Why Aren’t Kids Playing Outside on Their Own?

That is true since the 1950’s most communities have been developed for cars not people.

I totally agree with the theory that our living spaces have become car-centric.. When I was a teenager in the 80s, my family only had one car, and I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking my parents for a ride anywhere. I got to where I needed to go either by bus, bike or on foot. Having said that, I was fortunate to live in the suburbs, across the river from a big city, which allowed me to easily access public transportation. Also, these ‘burbs were established before cars dominated our landscape, so there were sidewalks wherever I needed to go.

I’m in the process of moving from the country to the city, because right now I need to drive my non-driving children everywhere and by moving they’ll be able to access public transportation to get around (the bonus being that their high schools provide them with free bus passes).

This list makes my head hurt.

What are “factors”? Causes? Effects? Other ways of restating the original problem?

“Emergence of technology-base objects”

I’ve said this before, but why? 21st-century technology is mobile! How is it keeping kids inside? In my day only radios and boomboxes were mobile. The telephone, television and hi-fi stereo were not. You stayed indoors to use those (though there were pay phones in a pinch).

“Academically-oriented schools”

As opposed to?

“Adult control over children’s play”

Yeah, but why?

“Increases in structured play activities”

Is that any different than the previous? Probably it’s a proper subset of it.

“Higher concern for safety and risk”

Yeah, but why? Did this just drop from outer space?

“Disregard for the value of free play”

Yeah, but why? Isn’t this more or less restating the original problem?

Other posters have mentioned car culture. Well, my first neighborhood was in suburban Detroit, car culture par excellence. We could bike and walk all around the neighborhood, which had sidewalks. Certainly people drove cars longer distances. Lots of people, starting as kids, worked on cars such as you don’t see these days. How many non-mechanics look under the hood any more?

As for neighborhood design, where I live now we have older small towns with residential streets and sidewalks, and still there aren’t a lot of kids running around or cycling. And there are families with children in these neighborhoods, not just old people. Sometimes you see kids playing in their backyards but not having the run of the town.

A major factor missing on this graphic: the prevalence of dual-income families with no parent at home. I used to come home from school, check in with my mom, then play with siblings or friends outside. However, if the kids are at daycare or after-school care until right before dinner-hour, there isn’t much time left for free play. And even on the weekend, those families are less likely to let the kids play unsupervised because their normal has become the level of supervision daycares practice.

I find this to be the case in my neighborhood and social circles – it’s the moms who are at home with the kids whose kids are out playing on our street. The other kids I never see at all, even on weekends.

Fear over busybodies calling CPS? I know that might be a chicken or egg issue, but I know when my kids are old enough to be going out on their own, I am going to be nervous because of other adults calling CPS, not because of my kids’ competence/confidence (they are baby/toddler now, so still much too young to be out and about unsupervised).

If you leave your kids outside alone – even in your own yard- neighbors might call the cops because you are ‘neglecting’ your kids

Both my parents worked and I still played outside. This was the 70s/80s. I had babysitters/housekeepers who let me in or I would go to the neighbor’s house after school. That still didn’t make any difference to how we played. It was outside unless it was pouring rain.

I do have some good friends who once they had kids wanted to spend every waking minute with them. The result is that the kids can’t play on their own even if they want to. If they play a board game, draw & paint, experiment, climb trees, their parents come with them and participate. They have 0 unsupervised time. It seems really odd to me. Yes, I think it’s good when parents spend time with their kids or share activities, but 24/7 seems weird. That would have driven me nuts as a child.

We don’t see them outside anymore because they’re all inside playing video games. It’s as simple as that. We are the wealthiest we’ve ever been as a nation and we buy crap to play with instead of making our own play. We don’t have to make our own play anymore. Even the poorest families I work with are overweight and stay inside and play all the v-games they have. If we stop buying stuff for our kids maybe they would go outside. Nothing wrong with being bored and creating your own fun.

I think technology could be the underlying factor in not seeing kids outside, mainly computers and video games. The type of games kids play on their computers are the type of games they can also physically play, i.e. Madden but they play them on their computer instead.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, subdivisions and big city homes where everything is spread-out were around in the 50s and 60s too. There are plenty of kids who live in subdivisions today who could get outside with the other neighborhood kids to play a vigorous game of “Capture the Flag” or touch football etc. but they stay inside playing their video games instead.

