Why do people say it’s not safe for kids to play outside anymore?

[Waitingforthesunnydays]

People always say things like “it’s not like it used to be, kids can’t go off and play outside on their own these days”, “In my day we’d be out playing all day, the world’s not what it used to be”, “You can’t do that these days, it’s just not safe” etc etc. AIBU for thinking the world’s no more dangerous than it was in the 70s/80s/90s and it’s just and excuse for parents not to feel guilty about letting their kids sit home gaming all day? I get that we are now more aware & educated about the dangers (although in the 80s weren’t parents obsessed with “stranger danger”? - there were ad campaigns about it everywhere) but it doesn’t mean it actually IS more dangerous. Or am I missing something? Is the world somehow more dangerous in this respect now? I grew up in a rural area in the 90s and as a kid I’d be out morning till evening every weekend roaming for miles with all the village kids. Nothing bad ever happened and we were never in any kind of danger. I live in a rural area now and I’d love for my kids to have the kind of childhood I had but for their friends’ parents it’s all about structured play dates and organised trips to play centres etc. so even if they wanted to go knock on their mates’ doors to ask if they want to come out and play (they’re 9 & 11) the parents wouldn’t appreciate it or let them out at all.

I'm with you on the world being no more dangerous now- people only think that because of social media and how easily and quickly we see what's going on everywhere.

But I don't think people use it as an excuse to let their kids game all day. I think the world was too dangerous for it then and is still too dangerous for it now.
I also think parents actually like spending time with their children now, rather than back in the day when they chucked them out in the morning because they were 'under their feet'

I think these days kids are at just as much (if not more) risk of being approached by a predator via social media/chatrooms/video games as they playing out..

The only outside thing I think has become more dangerous is roads. So, so much more traffic than there was in the seventies and thus I guess more likely to get run over in the street.

Because of Muslim rape gangs and migrant rapists. Read the news.

Because of men. And cars.

Agree, and interesting point about it also being dangerous in the past.

People are losing the ability to assess risk, so less children (& women) go out, especially when it's dark, which makes it seem more dangerous etc etc. Just the way the misogynists like it.

Are children getting hurt by them?

That's untrue. Studies into this have shown that the availability of this sort of material prompts men to push their own boundaries, moving from extreme porn to more extreme porn, and eventually to illegal content. It often goes hand-in-hand with drug and alcohol abuse, and major mental health deterioration. Men find they need ever more extreme images to become aroused. So the existence of the content creates the abusers. It's the same with strangulation as a mainstream sex act. People see it, then they do it. It's why we have men in court for accidentally (?) killing their partners during sex through strangulation. They wouldn't have been there, or at least certainly not in such numbers, when I was a child. The Internet has changed us.

Yes, fairly frequently. It has been raised by many people locally with the police, council, local MP but it doesn’t seem to be making any difference.

Has anyone seen the petition to ban social media for the under Ban social media for under-16s to protect children - Petitions

My kids have always played out. I dont understand the attitude of some parents tbh. I know people who wont allow their kids out because of their own anxiety but allow then free, underage access to tiktok, snapchat etc which imo is a far greater risk. I think not going out, the effect of social media, anxiety and isolation, lack of exercise, junk food diets and childhood obesity are FAR greater risk factors for kids long term physical and mental health than kicking a football in the lical.park with a group of mates! Yanbu, i dont understand these attitudes either. Baffling!

Traffic, electric cars maybe quieter? Electric scooters, more types of abuse eg. Taking photos easier and posting online. My 9 year old DD likes to walk down our quiet cul-de-sac by herself just to have a bit of freedom. I still worry because I keep thinking about Hollie Wells and Jessica Chapman. I told her she is not allowed inside anyone else's house or garden and of anyone speaks to her she should only say hello and then run home. She goes for about 10 minutes. In my day (80"s and 90's) I was out all day at her age. I couldnt do that with her though, I'd be too anxious.

I agree. Although my 9 year old doesn't have screens either!

I mean, it happens but they're not loitering on everyone's doorsteps. Calm down.

