Are You Killing The Fun Of Childhood?

United States
July 21, 2008 10:28am CST
I was born in the 1950's. Children in the 50's and 60's played hard...OUTSIDE. We played in the streets, we were daredevils on bikes and skates, homemade go-carts, homemade skateboards; we had rope-swings high up in the trees; we climbed anything we could get up, including on top of houses. I don't recall one child dying from playing when I was younger. Ok, a few broken arms, scratches, bumps and bruises - but we had fun! I'm asking this because I remember seeing my 5 year-old grandson get ready to ride his bike: helmet with chin guard, elbow pads, knee pads...what a sight. How much fun can you have dressed up like that? Water wings and goggles and a nose clip in the pool! How silly is that? Today I read that kiddie pools in backyards are a bad thing. They are made of plastics and are not good for children's health. I think we have become so over-protective that we are suffocating childhood. They fail to mention in these articles that children are becoming fatter and fatter. We don't mind if they sit in the house all day playing video games and snacking all day. What kind of people are we expecting to raise these days? What kind of life will they lead? Will they be afraid of everything exciting when they grow up? Will they place their children in protective bubbles of some futuristic design? Where is everyone's sense of adventure? What do you think about it? How much is too much protection? Are you guilty of over-protecting your children?
1 person likes this
3 responses
• United States
14 Aug 08
I'm not killing their fun but as long as Attorneys continue to get rich everytime a little kid falls off of a piece of equipment, Things will only get worse. They aren't even allowed to play tag at recess. I realized what the problem was when I looked in the Phone book and found there were 10 listings under "arist" and 100 PAGES of attorneys.
• United States
14 Aug 08
"Artist" not "arist"
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
28 Jul 08
I know just what you mean. I just responded to a discussion on the opposite side of this and I'm thinking, good lord back in my day we didn't even have protective gear...we just got hurt and got up and kept going. I do think bike helmets are good but some of it does seem to be way overdone. WE used to climb trees and play by the river and we had so much fun and are still here to tell it...amazingly. I raised 4 kids and I just would never allow them to sit around playing games or on the computer all day on a beautiful day. They all know and love the outdoors and go biking, rollerblading or just walk. One hunts and another is into sports. They camp and actually enjoy getting out and doing things. Our tv set is rarely on and none of them spends a crazy amount of time on the computer. video games? my youngest daughter has a playstation which she only uses for watching dvds on occassionally. I think it is a combination of overprotecting and now a days parents just don't have the time to be out there watching there kids constantly. back then, it was ok for my mom to ship us outside so she could clean the house and the only rule we had was "don't go near the river" and remain in earshot. Of course we went by the river and our ears were always pealed. Now that would be considered "neglect" and they'd take your kids from you.
• United States
31 Jul 08
Yes, it might be considered neglect now. And that's a shame. I'm glad my children loved playing outside like I did. I feel sorry for kids who just don't know what it's like to play hard and have a good time.
@amitavroy (4819)
• India
21 Jul 08
yes I seethat previously children's used to go out quite a lot and they were very fond of playing outside how. This made them very much resistant to a lot of diseases and health related problems. Plus venue going out and play your doing some exercise which shapes up your body to keep your healthy. Nowadays I have seen that they have a tendency to spend most of the time at home in front of a computer playing games or doing something is like watching TV. This is characteristics which is not good to be developed in the younger generation. Going out and socialising is very important. Not only when we go out and play which have fun but also we learn a lot of values and lot of things which helpers in the longer run. We know how we should she things within friends. We interact with them and gain experience from different people because they experience different things Mr but if you sit inside your house the new confining yourself inside the four walls and this will definitely hamper your growth. Even a scene that the parents nowadays are too much protective about the children. They will never let them go out and play in the sun which I personally feel is a complete misunderstanding because the more your children's exposed to son the more they will get immune to it. And that is the reason why nowadays we can see a lot of children's suffering from very complicated diseases and a very fragile to any kind of climatic changes are anything sought. These things should be changed. Children's should play outside and not in sight in front of the computers.
• United States
21 Jul 08
I agree! Playing outside is very important for a child's development. When I was growing up, if I was sick, I had to stay inside. It felt like punishment! lol I think it's very unhealthy to let our children sit out their childhood, whether it's in front of a TV or computer. We've just gotten to be too protective of our children. Thank you for your reply! :)