Then when you DO see a couple of 9-year-old kids out and about in the neighborhood playing and exploring, it’s such a rare sight that some dipshit will call CPS or the police!

Definitely second the the working moms theory. Our schools have early dismissal one day a week and the kids with two working parents are either in the after school program or staying with relatives, not hanging around their own neighborhoods. You have to work hard to schedule playtime with those kids–must be done in advance, set up with parents and grandparents, and keep them until the parents can come get them after school–they can’t just go home when they want to. The other days, school gets out so late, there’s no time to play, if you want to get homework done, or not be out in the dark, or even just chill on your own for a bit before dinnertime.

Add to that the scheduled sports. Those take up so much time for the kids who are in them.

My kids like to be inside. They are not overscheduled and we don’t have video games. It is a fight to get my older one to go outdoors (although he loves hiking and camping). I often think that if he had buddies out in the neighborhood he’d be more likely to go out too, but I don’t know. I know I like the climate control of indoors–I guess it is possible that they like it too.

Lack of adult free play. Children learn what they see and (most) adults haven’t the foggiest what to do (especially active activities) outside. As kids we’d climb trees, play tag, ride our bikes, go swimming or fishing, play with the dog, etc etc. As adults unless there’s a place to sit and chat, read, or drink we’re lost and this is what our children are seeing so they aren’t learning ‘to be kids’ It takes less imagination to keep the kids inside and numb their minds to our level. 🙁

I don’t think there is judgment for simply allowing kids to use and play with technology. The judgment part might come in when it’s all kids want to do. I think a lot of kids and some adults for that matter act like playing video games or tablets are the only way kids can have fun today.

Smaller families? My kids play outside together all the time, but none of them enjoy going out alone.

Lots of good comments here — there are obviously lots of contributing factors. I’ll just add a couple from my experience:

1. Larger houses. As a little kid back during the Eisenhower administration, I spent a LOT of time outdoors, and it was not always because I loved the great outdoors — it was because our house was so tiny. My parents had five kids and we lived in a two-bedroom house. (No, we were not poor; we were middle class. This wasn’t terribly unusual back then.) The only way to escape the crowding, noise, and incessant conflict that prevailed in our house was to go outside. I used to take long walks and long bike rides just to escape the chaos and claustrophobia of being indoors. Most kids nowadays don’t have to deal with this, as average house size in the U.S. has more than doubled since the 1950s. Most kids nowadays — even the ones who have siblings! — don’t even have to share a bedroom.

2. The reason some parents overschedule their kids with after-school activities (soccer on Monday, ballet on Tuesday, martial arts on Wednesday, tuba lessons on Thursday, art class on Friday) is that they (the parents) are determined that their kids will win full scholarships to good colleges based on all their extracurricular activities. When my daughter was little, she had a friend she knew from church that was almost impossible for her to get together with, because the friend didn’t have a single day when her mother didn’t have her scheduled for some sort of supervised educational activity. This mom had four girls and she did this will all of them. She truly believed what she was doing with all those classes and lessons and activities was the best thing for them. Her eldest daughter was in sports, music, theater, and about a dozen other things, and when she graduated from high school, she won a full scholarship to a pricey, prestigious college — which of course vindicated the mother’s belief that participating in as many extracurricular activities as possible is the best thing for kids.

It’s not “video games.” I played video games (Intellivision!), I let my oldest son play video games.
I also tell him to go outdoors and play. I don’t really care what he plays, although I tend to tell him he can only hit imaginary bad guys with his foam sword (otherwise his little brother becomes the de-facto bad guy).

Most of the issue comes down to what society expects us, as parents, to do. We are sold a dream of “you can do anything you want to do.” Well, guess what? I will never fly fighter jets for the Navy. I was too tall, and my eyesight wasn’t that good. But little Timmy likes soccer, so his mom and dad are expected to try and get him into soccer camps, extra coaching, travel teams, etc. so that Timmy can follow this dream. Here’s a big life spoiler: Timmy isn’t likely to make a living playing soccer. You could have spend all that time, effort, and money on something that mattered. Timmy can play soccer at the local level, you could have had your weekends free to go to the zoo with Timmy. But no, it’s all “I want my child to do whatever he wants because he’s special.”

