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Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

afterbabel.com

331–340 of 480 posts

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would have thought that two parents working and not technology would have been the major contributor to loss of the community in early periods. I had one working parent and I had a community because I had places to go. My 5 kids had 1 parent at home full time and zero community. For most hours they were trapped in a building with adults. Sometimes they were contained in some highly limited adult-made program. And…

FWIW, that doesn't counter the GP's suggestion that changes to the community norm might have impacted the experience for everyone. Your 1-parent childhood may still have benefited from having many other stay-at-home parents keeping an eye out the window an ear to street for kids who need attention, and likewise your kids childhood may have been more isolated for the lack of that, even with a parent staying at home fo…

> that doesn't counter the GP's suggestion that changes to the community norm might have impacted the experience for everyone.

We lived that community "norm" as part of a very immersive and busy religious life. We also lived it in modern times where kids moved from one adult-constructed environment to another.

The author's theoretical mental health magic didn't materialize. These kids weren't surrounded with spaces to go with their peers and develop the critical skills that arise when adults aren't available.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#332
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the mentality is different. Our great grandparents did their best to make sure the kids spoke great English and tried to get them to become American as possible. Today we encourage the kids to speak their mother tongue. Sure it's great for job prospects and to keep it's not about what language they speak as much as the mentality about becoming an American and leaving the home country behind.

Every new wave of immigrants in the US has had this criticism levied at them, from the Germans ( https://www.history.com/news/anti-german-sentiment-wwi ) to the Irish ( https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish... ) to the Chinese ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act ) to the Indians to the Italians ( https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/januaryfebruary/feature/... ) to the Poles (…

You're probably right and I'm just drawing conclusions I shouldn't based on one aspect of my personal experience being married to an immigrant.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#333
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you seriously implying that immigration is responsible for a sudden reduction in public trust? american immigration has been a thing for 300 years

The type of immigration the US has experienced has changed a fair bit over those 300 years, let alone the last 50 years.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus#Text

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#334
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alas. See the comment above, where a driver in a huge SUV got away scott-free for killing a child. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40644209

I don't think if I went bird hunting where kids play and shot a kid "by accident" I'd get away with it.

Compare also https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-t...

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#335
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's part of it, but not all: it depends on the buyer. People buying big trucks as a fashion statement are definitely doing it for this reason, but there's people who genuinely need trucks, and they're all bitching and complaining about 1) trucks costing $50k-100k because they're basically luxury vehicles and they don't make cheap, utilitarian versions any more, and also because all those fashion-statement buyers h…

There's the Ford Maverick that starts at $24k and is relatively small.

That's exactly what we did on the farm.

We've got the Maverick hybird which does 99% of the farm stuff.

And we also have a tow equipped expedition that we use when we need to haul horses or the big trailer. The expedition also comes in handy when we regularly haul 6+ people.

I've had the need for a gooseneck trailer maybe once in the last decade.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#336
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when it was non-white immigrants Irish and Italians in my area would beg to differ. I'll grant it wasn't federal policy, at least.

Irish and Italians weren't always considered white.

Hate.... finds a way.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#337
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, you'd want to get rid of those in car displays that require you to take your eyes off the road to do almost anything now, and will also spoil your night vision. There was an episode of Radiolab that was talking about this, and they made a very compelling case for it, along with those super bright headlamps that ruin your night vision when they're equipped on an oncoming vehicle. Tellingly, almost all increa…

"along with those super bright headlamps that ruin your night vision when they're equipped on an oncoming vehicle." I hate them. I dream of the day, when proper night vision gear with the result displayed to the front window will be standard in cars, so all the cars can have no, or very soft lights to drive around savely at night. Also, why not heat vision to better spot humans (and animals)? For the AI as well as th…

photonic intensifiers are ITAR controlled, but china has started manufacturing gen2 equivalents recently.

digital is controlled but more widely made, but also barely worth it.

the real issue is how to display it. for head-mounted setups it's essentially full field of view, and in monocular use combination is subconscious, but it's still rather awkward and requires practice. you can't achieve the same effect on a windshield, even with HUD.

cadillac had this feature in the 90s, though.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#338

America is transitioning from a high trust society to a low trust society. This is one of the many consequences.

Transitioning? When "good guys with guns" get off on murder charges every year for killing innocent people just because they "feared for their lives", I'd say the transition is complete.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

Always has been.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#339
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had 2 working parents and a community. The perceived safety and walkability of an area has a lot to do with it. My parents weren't worried if they didn't see me from morning until dinner time (and obviously they had no way of getting in contact with me other than maybe phoning all the other parents - assuming we weren't off in a field somewhere).

If you had two working parents, but had "community", frankly I'd have to assume it was comprised of kids with homemaker parents, which doesn't count as a counterpoint.

> If you had two working parents, but had "community", frankly I'd have to assume it was comprised of kids with homemaker parents, which doesn't count as a counterpoint.

This is exactly it. The mental health we're looking for is the byproduct of a childhood spent with regular access to hours-long, adult-free peer time. It also reduces parenting from the stupidly impossible amount of hours we have now.

The community part we're trying to replace with religious spaces was when kids grew up surrounded by multi-generational households. Until the 1st ½ of 1900s, it was what we could count on neighborhoods, villages, settlements, etc being built out of.

Religion can't replace that. I know because my kids grew up in the ideal the author is has in his head.

Re: Deterioration of local community a major driver of loss of play-based childhood

#340
post #29

The design of the physical environment is in no small part responsible for this. Don't believe me go to Europe and Japan where kids are still allowed to walk and bike to school, to friends places and just in general play and exist outside unattended to a much higher degree than in the US. Because in the US they would be roadkill, and even if they somehow survived outside of a car, car centric design means there's now…

My particular bugbear here is the absolutely insanity of truck and SUV heights, to the point that even full-grown adults are no longer clearly visible from inside new vehicles ( https://i.imgur.com/1dHWVxn.png ).

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