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How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

freerangekids.com

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Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#11

Post by ahoy »

valuearb wrote: post #5

When I was 6 or 7 years old, during the summers every morning my mom would give me $1.25, and I would get on my bike and ride to the public pool with my friends that was about 5 miles away in the center of our small town. We'd swim all day and go to the Burgerville for lunch where I could get a wonderfully tasty cheeseburger with fries and coke for my $1.25. Finally I had to be home by dinner. If we didn't go swimmin…

I had a similar experience in the rural south in the 90s, for what it's worth. I was largely given free reign to tromp around the (expansive) woods, had a bb gun that I liked to tote around, and at one point had a motorcycle - a ratty little 50cc honda dirtbike that I repeatedly wrecked into ditches and briar patches.

Point is, at least for "country" millennials, I think plenty of roaming did happen.

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#12

Post by Swizec »

sbov wrote: post #6
Swizec wrote: post #4

I remember when I was a kid, I was allowed to roam and go on adventures. Especially at my grandma's house because she was next to the woods. I thought I went so far. I thought I was so adventurous. Turns out the max I ever dared go was about 1km. Maaaaybe 2km. The distances that used to look so far and adventurous, don't even feel like a walk anymore. Maybe that was just me, but it sounds like even if you give kids f…

I think it depends upon the kids and how far you have to go for adventure. I grew up in San Jose and when we were in elementary school, we would take our bikes to the surrounding hills all the time, anywhere from 1-10 miles. One of my brothers, when he was in middle school, would regularly bike to Santa Cruz, which is about 50 miles away.

That, and I think my grandma used a trick. She'd let me out in the wild, but the next meal was never more than 2 or 3 hours away. This limited how far I could roam without feeling like it did.

You wouldn't just skip a meal when you're 6 or 7. Not when everything's so delicious!

At home, in the city, it was similar. Sure I could do whatever I wanted between school and when my parents came home 3 hours later. But there's only so much you can do in 3 hours.

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#13

Post by FrancoDiaz »

valuearb wrote: post #5

When I was 6 or 7 years old, during the summers every morning my mom would give me $1.25, and I would get on my bike and ride to the public pool with my friends that was about 5 miles away in the center of our small town. We'd swim all day and go to the Burgerville for lunch where I could get a wonderfully tasty cheeseburger with fries and coke for my $1.25. Finally I had to be home by dinner. If we didn't go swimmin…

oh brother/sister...your experience mirrors mine completely. 6-7 years old and wandering around woods, the pool, etc..

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#14

Post by guimarin »

I think there are a lot more roads/freeways now than back then as other commenters have pointed out. We've built our cities for cars, not for people. One possible side-effect of self driving cars, is it may make it safer for kids to wander again. I know I'd love to just attach a GPS tracker to my now 1yr old daughter in 5 years, and let her go where she pleases here in SF.

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#15

Post by NTDF9 »

simonsarris wrote: post #7

I suspect this is not just an American or British or solely cultural thing but also a number-of-children thing. This seems like it would also be the natural response to having fewer children. If you have 3-10 kids, you can "afford" to let them off the leash so to speak, if only psychologically. Your kids going missing or getting hurt is an eventuality anyway, maybe. If you have 1 or 2 kids, you are investing a lot mo…

>> I suspect this is not just an American or British or solely cultural thing but also a number-of-children thing. This seems like it would also be the natural response to having fewer children.

I suspect the same. When the first child is born, parents tend to be extremely protective of them. By the time 3rd, 4th is born, they are in "been there, done that" mode.

Further, by the time the 3rd and 4th kids are born, the older ones are already starting to take up some responsibilities. That includes, rearing the younger siblings.

Note: Not talking about graphs or trees

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#16

Post by tluyben2 »

That depends on the location I guess; where I live in Spain kids can basically do whatever. Hell, they come to parties with their parents that last until 8 in the morning. There we do not have the paranoid thing that guys cannot pick up / play with children of others without being called a sex offender either. He is talking about western world, but I am in Cambodia now and here kids seem to be allowed to wander (or boat in floating villages) very far and in cities I saw almost no parents picking up kids from primary school; they all seem to walk away alone.

In the Netherlands, for the parents I know, are also not very restrictive or paranoid, even in cities.

Maybe this is fear induced US/UK stuff mostly? I do not know about the US but the UK parents I know seen weirdly over protective to me as the article states. Not sure that is good for children, especially considering that most kids, if not allowed something, will try to do it anyway or excessively do it when older and/or away from home. Like when relatively young UK guys came to a campground in Amsterdam on their own, we (Dutch) were looking in horror at 17-18 year olds smoking weed, drinking, passing out and vomiting basically 24/7. As my parents told me to try anything, I did not feel the inclination to try a lot and as I did not have to sneak around, I never felt the need to do things in excess when away from home.

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#17

Post by kqr2 »

This American Life had a funny anecdote illustrating the opposite extreme where a woman who doesn't quite understand the meaning of "summer camp" leaves her kids at a campground by themselves for a week.

  My mother emigrated to the United States from Germany in 
  the '50s. And her understanding of American culture and 
  traditions wasn't always quite clear. And one of her 
  confusions was about summer camp. She knew that kids 
  should go to summer camp, but she didn't realize that it 
  usually involved 24 hour adult supervision. So one week 
  she drove us up to a campground on the coast of Malibu 
  and set us up in this tent, and left us some groceries, 
  and then she drove home to go back to work.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/109/...

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#19

Post by secfirstmd »

FrancoDiaz wrote: post #10

I have a 4 year old, in my mid 40s, and think about this a lot for some reason. In the 70s during the summer, when I was around 7, we would wake up, eat breakfast, go out and about wherever we wanted, come back for lunch, out again, come back for dinner, and then out again past dark to play flashlight tag. I think I would be charged with child endangerment these days if my kid (3 years in the future) was doing stuff…

Man that reminds me so much of my growing up experience. Spent most free time outside on a bike, playing with a football, climbing trees and only coming back indoors for food.

Re: How Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just 4 Generations

#20

Post by tluyben2 »

jboggan wrote: post #9
simonsarris wrote: post #7

I suspect this is not just an American or British or solely cultural thing but also a number-of-children thing. This seems like it would also be the natural response to having fewer children. If you have 3-10 kids, you can "afford" to let them off the leash so to speak, if only psychologically. Your kids going missing or getting hurt is an eventuality anyway, maybe. If you have 1 or 2 kids, you are investing a lot mo…

Only child, grew up in the 90's in a neighborhood of one and two child families. We were all wild roamers, generally disappearing on weekends and summer days from sun up to sun down. Usually at someone else's house or in the creeks and woods between people's houses.

First child of 2 growing up in the 80s; I was allowed to go anywhere in our village and a bit beyond. It was fun ;) Cannot phantom being restricted to our garden...
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