Many adults today really need to grow up.

James wrote: “Kids can only play in their own neighborhoods?”

Let’s put it this way: in a black neighborhood, a black kid is not going to get shot by a white guy for looking “suspicious.”

Three black kids walking/playing in a white subdivision WILL have the police called on them. It’s happened a half dozen times here. It makes me sick that this is the world we live in, but it is. If this is not the case in your neighborhood, be glad.

I also second the people saying it can’t all be laid at the feet of “video games.” I was born in 1981, and the year my brother got a Nintendo, EVERYBODY we knew got a Nintendo. He and all his friends were obsessed with it, and with the subsequent GameBoy. But that seems to be the era that people are nostalgic for, so “video games are awful” is not a complete explanation.

“Kids can only play in their own neighborhoods?”

Seriously, James? That’s what you got out of Becky’s comment? Did you read a word she wrote? For instance, her very thorough explanation of the limitations of “play” at a daycare facility? And how kids staying with a relative might not be as likely to get out because they don’t know other kids in the neighborhood? “Because those kids aren’t out.”

Again, I know you like to be the smug contrarian and all, but why don’t you try responding what people actually say?

Dienne
Just ignore it

>>We don’t see them outside anymore because they’re all inside playing video games. It’s as simple as that. We are the wealthiest we’ve ever been as a nation and we buy crap to play with instead of making our own play. We don’t have to make our own play anymore. Even the poorest families I work with are overweight and stay inside and play all the v-games they have. If we stop buying stuff for our kids maybe they would go outside. Nothing wrong with being bored and creating your own fun.<<

I disagree. I think the trick isn't so much to stop buying stuff for kids, but to be more careful about what you buy–bicycles instead of Power Wheels vehicles (I hated my parents for that one, but they were right; a battery-operated car doesn't provide physical exercise), free-form Legos instead of (or in addition to) sets designed to make specific things, loose art supplies instead of craft kits with instructions, and, for video and computer games, go for things that can, again, be played with multiple different ways, such as The Sims, or possibly Minecraft, instead of, say, Grand Theft Auto, which can only be played one way, and also promotes horrible values. I'm sort of following along with the concept of "loose parts." A lot of loose parts can be found in nature, or just incidentally around the house (rubber bands, paper clips, coat hangers, et cetera), but sometimes, store-bought items can also be considered "loose parts." For example, I think paper and crayons would count as "loose parts," but not a Disney-themed Colour Wonder set. A deck of regular playing cards would also be a "loose part," but not a deck of Uno cards…….and so on.

‘Kids can only play in their own neighborhoods?’
Seriously, James? That’s what you got out of Becky’s comment? Did you read a word she wrote?”

First off, I cannot thank you enough for providing an outlet for all the smug condescension that is coming your way.
Because, of course, I quoted and responded to a different comment. So, while you were ranting “did you read a word she wrote?”, you hadn’t read MY words sufficiently well to notice that they were addressed to someone else, on a different topic. Good job! I feel SO much better now!

But, since you asked, I will go ahead, and, JUST FOR YOU, respond to Becky’s comment, because it’s full of excuses and lazy thinking.
None of the reasons she lists are required of daycare, and, in fact, none of them were present in the daycare my daughter was in before I transitioned her to a latchkey kid.

Let’s look at them, piece by piece.
“But those day-care kids are not out in the neighborhood roaming around free-ly with the neighborhood kids.”
Well, besides the fact that some of them ARE, there’s the fact that most of the neighborhood kids aren’t roaming around freely, either.

“And, any adult run program will have its limits to free-play.”
Life is like that. Free-play time is, and always has been, limited. Some kids’ opportunity for free play are limited by responsibilities… they have chores to do, homework to do, some even have work.

“A) legalities of injuries and parental expectation that their kids won’t get hurt when sent off to be guarded over by a paid adult. (Maybe this shouldn’t be, but it is.)”
No, I’ll give you this one. I enforce more “safety” upon children who aren’t mine, because I don’t know them as well as my own, and because I consider the responsibility of supervising other people’s kids to be a serious one.

