any of that crap available manage to get out and play and use their imaginations just fine to entertain themselves, even today. Go figure.