Lack of independent play is creating mental health crisis among kids today -- and overprotective parenting is to blame

[Anonymous]

This has been so clear to me for a while. Today's kids have academics crammed down their throats from K on, but they just aren't very capable adults because they aren't allowed to just GO OUT AND PLAY!

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209763238/how...ldrens-mental-health

[Anonymous]

and more:

Findings, published in the Journal of Pediatrics , suggest that the rise in mental health disorders is attributed to a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam and engage in activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults. Although well intended, adults’ drive to guide and protect children and teens has deprived them of the independence they need for mental health, contributing to record levels of anxiety, depression, and suicide among young people.

“Parents today are regularly subject to messages about the dangers that might befall unsupervised children and the value of high achievement in school. But they hear little of the countervailing messages that if children are to grow up well-adjusted, they need ever-increasing opportunities for independent activity, including self-directed play and meaningful contributions to family and community life, which are signs that they are trusted, responsible, and capable. They need to feel they can deal effectively with the real world, not just the world of school,” said David F. Bjorklund, Ph.D., co-author and a professor in the Department of Psychology in Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science.

from https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/child-play-independence-study

[Anonymous]

This is obvious to most of us 70's kids, OP. We saw the transition from kids to preprogrammed zombies, and the future is bleak.

[Anonymous]

I just heard this. I kept waiting for the person being interviewed to mention two income households as a reason that kids aren’t out playing unsupervised in the neighborhood. All the kids are in aftercare or daycare because both parents work. Have kids go play on Friday afternoon? Whose home on a Friday afternoon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just heard this. I kept waiting for the person being interviewed to mention two income households as a reason that kids aren’t out playing unsupervised in the neighborhood. All the kids are in aftercare or daycare because both parents work. Have kids go play on Friday afternoon? Whose home on a Friday afternoon?

yea, when we first moved here, I made my ES kids go out and play, walk around our (safe) neighborhood, find some kids to play with. They'd come back and say, "There is no one outside." Luckily, my kids were close enough in age to play together, and generally, played well together. But, it was so sad to see.

We never over scheduled our kids when they were young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just heard this. I kept waiting for the person being interviewed to mention two income households as a reason that kids aren’t out playing unsupervised in the neighborhood. All the kids are in aftercare or daycare because both parents work. Have kids go play on Friday afternoon? Whose home on a Friday afternoon?

My kids never played outside unsupervised because we live in a city and that's not safe.

[Anonymous]

Yes it's called free range parenting and the woman spearheading it is from the DC area. She's a bit extreme IMHO but she has a point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just heard this. I kept waiting for the person being interviewed to mention two income households as a reason that kids aren’t out playing unsupervised in the neighborhood. All the kids are in aftercare or daycare because both parents work. Have kids go play on Friday afternoon? Whose home on a Friday afternoon?

yea, when we first moved here, I made my ES kids go out and play, walk around our (safe) neighborhood, find some kids to play with. They'd come back and say, "There is no one outside." Luckily, my kids were close enough in age to play together, and generally, played well together. But, it was so sad to see.

We never over scheduled our kids when they were young.

There are always kids out in our neighborhood. And all but one of the families in our neighborhood group of 20 families have two working parents.

[Anonymous]

I remember at a kid (girl) in the 1970s riding my bike four miles to the next town all by myself on a busy road. It built character, but now people would call it in.

[Anonymous]

I agree with this - but I think the problem is both overbearing parents AND parents constantly turning to screen time

[Anonymous]

I’m scared to let my kids roam around the neighborhood because people drive through my neighborhood like EFFING MANIACS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just heard this. I kept waiting for the person being interviewed to mention two income households as a reason that kids aren’t out playing unsupervised in the neighborhood. All the kids are in aftercare or daycare because both parents work. Have kids go play on Friday afternoon? Whose home on a Friday afternoon?

My kids never played outside unsupervised because we live in a city and that's not safe.

Didn't always used to be that way. My parents both grew up in a city and they ran around, played in the alleys, and went home when the church bells rang.

[Anonymous]

I am a SAHM and had to host regular after-school playdates in order for there to be kids for mine to play with. Even most other SAHMs just had back to back extra curriculars (that they complained about, but kept signing up for.)

[Anonymous]

Lack of free play, and free time for kids of all ages is seriously lacking and it's not good for them. Sadly, I don't think anything will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with this - but I think the problem is both overbearing parents AND parents constantly turning to screen time

Parents are turning to screen time because it’s impossible to do the adult life stuff and be your kids playmate. But you can’t just send them out, even though that’s what’s best for them.

It’s all interrelated