“B) Too many kids in one area, so their is limited access to equipment and plenty of standing and turn waiting.”
Kids who are playing freely are choosing to wait in line for a turn at the slide. Yes, it might be better if each child had his or her own individual slide, but one of the benefits of free play is that kids work out how to share limited resources. A kid who doesn’t want to wait in line for the slide might go run in the field, or join a wall-ball game, or whatever.

“C) limited space for real free play/exploration (Have you ever driven past a daycare and seen the fenced in area filled with plastic play equipment? It makes me so sad and nearly sick.)”
Then send YOUR kid to a daycare that doesn’t have that. For example, some people run daycare out of their homes (this is, in fact, true of the majority of daycare facilities) and some people run daycare out of school buildings, with the school’s playground and gym (for rainy day games). OK, running around in the gym isn’t “outdoors”, but it’s WAY closer than what the kids sitting at home have access to.
When I was a kid, the “daycare” was my house… the babysitter was there with my sister while I ran around in the backyard, down at the schoolyard, or wherever.
Those poor, limited daycare kids you’re crying over have more play opportunities than anyone in the “Little House on the Prairie” books.

“D) The kids don’t get to choose who they are with.”
Well, I mean, except they do. Daycares are not prisons, and the kids get to decide who to play with.

“They are stuck with all the kids at the daycare, like ’em or not.”
Again, depends on the daycare. You’re imagining that ONE type of daycare is how ALL of them operate.

“And there is not the effect of kids solving the problems on their own, so that the one not following rules gets shunned or changes his ways, etc.”
See above.

“The adults step in and solve the problems.”
See above… again..

“E) The equipment is not exactly enabling of free-exploration, etc. No woods, random objects, things to build (really build) with, etc. (again, have you ever driven past a day-care?)”
And again.

“The lucky ones who stay at a nanny’s or grandparents’ house may not get out either because they don’t know the kids in the area.”
How is this anyone’s fault but the kid’s, if they CHOOSE to stay indoors?
(My mom used to take my daughter fairly regularly; she lived on a houseboat and there was exactly ONE other child of similar age to my daughter. They were great friends and played together, outdoors and in, all the time. And this was in a place where there’s almost no outdoors to be in. My daughter also had a divided custody plan that had her mostly at home but sometimes at her mother’s… so she went outside and made friends.

Bottom line… you’ve got an idea in your head of what daycare is like, and you can’t even imagine that it CAN be different from what you imagine.

So… My kid was in daycare rather than free to roam the neighborhood after school and on school (work) days, but she didn’t suffer any of the horrible effects you imagine from being in daycare. The daycare was located in the grade school she was in, and they had the entire school playground to play in (when it wasn’t raining) and the gym (the other 10 months of the year). Now… the school playground was also open to, and used by, neighborhood kids. Sometimes, various clubs used the school building for things… there were athletics, and Scouting, and probably a few other things that I wasn’t aware of because I wasn’t there.

“A major factor missing on this graphic: the prevalence of dual-income families with no parent at home. I used to come home from school, check in with my mom, then play with siblings or friends outside. However, if the kids are at daycare or after-school care until right before dinner-hour, there isn’t much time left for free play. And even on the weekend, those families are less likely to let the kids play unsupervised because their normal has become the level of supervision daycares practice.”

Surprisingly, I’ve found the opposite in my neighborhood. I live in an area where upper middle class meets working class. The kids with two working parents, or a single working parent, are the ones I see outside. Either after daycare, or directly after school because they are old enough to be home alone. The families that can afford for one parent to stay at home have their kids shuffled from one structured, supervised activity to another.

I’m also skeptical of the blame-it-all-on-video-games line. In all the families I know, the same parents who don’t allow unsupervised outside time, and who talk about how their upper middle class neighborhoods (or gated communities!) are too dangerous to let kids play outside, are also strongly anti-video game and allow very little screen time. In my family, my kids’ screen time is limited only by the fact that they have to share with their siblings. But they are also allowed to go to the park, their friends’ houses, the corner store. Most kids want to go outside, if they are allowed and if there are other kids out there to play with.

