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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]All the elementary school aged kids we know who don’t do organized sports stat home and play video games.  That is NOT “free play”.

I also find this subject tiresome.  We don’t live in the same world we did when my mother was a kid and summers and after-school involved going outside and playing in the creek, sledding, building tree forts, etc.  Most of us live in over-developed suburbs or cities where free range is simply dangerous.

[/quote]

Why is it unsafe? I'm totally with you that some things have shifted and that's ok. But I've also read that people's perception of "safety" now is often not linked to reality very well and in fact things have gotten much much safer since our parent's time, but perception of safety has shifted for a lot of reasons I'm sure but partly because we have access to SO much media. I guess I'm just surprised you say the suburbs where most live are simply dangerous. We live in Arlington and kids definitely have a lot of free range to go around our neighborhoods (maybe not as early as they used to before, but starting in maybe 3rd grade) and it seems perfectly safe in the large scheme of things. My in-laws live in Burke and the kids DEFINITELY roam free around the neighborhood. All seems safe.[/quote]

Note this is obviously a privilege, just addressing that you say the suburbs most live in are unsafe and I'm not sure I understand that[/quote]

House after house are empty in our neighborhood because of dual working parents.  There’s no one around like there used to be.  Crime is on the rise.  Suburban life doesn’t feel safe anymore.   [/quote]

This is not the case in our neighborhood in Arlington, or in the neighborhood I frequent in Burke that I mentioned. Especially with so many parents working from home now. Covid has really helped things in that regard I think (in more privileged communities). And it sounds like you may be falling into the trap of what you perceive as things being more dangerous than actually looking at the stats. The quote at the end of the trailer (I haven't watched the documentary) rings true to me "Worrying doesn't prevent death, it prevents life." Brene brown has a similar quote something like rehearsing tragedy doesn't actually prevent tragedy, it prevents us from feeling joy. I linked an article on it below. The others are a little dated but talk a little about this phenomenon of folks perception of safety being incredibly off - things are way safer for kids now than in much of history. Half as much crime as there was 25 years ago. HALF. Stay off social media more and you'll feel much better (helped me a lot)

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/4/8546497/crime-rate-america

https://theworld.org/stories/2014-10-23/world-actually-safer-ever-and-heres-data-prove

https://www.purewow.com/wellness/dress-rehearsing-tragedy (lol I realize purewow isn't some great source, this is just an opinion piece)[/quote]

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