Do kids ever just play anymore?

blackredyellow
blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
edited April 2007 in A Moving Train
Over the weekend, I saw a commercial (I think it was a gov't PSA) with the characters from the Shrek movies urging kids to go out and play for an hour, and gave a website to actually go and find "ideas" on how to play. I was amazed (and frightened) that our society has come to this...

I am only 32, but I feel like I'm 75 when I start talking like this, but when I was a kid, we played outside (and inside) every chance that we had. I can't imagine not knowing how to play... we just ran around and made up games and had fun.

It actually scares me that our society is raising basically robots that can't think creatively on their own.

My wife and I are going to try to start having kids, and we were talking about this last night after seeding the commercial that we have a blast playing with our dog, and we can't wait to be able to play outside with our kids. I just can't imagine growing up in front of the TV or computer 24/7.
My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
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Comments

  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    I don't watch TV, but I've never seen that. Kids are playing outside all the time here. Lots of them. Sometimes I wish they'd play somewhere else.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • chopitdown
    chopitdown Posts: 2,222
    i know what you mean...we were almost always kicked out of the house during the day, unless it was way too hot (which happened about once a summer). You just went outside, rode bikes, played sports, ran around and caused mild irritation to the neighbors by getting on their lawns...I mean, those were the days. Now if it's not shiny or a computer it seems a lot kids aren't interested.
    make sure the fortune that you seek...is the fortune that you need
  • NMyTree
    NMyTree Posts: 2,374
    My 3 year old plays indoors and outdoors all the time. He's only permitted 2 hours of TV for the whole day and a maximum of one hour at a time.

    I have not introduced him to video games and I don't plan on letting him play video games till he's much, much older. And even then I will not permit him to play those things for more thasn an hour.

    Outdoor activities are encouraged, as well as creative playing.

    It will be the same for my 11 month old.
  • Uncle Leo
    Uncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    I grew up on a medium density inner ring sububan grid network that was very conducive to playing (and transporting one's self to friends houses and parks without a ride from parents). We had a lot of kids in the neighborhood and, as said in the original post, played after school and all summer. I had a nintendo and played that a bit, but playing outside--whiffle ball on the street, street hockey, "kick the can", etc. was a part of every day that was not pouring rain.

    Sometimes I wonder whether this occurs any more in most areas. I don't have kids and I don't want them, so it is not a direct concern of mine, but I hope this is the case and I hope kids are able to get up every day in summer vacation, hop on their bike or just walk and meet their freinds and "play", whether basketball in someone's driveway, some variation of "tag", or whatever. I hope their parents don't have to set it aside in their schedules so they can give them a ride. But with the nature of development over the last few decades and the increased fears of child abductions (increased instances or increased coverages), I fear that it is not the case.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    chopitdown wrote:
    i know what you mean...we were almost always kicked out of the house during the day, unless it was way too hot (which happened about once a summer). You just went outside, rode bikes, played sports, ran around and caused mild irritation to the neighbors by getting on their lawns...I mean, those were the days. Now if it's not shiny or a computer it seems a lot kids aren't interested.

    One of the best things to get when we were little was a big cardboard box from a refrigerator or whatever.... it could be a spaceship, a car, a boat or whatever we would think of. I remember watching one of the winter olympic games pretending it was a bobsled... lol
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • Ms. Haiku
    Ms. Haiku Washington DC Posts: 7,389
    I'm not concerned that there's no play. I wonder if kids' days are structured more with outside activities scheduled, and that may be the issue. No time to just figure out what a kid wants to do on his/her own. Also, what is different now are the concepts of "Play Dates."

    When I was growing up I just went to another kid's house, and asked if they wanted to play. Now, unless it's a neighborhood kid, there seems to be a formal process. I wouldn't give up though. I still think there's a lot of playing going on.
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    blackredyellow wrote:
    Over the weekend, I saw a commercial (I think it was a gov't PSA) with the characters from the Shrek movies urging kids to go out and play for an hour, and gave a website to actually go and find "ideas" on how to play. I was amazed (and frightened) that our society has come to this...

    I am only 32, but I feel like I'm 75 when I start talking like this, but when I was a kid, we played outside (and inside) every chance that we had. I can't imagine not knowing how to play... we just ran around and made up games and had fun.

    It actually scares me that our society is raising basically robots that can't think creatively on their own.