I have to assume it all started when two-working-parent families and single-parent families became predominant. More and more parents sought after school coverage for their kids (babysitters, sports, after-care, enrichment). There were fewer at-home Moms peeking out the window and checking on the neighborhood kids, providing passive protection and first-aid. Summer camp became a necessity. Then, latch-key kids were told to stay in or near home. Then no one was outside to play with, and once you try a bunch of times and find no one, why try anymore? Then technology came along and provided a constant stream of indoor entertainment. When the kids go out, it is mostly quiet and boring. Then the kids started getting obese and not wanting to go out because it’s hard AND boring.

All of that makes sense to some degree as a progression, but keeping kids inside for safety reasons and criminalizing parents of unattended kids makes no sense. I don’t even see how it fits into the pattern.

The only way to change this is, I believe, local and national “Send them Outside” movements.

I think the kids want to be outside and are capable of reacclimating. When I came home today, I heard hooting from a nearby tree. It was my son. I was then surprised to hear hooting emanating from hidden kids in nearby yards. It was like lemurs had come to roost on the first really warm day. They are yearning to be out in nature with their friends. Let them! Make them!!

I don’t really expect you to watch this, but…
Hooting begins at 1:00 and never ends: https://youtu.be/uY2c-qwC7fg

Anna and Maria are so right. The other piece that makes my head spin is the self-perpetuating nature of it all. Fortunately my 3 kids were pretty close in all respects, and played with each other out doors. But in general, if there’s no one outside to play with, the kids are less likely to go out. And so the rare kid that might have been allowed to play in the front yard ends up signing up for soccer. And so it continues.

This article started well and these reasons do exist but when an adult has to source ‘loose materials’ then half of the fun for kids has gone. It’s now become an adult created activity. I guarantee that if I put these items in my back garden my kids wouldn’t be interested. Send them down to the park and they use the bushes for dens and all sorts.

One important factor which wasn’t mentioned is that there’s no one else outside to play with and for my kids (9 and 10 yrs) that’s the biggest turn off. I have a boy and girl so they don’t always want to play together/do the same activities.

I’d also add in a certain fear of the elements. I teach 2nd grade and it’s a bit concerning how many kids/parents prefer kids stay inside from recess if it’s too cold/rainy. We have some weather policies that in my opinion run a little more conservative, so it’s not like we’re forcing kids into blizzards. Even so, there’s a lot of “what if it’s too cold?” “I’m cold!” I think there’s a shift in what weather we think our kids can tackle.

@ Maria, That is an excellent point. families with two parents working don’t get as much family time, so weekends are spent either inward, or running errands that can’t be run during the week.

And I don’t blame women for working. I blame a society structured so that families find it difficult to get by on one income.

A few connected thoughts on what factors are an issue.
First I would say Increased homework loads rather than “Academically-oriented schools” academics are after all the point of school, at least from the perspective of the vast majority of people. But that doesn’t mean kids need to be bogged down with endless homework.

The thing I see missing is a combination of issues:
1)Lack of community/Social Isolation
2)Lack of adult free time

I was just reading an article that gave the shocking news that:
“A 2014 study by the National Science Foundation found that one in four Americans (one in four!) said they have no one with whom they can talk about their personal troubles or triumphs; the number doubles to more than half of Americans if immediate family is not counted. Read that again.”
And went on to say “And you know what one of the most common consequences of persistent loneliness is? Distrust of outsiders — which is everyone when you’re lonely.”
(Very good links in the article, apologies for the political agendas throughout : http://theweek.com/articles/680884/america-afflicted-deleterious-disease-loneliness)

I’m sure our focus on ‘stranger danger’ was no help in getting us to those levels of social isolation. But I’m sure a contributing factor is lack of adult free time.
I say “lack of adult free time” rather than dual income families, because it is also part of a general trend of longer commutes, less vacation time, and less sick leave (if you have sick leave at all). With all that there isn’t much time left to participate in your community, make local friends, and learn what your community is really like so you can trust it.
Personally, I’ve never had sick leave, I’ve never even had all the federal holidays off. So when I read articles like this:
http://studyindenmark.dk/news/oecd-report-denmark-has-worlds-healthiest-work-life-balance
…. well color me envious. That sounds like a good contributor to why the people of Denmark are rated as the happiest in the world.