My DC have always played out, I have never once really considered an increase in traffic as a problem. They're generally at a park, they know how to safely cross a road, I do think that's quite an odd concern as they have grown up with this level of traffic so they are aware, it didn't just appear overnight.

It’s worth remembering that what happened to Holly and Jessica is so rare that we remember it 20 years later. Less children are being killed in collisions.

this is 10 years old but is interesting
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f171ae5274a2e8ab4a0dc/road-fatalities-2013-data.pdf

My son was always playing out. Not like it was for me as a kid in the 90s though, we used to play out till after dark. It was a beautiful childhood, playing hide and seek in the bushes, climbing up on top of the car garages, building dens. I used to love playing out in the street till 11 pm

Yes. That's a comfort.

I grew up wandering miles with my brother. What's changed? The area I wandered now has a bypass through it. So no, I wouldn't let my kids play there and cross 4 lanes of 70 mph traffic. There are so many more cars, and they're bigger and faster. When I was young most families had one car. Most of my neighbours have 2 or more.
My son was knocked over crossing the road at a crossing, by a car running the red light. Thankfully he wasn't badly injured.
Mine used to cycle round the block, and were allowed to the shop from around age 9. But I didn't let them do the far off adventures I used to do.

It's not just the sheer number of cars, it's the size. SUVs and 4x4s are 130% more likely to kill children under the age of 10 (and 82% for all children and 44% for adults).

Because of the high bonnets, there's massive blind spots AND they're more likely to drag pedestrians under the car, rather than them bouncing onto the bonnet.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-14659739/SUVs-44-likely-kill-cyclists-pedestrians-conventional-cars-involved-collisions.html

All everyone around our way seems to drive is MASSIVE 4X4s - it gives me the rage.

I'd like to think people wouldn't buy if they were aware of the risks but it's common sense, so I wonder whether psychologically people kid themselves they're fine.

They can feed and fuel their obsession online tho, so yes I think there are more arpund now

I obviously appreciate that this is in the event of a crash but still...

And our school suggests Y5 as the age where they can walk to and from school. At that age I was getting on a bloody train for 30 mins and walking 20 mins the other end!

I don't see kids playing out near us. I do wonder though if we should have moved to a housing estate with those parks in the middle.

My kids are late teens now much when they are younger my big fear was traffic.
There are definitely more cars around now.
They did play out a lot but I didn't like them going places which inclined crossing road

It makes me really sad. My children are 7 and 4.5. We recently moved from a busy city to a village, surrounded by country walks and woodlands. I'm at a point where I would let them go to the playground together (<5 minutes away, no crossing main roads and not near busy roads) or to the woods which is about a 5 minute walk across a public footpath on fields, but genuinely no one else does it. You never see primary school kids out without parents, so they wouldn't have others to play with. I'm also worried of judgement. I let DS7 year old cycle home and back from the playground to go to the loo and people looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. Makes me question my decisions and comfort levels.

Once they're in secondary I'd assume it'll be more common but there are so many years of exploratory childhood before that. It feels like they're missing out on so much. I lived pretty rurally as a kid and would often take the dogs out for walks over the fields alone, or wade up rivers just for the fun of it. Definitely before I was double figures. Living here I thought they'd have more chances like that. Maybe it's that they're still not quite old enough and in a years time it'll feel more comfortable even if noone else is doing it.

Edit: having read some of the comments just wanted to say we're a very low screen household, no screentime, signed up to phone free childhood, so not like that's how they're spending their days when not playing out.

Surely it depends a lot where you live? My dc played out from an age lots of people on mn apparently think is far too young, but we live in a safe, rural area. If I was in a city centre with busy traffic and dealers hanging about I imagine if have made a different choice.

I think the traffic danger has absolutely increased, as have risks around exploitation and gangs. I also think parents in the 80s, when I grew up, massively underestimated the risks their dc were exposed to. I have clear recollections of some really dangerous things happening and of flashers exposing themselves the primary age girls being seen as "one of those things".