Do kids these days know what base in "hide and seek" is? Have they ever played hide and seek? Do they know what it's like to say that the boundaries are Lisa's house on the one side and Mark's house on the other? Then, when their friend goes outside the boundaries cheating do they call him out? I often wonder because of the focus kids seem to have on tv, computers, electronic handheld devices, and video games, what real outdoor play kids experience these days.
I remember going to Toys R Us and finding the huge cage with the bouncy balls with the handles on them. That would be my transportation down the aisles, much to the dismay of other shoppers. I'm quite sure I squished a toe or two with my hyper childhood self bouncy bounce bouncing down the aisles looking at toys. I would beg for the smash 'em crash 'em Hot Wheels cars, and the ride-in Jeep that looked like Daisy Duke's.
I remember being so spoiled that I would complain about my back pedal brakes on my Big Wheel. The Dukes of Hazzard came out with one with a hand brake, and you could do donuts with that one. God dammit I wanted that one!
If you told a kid to get their Sit N Spin, they would think you were yelling some sort of insult. They surely don't go outside to play kickball in the street with bases made of napkins and paper plates, and beg their parents to stay out until the street lights go on. Their dinner won't be THAT cold, they plead.
The fancy kids got the real slip and slide. We made one out of large black garbage bags and lawn darts. And since the water hose alone didn't let you go fast enough, we added some dish soap. Dad would get mad when we denied the soap use, since it killed the lovely yard of grass he worked so hard to keep up.
I'm pretty sure kids these days have never jumped off of the roof of a house in to a 4 foot above ground pool. Because god forbid you brake a bone or get some stitches playing outside. That's just not allowed anymore. I remember my sister running headlong trying to beat me to "base" which was a neighbor's tree. She split her lip and required stitches. We all laughed about it later. Coming home with a ripped knee and grass stains were par for the course. Is it even necessary that laundry soap remove grass stains anymore?
Besides organized sports I'm pretty sure most kids are missing out on the parts of my childhood that made it so great. Kids only play in the streets when there isn't a pocket park nearby. Kickball is probably only played as part of P.E. And forget about that awesome dodgeball, which is banned in a lot of schools as a target game *sigh*.
I feel sorry for kids these days. They might have access to more knowledge at their fingertips via the internet and know what a family member across the country is doing, but do they know how to patty cake or do cat's cradle? Can they make a Chinese jump rope out of rubber bands? I'm pretty sure they can't, and I feel sorry for them because of it.
I think about this often too, especially when I watch S.'s kids furiously tapping away on their iPads/ DS or playing HOURS of video games.
ReplyDeleteI doubt they would know how to play hopscotch, double-dutch, tag or anything where you had to use your imagination. It makes me really sad.
That's my biggest concern. Kids have no imagination because they don't have to. It's sad.
DeleteOur house is a retro house, so the games we have include the original gameboy and playstation 1. No ipads or Ds, cos Spawn isn't all that bothered. He does however know how to play hopscotch and do a cat's cradle etc, because he likes to hear about my childhood and the games I used to play as a kid and so I teach him. Apart from wanting a mobile/cell phone, he's quite happy not to have the latest gizmo...for now.
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't been in touch. A lot of crap happening at the moment but still thinking of you. xx
That is cool that he wants to know how to play what you did. If I had kids their electronic usage would be at minimum. They would hate me.
DeleteI got grounded because our neighbor ratted me out for jumping off the roof into the shallow pool! The bastard. He could have said my friend did it so I had plausible deniability. But no, he singled out me. He was also the jerk who bullied me into trying rollerblades (remember those?) which led to me breaking my wrist. Screw that neighbor.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, hell yeah to the trash bags on the lawn with soap to make it slippier. So what if it went straight into the street? Those scars built character!
I remember hopping on your bike in the morning, a couple of sandwiches and a drink bottle in the basket, and riding off for the day. As long as you were home by dark no one worried about you.
ReplyDeleteRight? We used to ride all over the place. And we all walked to school.
DeleteHey Mel! I, of course, am the meanest mom ever, because I make my kids spend time outdoors, and limit their time in front of screens, so they don't become "vidiots". That's what I call all the kids that are unnaturally attached to their video games. One kid in my daughter's school, sits in his seat and makes video game noises all day long in class. She eventually asked to have her seat moved b/c he doesn't even realize he's doing it and how distracting it is. It drove her nuts! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I love you for it lady. Your blog has been so good lately. I have been reading. :)
DeleteOkay. I have to say: Who the heck ever thought jumping off a roof was a good idea?!?! Even as a kid I never considered that. Now...cliffs? That's another story!
ReplyDeleteI think it all depends on the parents. I try to keep the electronics minimized in the house and now that we have a yard, I send them out all the time. I think the times have changed a bit too. Many parents now are afraid to send the kids out because of all the crap that happens. The world is a much scarier place than it was when we were growing up.
We did bridge jumping too! You learned to wear your sneakers or the water slapping your feet KILLED.
DeleteIt does depend on the parents. But less and less parents are encouraging their kids to go play outside on a regular basis, and that is sad.
I could have sworn that I commented on this post, but maybe I'm just thinking of our emails :). As I told you, I just don't see kids out playing in my neighborhood like we did. I know parents have to worry more about safety, but it's still sad. I remember when my mom wouldn't let us come in! We had to stay outside. And I knew every kid in the neighborhood, whether I liked them or not, because we all just played together!
ReplyDeleteThere are kids all over my neighborhood screaming and playing tag. I love it.
DeleteI am terribly behind on blog reading and posting/commenting...drat...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I loved this post! I have been thinking about this concept a lot lately and even taught some classes this week on using 'play' integrated into learning - it has made me think a lot about my childhood (I referenced my Talking through the Screen Door' days in a recent post, and I am so grateful for the childhood I had. Kids, by and large, do not have that same luxury/experience, whether by their own choice or parents (not letting them outside for safety or overscheduling them into so many organized sports/activitites). I like Kellie's comment about riding off for the day on bikes and not coming home until the street lights came on. That was my life in middle school/early high school and I loved it.
I am grateful too, to be sure.
DeleteI don't think organized sports and ballet and all that are the same. They are good, but they don't compare to kickball in the street with the neighbor kids.
I've had this conversation with more people than I can recall. I grew up in the country where there were no safety signs and a terse "don't climb up there" from our mother only led my brothers and I to do crazier things than we had first planned. My mother still marvels that we reached adulthood with limbs intact, never mind being alive at all.
ReplyDeleteI think safety for kids is good... but I wonder what it's like to never push one's limits as a kid. My brothers and I had all kinds of minor injuries (road rash from the gravel driveway was almost daily as we built higher and higher jumps for our bikes), and a few more serious ones. But we also ran, played, used our bodies like humans evolved to do, and developed a competency and confidence that I don't know if kids today can learn with an iPhone app.
I wouldn't for a second want to return to a day that had no Penicillin or flush toilets, but it's sad to me that a child born in our society today will probably never see a real live cow or be able to sneak away long enough to jump off their roof into a giant snowbank.