In the name of safety they've removed the big swing sets. the jungle bars, big slides,..... everything that was really fun for kids. They've outlawed skateboarding almost everywhere. And they've closed all the canals to swimming, my favorite when I was growing up, and still a favorite. What's a kid to do?

[online.wsj.com]

are you kidding me?? i didn`t follow the link but omg, what the heck? do people realize what they are creating?
patty

oh man, take your own kiddies out to a nature trail and let them get all scratched up and dirty, climb trees, skin knees and go little kid bananas! the only people interested in limiting those fun kid activities are those who may then be "liable" for any accidents that occur. it's just a push for parents to tale back control. betcha pakd4fun is laughing at this article as she thinks of all her kids outside in the sun (gasp! with no sunscreen) climbing trees (ooh, how dangerous!), hiding in grass (oh no! where are they?!) and tossing pebbles into a stream (AAHHH NO!! they might get wet! who knows what's in that water!) somewhere on their acreage. i know i'm laughing. ha.

ROFL!!!

OMG, All day my kids have been playing in the mud naked. I also caught them chasing eachother with a hula hoop. Don't know what that was about.

I want to have a Raw Vegan Family Fun Gathering (not limited to families). Bring your music makers, tents and fruit!!! Let the kids play in the dirt with fruit dripping down their chins. We'll hose them down before bed. LOL!! It would be so much fun if all our cool kids could hang out together. Dewey's boy and my girl are the same age. Coco's little ones and my little ones would be a perfect match. Sounds fun, eh?

Dont they all know that its a safety hazard to sit in front of a computer game for hours on end!
They might fall off the chair!!
Ahhh.!!

I know...a bit sarcastic,but I agree.
What happened to climbing trees,exploring old barns,running and jumping out in the sunshine,and getting all dirty before supper.

The good old days.

Brian

I know what you mean. Parents are paranoid these days to the detriment of the kids. When I was a kid, my siblings and I would be outside all day long playing with each other and the other kids. We played in those *dangerous* metal playgrounds. Yes, we fell and got scraped up sometimes but that is a part of being a kid. Kids are resilient and they can handle it. We constantly invented games, ran around in the forest, climbed trees, rode our bicycles everywhere. I see some kids these days that are in their house practically all day long. Their toys and games consist of very little imagination. Then the parents can't understand why children start going crazy and give them pills for ADD. Many times I think the kids supposed disease is simply having too much pent up energy from not being able to be crazy kids. They are forced into horrible things like structured playtime. Parents are also so afraid of pedophiles and other types of predators. I'm not saying they shouldn't be careful, but acting like there is boogeyman hiding out in every corner waiting to snatch up their kid is a little paranoid. There is a balance of course, but I do notice that things have changed a lot in the past couple of decades.

When my second daughter was in third grade, I volunteered to be a parent assistant for a nature walk her class went on.

I remember having to sit behind the group as they went on ahead, because one of the little girls just couldn't keep up. She was quite overweight, and was breathing heavily and had to sit down for a rest. This was a gentle hour long walk, should have been no big deal for a bunch of 9 or 10 year olds. I was very saddened by it. I could not imagine how someone so young could have such difficulties.

Today, when I walk into the high school, it is so sad to see the large percentage of overweight teens. This must take a huge toll on their self-esteem, at the age when your looks are everything.

The confusing thing is that all kids I have ever met are already wired with boundless energy - just give them an outlet and they will run themselves to exhaustion if they are having fun. Too bad that many of them miss out on that.

Sapphire



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2008 11:47PM by Sapphire.

oh, i have a story for you. embarassing but oh so funny.

i am 6 years older than my sister. when she and i were young we lived on a beach with mostly summer cottages (we were there year round) so we spent a lot of time on our own outside. well, one day we found a tremendous mudpuddle in the yard, really a big huge terrific pool of mud. sure it smelled a little funny but we were SO happy, we mucked about in it for at least half an hour, until we were thoroughly filthy and disgusting. until our mom caught sight of us through the window and came flying out of the house shouting at us to get out of the septic tank.
oops.
she did hose us off outside before we were let back into the house. no tetanus shot or antibiotics required.
dang i wish i'd been young enough not to remember that.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> oh man, take your own kiddies out to a nature
> trail and let them get all scratched up and dirty,
> climb trees, skin knees and go little kid bananas!

there was a study done and it was found out that kids that were raised on a farm are healthier adults than kids that were raised in a city. seems alot of peeps don`t know how beneficial beneficial bacteria really are LOL
patty

pakd4fun Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ROFL!!!
>
> OMG, All day my kids have been playing in the mud
> naked. I also caught them chasing eachother with
> a hula hoop. Don't know what that was about.
>
> I want to have a Raw Vegan Family Fun Gathering
> (not limited to families). Bring your music
> makers, tents and fruit!!! Let the kids play in
> the dirt with fruit dripping down their chins.
> We'll hose them down before bed. LOL!! It would
> be so much fun if all our cool kids could hang out
> together. Dewey's boy and my girl are the same
> age. Coco's little ones and my little ones would
> be a perfect match. Sounds fun, eh?

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!!
patty

coco-your story reminded me of one...or 2 LOL
i was raised on a farm in wisconsin and we were having problems with our plumbing so they came and dug a trench to fix it. well i used to play and see if i could jump across it...once i didn`t make it and i fell in this 4 ft trench filled with sewer water. ugh...my clothes my hair my face!! LOL

one time i was walking to my neighbors house to go play. i cut across the field which was pretty mudddy...well i got stuck and i had to leave my boots there in the middle of the field stuck in the mud LOL i wouldn`t trade my childhood for the world.
patty

When I was a kid, I walked to and from school 2 miles each way, just about every day. I played in the woods. I walked through sewer pipes. I swam in lakes and rivers. All without adult supervision.

I think kids in the country can still do some of those things.

When I was in about third grade my friend's dog had run off in a storm and I was helping him look for it. We were walking down the flooded street looking and I suddenly fell in a drain hole that the big metal lid was off of. My arms caught me at my elbows. My friend just kept walking and talking until he finally realized I was gone and came and helped me out. Boy, that was scary. That could have been the end for me.