    My wife and I are going to try to start having kids, and we were talking about this last night after seeding the commercial that we have a blast playing with our dog, and we can't wait to be able to play outside with our kids. I just can't imagine growing up in front of the TV or computer 24/7.
    When I was a kid, if the weather was halfway decent I got thrown out of the house within a half hour of breakfast whether I wanted to go or not, dragged back a few hours later for lunch, hunted down again in the evening for dinner, and threatened with serious physical injury if I didn't get my ass back in the house THIS VERY INSTANT at night. I was NEVER inside on a decent day.

    The biggest problem for my kids was that there was no one to play WITH ... when they were little, most of the other kids on the street spent their day in day care, or shuffled from one organized activity to another, all supervised by adults, where the kids never have a chance to make up a game and all the rules that go with it and figure it out as they go along. I think that's why they don't know how to play ... that and the fact that their electronic entertainment options don't require that they use their imaginations at all.

    It's a lousy way to grow up if you ask me.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • Uncle Leo
    Uncle Leo Posts: 1,059
    blackredyellow wrote:
    One of the best things to get when we were little was a big cardboard box from a refrigerator or whatever.... it could be a spaceship, a car, a boat or whatever we would think of. I remember watching one of the winter olympic games pretending it was a bobsled... lol

    2006 Winter Olympics, right? ;)

    Yeah, it's not just the physical activity (which is so important now in this time of declining activity and increasing obesity), but the creativity. TV and video games hand images to us on a silver platter. Doing things like this is very important, as is reading, which induces the reader to create his/her own image of the characters/scene.

    There is nothing wrong with "vegging out" a bit, but the impression that I have is that kids (and adults) have no sense of moderation.
    I cannot come up with a new sig till I get this egg off my face.
  • macgyver06
    macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    its parents...stop over protecting... teach them to look both ways and get the fuck out of the way :)

    dont disown them though.
  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    blackredyellow wrote:
    One of the best things to get when we were little was a big cardboard box from a refrigerator or whatever.... it could be a spaceship, a car, a boat or whatever we would think of. I remember watching one of the winter olympic games pretending it was a bobsled... lol
    Oh man ... giant cardboard boxes were the BEST!!! It was like a holiday on my street when someone bought a new refrigerator. A fort, a castle, a rocket ship ... then when it got too beat up you'd drag it to a hill and roll down the hill inside of it :D
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • soulsinging
    soulsinging Posts: 13,202
    Ms. Haiku wrote:
    I'm not concerned that there's no play. I wonder if kids' days are structured more with outside activities scheduled, and that may be the issue. No time to just figure out what a kid wants to do on his/her own. Also, what is different now are the concepts of "Play Dates."

    ii think this is most of the problem. it seems nowadays people are so concerned with making sure their kid is ready for school and up to speed that they're training them for school and whatnot from age 2.
  • pjfanatic4
    pjfanatic4 Posts: 127
    No doubt there is an over protection factor, now. But most importantly, it is all the "entertainment" options available. 25 years ago, I remember HAVING to go outside and play or I'd be bored. With no video games or cable TV to watch in my household, you had to go out to have fun.

    Now that I am a parent, though, I have a tough time letting my kids just go out (they're still toddlers, though), but I have to convince myself that they will have to discover the world on their own, even with all the scary stuff out there.

    Shoot, the internet is scary in itself, maybe even more so, than playing outside. How will I supervise my future teenager's surfing?
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    Ah, but the radiation from monitors and TVs accelerates adolescence. Don't want my kid being the last to grow pubes, lol.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • macgyver06
    macgyver06 Posts: 2,500
    pjfanatic4 wrote:
    No doubt there is an over protection factor, now. But most importantly, it is all the "entertainment" options available. 25 years ago, I remember HAVING to go outside and play or I'd be bored. With no video games or cable TV to watch in my household, you had to go out to have fun.

    Now that I am a parent, though, I have a tough time letting my kids just go out (they're still toddlers, though), but I have to convince myself that they will have to discover the world on their own, even with all the scary stuff out there.

    Shoot, the internet is scary in itself, maybe even more so, than playing outside. How will I supervise my future teenager's surfing?

    are you referring to porn??
  • RolandTD20Kdrummer
    RolandTD20Kdrummer Posts: 13,066
    blackredyellow wrote:
    Over the weekend, I saw a commercial (I think it was a gov't PSA) with the characters from the Shrek movies urging kids to go out and play for an hour, and gave a website to actually go and find "ideas" on how to play. I was amazed (and frightened) that our society has come to this...

