The death of childhood?

[Nearly Sane]

So the thread below is from a childhood friend and he went one way on belief while I flew over the bike handles and crashed into disbelief. And yet here we are blah blah years later worrying about what we become. If the move in the Oxford Junior Dictionary was what happened we are making a dark world.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1195663265050845189.html

[Robbie]

Flippin eck. Those words deleted are lovely words!

[Nearly Sane]

Flippin eck. Those words deleted are lovely words!

I always wary of fake news but if true we are ruining the children while we ruin their planet.

[Roses]

Children spend much more time exercising their thumbs these days than any other parts of their bodies. We have three parks in close proximity to our home, it is very rare to see any children playing on the apparatus provided for them!

[Steve H]

Children spend much more time exercising their thumbs these days than any other parts of their bodies. We have three parks in close proximity to our home, it is very rare to see any children playing on the apparatus provided for them!

That may be due to the time of day when you visit. In general, I think this idea that kids don't play outside any more, because they spend all their time on smartphones, is a bit of a myth. It's probably true of a small proportion of children, but not most. People have been complaining that children don't know how to play any more for centuries. In fact, what happens is that some children's games disappear, others are invented and become popular, others evolve, and yet others stay essentially the same for centuries or even millennia - I remember reading Bede's account of the life of St Cuthbert, in which he describes him as a child playing a game recognisable from the description as "king of the castle", which I played with my friends as a child, and is no doubt still played.
This link suggests that modern children spend less time playing outside than older generations, but haven't abandoned it altogether. Much is down to the attitde of the parents - whether they encourage their kids to play outside. I still see children playing out of doors. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/27/children-spend-only-half-the-time-playing-outside-as-their-parents-did

[Roses]

That may be due to the time of day when you visit. In general, I think this idea that kids don't play outside any more, because they spend all their time on smartphones, is a bit of a myth. It's probably true of a small proportion of children, but not most. People have been complaining that children don't know how to play any more for centuries. In fact, what happens is that some children's games disappear, others are invented and become popular, others evolve, and yet others stay essentially the same for centuries or even millennia - I remember reading Bede's account of the life of St Cuthbert, in which he describes him as a child playing a game recognisable from the description as "king of the castle", which I played with my friends as a child, and is no doubt still played.
This link suggests that modern children spend less time playing outside than older generations, but haven't abandoned it altogether. Much is down to the attitde of the parents - whether they encourage their kids to play outside. I still see children playing out of doors. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/27/children-spend-only-half-the-time-playing-outside-as-their-parents-did

I have been passed those parks at different times of the day and invariably they are empty. Besides which, it isn't just me saying it, other people are commenting on it too in my area.

[Nearly Sane]

That may be due to the time of day when you visit. In general, I think this idea that kids don't play outside any more, because they spend all their time on smartphones, is a bit of a myth. It's probably true of a small proportion of children, but not most. People have been complaining that children don't know how to play any more for centuries. In fact, what happens is that some children's games disappear, others are invented and become popular, others evolve, and yet others stay essentially the same for centuries or even millennia - I remember reading Bede's account of the life of St Cuthbert, in which he describes him as a child playing a game recognisable from the description as "king of the castle", which I played with my friends as a child, and is no doubt still played.
This link suggests that modern children spend less time playing outside than older generations, but haven't abandoned it altogether. Much is down to the attitde of the parents - whether they encourage their kids to play outside. I still see children playing out of doors. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/27/children-spend-only-half-the-time-playing-outside-as-their-parents-did

I think there is as you note an issue about parent's attitude. I do see kids playing but it does seem much more restricted than when I was growing up. In part that roads are much busier may be a factor but also kids seem much more protected. I'm not sure when I first heard the term 'the school run' but it didn't exist when I went to school.

[Roses]

I think there is as you note an issue about parent's attitude. I do see kids playing but it does seem much more restricted than when I was growing up. In part that roads are much busier may be a factor but also kids seem much more protected. I'm not sure when I first heard the term 'the school run' but it didn't exist when I went to school.

