I see that a survey conducted by Playday 2013 found that over a quarter (28%) of 1,000 UK parents questioned feared being judged by neighbours if they let their children play unsupervised outdoors.
Almost a third (32%) believed allowing their children to play ball games or make noise outdoors would cause problems with other residents.
53% thought traffic was a barrier to children playing out where they lived, 40% cited "stranger danger" as a concern and 28% said intolerant neighbours were a problem.
All very sad, as imprisoning children in their homes instills a sense of fear in the children and is bad for their physical and mental health.
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Very sad indeed Ken.
ReplyDeleteStatistics show that there is less threat from stranger danger then there is from the kid's own relations and family members.
The stats also show that the incidence of sexual attacks on children has remaind fairly low but consistent over the last fifty years and when one reads these figures, I would suggest they show that the number of attacks have actually decreased, because many things that are now considered offences and wrong, were not considered so back then.
Regarding intolerant neighbours; I have noticed that kids are far more noisy now compared with years ago, whereas my parents would have told me to keep the noise down if I were screaming and shouting and I was the same with my daughter and now grandchildren, modern parents don't seem to bother; they seem to think "Children can do no wrong" and if you do say something, then you are a child hater and mean spirited. I don't think this attitude helps the kids fit into society because they are not taught therefore to think about how their actions affect others.
Why do so many parents appear to be so over protective and too reluctant to tell their kids off?....In my opinion, it is guilt. They now leave kids in child care or all day at school so that Mummy can work and the parents feel guilty about this and thus, they over compensate for this guilt. I also feel that all too many modern parents want to be their kid's best friend rather than their parent.
I would hate to grow up today as a child. Whilst I may have had less material things growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and far less technology, I did have more freedom to get out and become street wise and develop what we called common sense. I had a mother at home throughout my childhood and felt loved and safe throughout that childhood.
As a kid, on Saturdays or in the summer, I took off on my bike at 8am and as long as I was home for supper at 6pm all was fine. We always had an evening kickball game going, and were quite the noisy bunch. I much prefer the somewhat "benign neglect" I grew up with than what the poor kids face now.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
I fully agree with your observations, Tonk (and yours too, Anonymous).. If we were to believe the media, and certain politicians, there is a paedophile lurking on every street corner waiting to pounce, and far too many parents and others have swallowed this nonsense hook, line and sinker, as a result of which many children are deprived of a normal childhood. You are also correct, Tonk, about the fantastic parenting 'skills' shown by modern parents. These two factors are the root cause of the problem.
ReplyDelete"I would hate to grow up today as a child. Whilst I may have had less material things growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and far less technology, I did have more freedom to get out and become street wise and develop what we called common sense. I had a mother at home throughout my childhood and felt loved and safe throughout that childhood."
My sentiments exactly. I too had the privilege of a proper childhood, as opposed to the sterile environment experienced by so many children in the 'brave new world' of the 21st century. It is because so many mothers are NOT there for their children that there are so many problems in todays society.