Middle class kids don't play out as much as working class children

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We have moved to a lovely, quiet estate in a very middle class area. I was very excited for my kids as they have friends in the estate & there is lots of safe, green areas with a large park at the foot of the estate.. However the children don't play out! Our previous working class area was always buzzing with kids playing out.
Aibu to say middle class kids don't play out as much as working class kids?

MC 80s childhood here and we didn't play out or know anyone who did. There weren't really any kids immediately near our house so it would have been difficult!

I wouldn't let DD now. We live in a very mixed area and I've seen the gangs of feral kids hanging around, showing off and daring each other to do things, or making remarks to passers-by or being a nuisance in the shop.

I wouldn’t worry, you’ll know when they start playing out as people will whine on here about the noise the kids make or the fact there’s noise from a ball bouncing.

Maybe it depends what you mean by middle class. Lower middle-class children certainly had a lot of freedom in the 80s. Was it a posh or wealthy area?
Although my impression was that everyone played out a bit more in those days.

We live on a private road /housing estate. My ds is the only child that plays out, there are lots of other kids living here, they don't play out. Ds kicks his ball in the street, the neighbours seem bewildered and one guy is fuming! He knocked on my door to tell me "it isn't normal for a kid to play in the street". 🙄

The location plays a part too. Could only play kerby where there are kerbs! Can only go tearing about on bikes where relatively safe. Can only build dens and climb trees where there are trees. KIds these days would recoil in horror at all of that when they have shedloads of tech at home.

It definitely is. I live on the continent and you definitely see more children out in working class areas than middle class ones. Where I live children around 9 or 10 take the bus on short journeys in the summer.
Where my friends live, nobody's out at all and children can only play together if they have organised play dates or they happen to see each other in the playground.

I played out in my middle class suburban street in the 60s. We played in our garden but also in the street. My brother and I went up and down the road to see our friends on our own from very young - about 5 onwards. We also played in the street on our bikes and weren’t supervised by an adult. I also remember pottering round the neighbourhood on my own from very young. I have the impression this was completely normal and remember other kids playing out.

I think there was still a strong belief in ‘fresh air’ and a lower perception of risk than there is now - and also no competition from screens. Basically there was less to do indoors so you went outside for a change and to see your friends.

Playing out was rife round my way in 80's and 90's. Only really slowly died off after the millenium and fast internet.
You havent lived if you havent shared a bottle of lambrini/frosty jacks/export strength beer whilst sitting on a swing in the local park under the cover of darkness.

I live in a middle class new build estate with lots of green, safe areas and the children are out all of the time. I can see a big green from my kitchen window and my DC goes out and plays. I played in my very safe cul de sac as a child but wasn't allowed to roam as a teenager.

I think you’re right. We live on a council estate and there are always kids out playing. Don’t see it anywhere else. Not always in a good way though! Some really little ones are out way past bedtime on their own and there’s a little fecker constantly ragging around the estate on a dirt bike. The older ones cause a lot of damage too and no one’s watching/cares. There’s probably a good middle ground. We were allowed out to roam but always had a strict curfew and rules about where we could/couldn’t go

It’s not that middle class kids don’t play out any more. They certainly do. It’s just that posh new build areas tend to attract families with either very young kids / babies or those with older secondary aged kids neither of whom will play out. Or if they do it will be at different times. Eg in my area primary aged kids only play out after 5pm during the week. Toddlers will play out approx 3ish. You won’t see secondary school aged kids out at all as they’re too busy doing homework / activities.

I work for a charity in the centre of a huge council estate. There are children constantly everywhere. It's a mix of no money to do anything other than play on the streets and the parents just sending their children out so they don't have to parent them. It's heartbreaking, we get so many just milling about our building/grounds and the parents have no idea where they are. They get bored and vandalise. They scream and shout... And not in a children playing excitedly way.

I think some of the children are out because they hear all the others out and want to be part of it.

It's not great.

In contrast, where we live (nice 5 beds, detached) you rarely see another child "out to play" because as PP says, they are at after school clubs/longer school days from public schools/structured family activity. Even just having a nice big garden with room to ride your bike or play football is something we totally take for granted I guess, because that's where our DC play. Where is a child living in a flat supposed to run about?

Where DNan lives, it's a quaint little village with a green and not much else. You will occasionally see a couple of siblings riding their bikes around. I think through child safety, children aren't allowed out on their own at all really, whereas the same village, thirty years ago, there were many children biking from house to house going to call on their friends...ending in playing in that friend's garden though.

We live on a council estate but DD went to a typical London primary with kids from a mix of classes and ethnicities. Where we live the kids play out all the time. It's enclosed from the road, there's play equipment and always someone to play with. The middle class kids she was friends with at primary school tended more to have play dates, play in their gardens etc.

If they’re at private school, that will finish at 5pm. MC kids will be in clubs here there and everywhere and also, probably at home studying/doing homework.

To add, there is a mix of ages playing out and the younger ones are supervised by adults. This does mean that there is often oversight of the kids but not intervention unless it's really needed eg if someone gets hurt

Yep children are out from 4 (nursery age, not reception) where I live "supervised" by elder siblings, who are realistically just tearing off on their bikes leaving the siblings behind. They kick balls with little regard to people's property and leave litter everywhere.

We live in a typical Welsh valley and I don't think class exists in quite the same way as in England. There are a few more "middle class" families and they keep their children in gardens or take them to/from activities. They're allowed out to play but for much less time and usually with a shorter distance to reign.

If your child is at after school club until 5pm to enable you to have a full time job, or maybe even 6pm, hypothetically, they are never going to be able to "play out" on a week night. They'll most likely be able to play outside with kids at school tho.

Children used to play out in the 70s and earlier mainly because mum was too busy doing household chores without the labour saving white goods we have now. Supermarkets weren’t everywhere so shopping was done more frequently and very households had a second car, many didn’t have any car. So basically kids were shooed outside to get out from under her feet. So the primary purpose was not for the child’s benefit

🤣

I was a child well before the 80s and we only ever played in the garden. I do appreciate that we were lucky to have one, though.

My grandparents lived on a row of council houses and I used to love visiting them and playing out and knocking for other children to play with. I had magical summers there. Didn't get it at all in my middle class city growing up

🤣 memories 🤭

My daughter is at football practice and athletics 4 times a week after school and weekends, she never wants to “play out”

I grew up on a quiet street with plenty of kids tho. We were definitely middle class and some on my street were even upper middle class (one went to Harrow!!). We all played out on the street. Some more than others but I never noticed it. I’m not sure if some of whether kids played out when I was young in 90s was where they lived. If you lived on a cul de sac or quiet road in my village you would much more likely play out than if you were on a busy road

@BiscuityBoyle what is a middle class estate?

Am I being completely ignorant in thinking estates are just council homes?