I did my own school run alone from the age of 5. I had to cross the main road, and walk down a narrow country lane with no pavement, the school was about three quarters of a mile from our home. I once cut through a field and encountered a herd of cows who ran towards me! When I told my mother I was told off for being so stupid!

[Outrider]

I did my own school run alone from the age of 5. I had to cross the main road, and walk down a narrow country lane with no pavement, the school was about three quarters of a mile from our home. I once cut through a field and encountered a herd of cows who ran towards me! When I told my mother I was told off for being so stupid!

Our oldest is 22 now, and even then Mrs. O. wouldn't countenance the idea of him taking himself to school until he was well into his teens; in part this was helped by the fact that he was walked to the bus-stop rather than all the way, but when I recount to her how my mother used to expect me (at Junior school age) to not only get myself to school but to escort my infant school age brother she was horrified.

Our youngest two are still under 3, so we're not at the stage where we need to even think about it, and we now live alongside the A3, so it's unlikely that they'll be given any more latitude.

O.

[Roses]

Our oldest is 22 now, and even then Mrs. O. wouldn't countenance the idea of him taking himself to school until he was well into his teens; in part this was helped by the fact that he was walked to the bus-stop rather than all the way, but when I recount to her how my mother used to expect me (at Junior school age) to not only get myself to school but to escort my infant school age brother she was horrified.

Our youngest two are still under 3, so we're not at the stage where we need to even think about it, and we now live alongside the A3, so it's unlikely that they'll be given any more latitude.

O.

Our girls, who were born in the 70s, walked to their primary school by themselves from the age of about six, it was only at the back of our then property. When our youngest daughter was seven she ran across our main road without looking and was hit by a car. She wasn't badly hurt, I apologised to the driver for her silliness. She was still expected to walk to school alone. When we were living elsewhere the younger two girls who were 11 and 9, came running in from their primary school to say a man had tried to entice them into his car promising to show they his puppies. They had the good sense to realise he was up to no good. I immediately phoned the police who sent a detective round to interview our girls. Apparently a little girl from a nearby town had gone missing, and they wondered if this guy could have had anything to do with her disappearance. Our two girls still walked to and from school alone.

[Harrowby Hall]

My earliest years were spent in Hyson Green in Nottingham. Even at the age of three, I was expected to amuse myself and was sent to play in the street. My earliest recollections were of brick air raid shelters - built in the roadway - ideal for hide-and-seek. I would be sent out to play and told to be back for tea.

On one occasion I went wandering and fell into the River Leen and walked home soaking wet. It became something of a family story because it was the day my brother was born. Clearly, the midwife didn't want me under her feet so I was just sent out to play. I was three and a half.

When I started school, I was expected to get to school and make my way home by myself. This involved crossing Radford Road - one of the busiest roads in the city. Six months later, my family moved to Grantham. Once I knew the route I was expected to make my own way there and back home every day. It was a distance of about half a mile. Few children were met by anyone at the school gate.

Occasionally I collect my grandchildren from school. They are not let out of the classroom door unless they can identify someone who will be responsible for them. Clearly, roads are busy and children do need to be protected from traffic. But I also get the impression that tabloid excess has developed a perception that every lone male - anywhere - is a potential predatory paedophile.

[Outrider]

But I also get the impression that tabloid excess has developed a perception that every lone male - anywhere - is a potential predatory paedophile.

Which is profoundly, deeply saddening, but it's against the backdrop that things like Project Yewtree have shown any number of instances where it was suspected or known to be happening but no-one said anything because that sort of thing wasn't talked about.  How much worse is it actually now? It's difficult to say - it's still rare, but people aren't prepared to take the risk, or to have the finger pointed at them and be accused of some sort of complicity.

There's also worry about things like gangs (even if they're unlikely in the Hampshire/Surrey border town we live in) and, as you say, a significant increase in traffic volume.

O.

[Robbie]

I usually went to and from school without an adult tho' generally with one or more other children. Occasionally there was a lift from relatives. It was the same for my kids. We never played in the street, neither did anyone else we knew, just wasn't the done thing. We'd go the park, for walks or on bikes otherwise it was in gardens or houses. Kids near me go to parks, again don't see them playing in streets.