    I am only 32, but I feel like I'm 75 when I start talking like this, but when I was a kid, we played outside (and inside) every chance that we had. I can't imagine not knowing how to play... we just ran around and made up games and had fun.

    It actually scares me that our society is raising basically robots that can't think creatively on their own.

    My wife and I are going to try to start having kids, and we were talking about this last night after seeding the commercial that we have a blast playing with our dog, and we can't wait to be able to play outside with our kids. I just can't imagine growing up in front of the TV or computer 24/7.

    Yeah I often wonder where all the kids 8-16 yr old kids went to in my neighborhood. In the past 10 years really all I see are the adults taking young children for a walk.

    I used to be big on street hockey, bike riding, kickng a ball around , skating in the winter. I had 3 paper routes which kept me running around my neighborhood with my dog for a good 2 hours every morning not to mention collecting.

    The teenagers today are probably all hooked up to some game box or chatting online I bet...

    It's nice to see the exceptions though.
    Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
    and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
    over specific principles, goals, and policies.

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  • pjfanatic4
    pjfanatic4 Posts: 127
    blackredyellow wrote:
    My wife and I are going to try to start having kids, and we were talking about this last night after seeding the commercial that we have a blast playing with our dog, and we can't wait to be able to play outside with our kids. I just can't imagine growing up in front of the TV or computer 24/7.

    Good luck on your quest to get a visit from the stork.

    Your comment reminded me of my wife and I pre-kids. We were NEVER going to give them candy, they were not going to watch cartoons and TV, and we were going to make them eat vegetables. Boy, did we fall flat on our faces with our first boy. No matter how much you read, how much advice you get, how many kids you've taken care of, nothing is the same once they are your own.

    I wish you the best. Even though it's meant sacrifice, I would not trade them for anything.
  • boxwine_in_hell
    boxwine_in_hell Posts: 1,263
    Ahnimus wrote:
    I don't watch TV, but I've never seen that. Kids are playing outside all the time here. Lots of them. Sometimes I wish they'd play somewhere else.

    Ha good one. I have two kids, but I only like my own kids. I hate most other people's kids, man there are a lot of fucked up kids out there.
    one foot in the door
    the other foot in the gutter
    sweet smell that they adore
    I think I'd rather smother
    -The Replacements-
  • NMyTree
    NMyTree Posts: 2,374
    hippiemom wrote:
    Oh man ... giant cardboard boxes were the BEST!!! It was like a holiday on my street when someone bought a new refrigerator. A fort, a castle, a rocket ship ... then when it got too beat up you'd drag it to a hill and roll down the hill inside of it :D


    :D

    We used to make believe we were in that submarine from "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea". We would make believe we were being attacked by giant Octupi and other seas monsters...lol.

    Other times we pretended we were in an airplane, train, a tunnel and yeah, we did the castle thing too. We even had our parents buy us plastic swords and knives to pretend we were knights of the (not-so-round) table:D We made shields and armour out of little carboard boxes and used masking tape to hold around our limbs.

    When the box got all beat up, I would store it in the basement till the first good snowfall. Then we would go to Bunny Land Hill and all ride the box down the hill..............greatly anticipating a good crash and tumble. We lived for good crashes:D
  • blackredyellow
    blackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    pjfanatic4 wrote:
    Good luck on your quest to get a visit from the stork.

    Your comment reminded me of my wife and I pre-kids. We were NEVER going to give them candy, they were not going to watch cartoons and TV, and we were going to make them eat vegetables. Boy, did we fall flat on our faces with our first boy. No matter how much you read, how much advice you get, how many kids you've taken care of, nothing is the same once they are your own.

    I wish you the best. Even though it's meant sacrifice, I would not trade them for anything.


    Thanks for the well wishes...

    We do have these lofty expectations of how we will raise our kids, but we are realist too. We have enough friends with kids and relatives for us to think what they are doing wrong and how much better we will be, but then we laugh at ourselves because we think that it will be so easy... I'm sure by the first week everything will go out the window and we'll just try to do the best we can like everyone else does :)
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • pjfanatic4
    pjfanatic4 Posts: 127
    macgyver06 wrote:
    are you referring to porn??

    Yeah, it can be porn, violent images, who they chat with, who they interact with, etc. Sometimes what comes up cybernetically can be more dangerous than what they are exposed of outside.

    I don't plan to keep my children in a bubble, but I think I will need to be able to explain stuff he may encounter. Hopefully I will be able to nurture an open communication with my sons.

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