What happened to all the kids?

[Somethingsomethingdarkslide]

When I was growing up, there were kids everywhere.

All weekend, all through the summer holidays. Even during the week, you’d finish school, dump your bag, and be straight out playing in the street. If your friends weren’t already outside, you’d knock on their door and ask if they were coming out.

Now, it feels completely different.

There just don’t seem to be many children nearby for my child to grow up with. No kids playing outside, no bikes left lying around, no knock at the door asking if they can come out.

And it’s not like we live in the middle of nowhere.

What changed?

The news. It’s the news. We know all know about the peodos, the kidnappers and the murderers. So we all now watch kids like a hawk and don’t say ‘go out and come back when the street lights come on’ to primary age kids anymore

I’m not trying to be an arse but I hate threads like this. It’s just a ‘woe, woe, kids on screens, disgusting parents’ etc.

If you’d gone to a national trust place or a farm or a swimming pool or anywhere like that you’d have seen hundreds of them. Yes, it’s true, they aren’t just ‘out’ any more because 1) traffic 2) it’s generally just Not The Done Thing Now for all sorts of reasons and 3) maybe these dreadful parents actually are with their children! But obviously that doesn’t suit the narrative that Kids These Days are just constantly playing computer games or on tablets!

All sat inside on screens.

It feels like there are fewer young families in everyday life, when was the last time you saw a pregnant woman out and about?
I suppose they are out there but we’re going to have to put effort into finding people.

Also people drive everywhere. In the past you'd see the same people every day walking to and from school, to and from the shops, to and from the bus stop, to and from the railway station.

Now you don't see them because they're all in their cars.

Yep. First warm weather and here we go.

yep. The local farms, adventure playgrounds, parks, swimming pools, national trust trails,
wetlands centres, zoos (hate zoos but y’know) beaches and country parks were all populated by the over 25s 👍🏻

Go to places aimed at children and you’ll find them. The streets aren’t.

Other kids in last location were in childcare or with extended familiy or on family days out. We'd occaionally see them at big local events.

Moved moved here and kids do play out more - not sure why.

Our neighbours probably hate us, my kids are always riding round the cul-de-sac on their bikes.

If you’d gone to a national trust place or a farm or a swimming pool or anywhere like that you’d have seen hundreds of them..... maybe these dreadful parents actually are with their children!

Yes but children benefit from not always being with their parents and not having all their time taken up with planned outings and activities.

It feels like there are fewer young families in everyday life, when was the last time you saw a pregnant woman out and about?
I suppose they are out there but we’re going to have to put effort into finding people.

It may be area dependent - here there are lots of families and full schools because housing is cheaper than surrounding cities but commutable.

Some areas the poupulation does have fewer families.

So many of them close to us. It’s horrible

Indeed. They’d have been so much better on the streets, being run over (have a look at the stats from the 1980s compared to today for deaths and serious injuries involving pedestrians aged under 15, and that’s allowing for an enormous increase in traffic in that time.)

Parents cannot win. Spend time with your child? Wrong X chuck them out on the streets. Allow them to be bored? Wrong X they’ll end up on screens. Send them out unaccompanied in boiling hot weather and don’t let them home? ✔️ correct. Yes, they may be run over, abducted or abused but hey, they are making their own ‘fun’ right?

1990 21mil UK cars on the roads
2026 36mil UK cars on the roads

And actually I’m being an arse and sorry. I just really find it a bit exasperating that actually taking your child somewhere they might enjoy and spending time with them is seen as a bad thing!

Screens are a menace but honestly, there were plenty of children where I was today.

I’m sorry you hate my question, it’d quite like to see other mums and have my child play with others.

Message them then.

Or take your child to one of the above places. If you want your child to meet other children, you have to go to places other children are likely to be, and yes, thirty to forty years ago if you lived on a residential street then you would be friends with neighbours children ‘out.’ But times have changed.

Depends where you live. Kids all over the place like ants where we are. I love it and I’m glad we live here for the sake of our son. He’s having a brilliant time growing up with so many friends, plenty of freedom, riding bikes, all the good childhood stuff they need.

This is also hugely dependent on where you live. I’m reading this thread and thanking my lucky stars more and more that we live somewhere with a strong community where the kids play out and you can’t walk 10 minutes down the road without bumping into someone for a chat.

I think they’re playing with their siblings in their back gardens, hanging out with their parents and wider families. I’d rather I knew mine were safe than roaming the neighbourhood alone on their bikes like in an Enid Blyton novel. We had a barbecue and were outside all day, not inside on screens.
If you want to hook up with other mums and kids, could you invite them over or organise something?

Fewer dc in general
Organised childcare & extracurriculars

There's also a perception that children are not as safe to go out to play on their own as they were

Far more judging of parents, if a dc comes to harm whilst playing and isn’t being supervised the first comment you will see “I never leave my dc” etc

Sounds like my worst nightmare

They’re really not.

Well you’ve partially answered your own question. Like you, many others now only have 1 DC so less children overall. Plus screens.

There are far far less children
over 60's now out number under 25s

families average 1-2 children rather than 3-4

this is the case everywhere except sub saharan africa