No they haven't. Parents not giving their kids the freedom isn't the kids making a sacrifice and in most cases it's the parent's fear of the child being taken or being the subject of violence, very few worry about the traffic. When you were a kid in the 80's video games were in their infancy and were no where near the attraction they are now. Yes the Urban Sprawl has put the Countryside and Woodlands and Rivers and Lakes further away unless you are on the edge of that Sprawl, but given the choice of a Video Game or their Phones over a trip into the Countryside, or Bike Rides or a Stroll through Woodlands the vast majority of kids will choose the Video Game or Phone. Kids don't have the spirit of adventure we had, nor the imagination to make dens or rope swings on trees or make Trolleys using discarded pram wheels................ we were the Real Recycle Generation, anything thrown out or abandoned became a challenge to make it the next plaything, or game or fort or tank or castle or slide or ramp. What we didn't have we made up out of whatever was available.
This is a typical attitude of "kids don't [insert thing here] these days", which is a nonesense, as the
The Video showing the difference between Canada and Holland is a World away in both cases compared to Britain, Holland and Amsterdam in particular has always been a bike friendly area with dedicated cycle lanes and cycle stands everywhere
No. In the 1970s it was like this:
Then protests happened (as did in America) because kids were getting killed, but in Netherlands the political will was there to do something about it. The cycling culture became the norm after they changed the city, hence the picture in 2010. Cultures are not set in stone.
They nearly went down the route of the US, and started to bulldoze whole areas for large concrete sliproads etc, but finally saw sense.
and much of the outlaying areas were also developed with that in mind, just as the Canadian London outlying areas are built with Cars in mind to navigate the areas, similar to America because as Countries you have so much more space to do so and why your shopping outlets tend to be outside the town or city. Britain has tried to copy that idea but has truthfully only managed to create traffic jams on the outskirts of towns and cities while killing off the old Town centre shops. The kids haven't Sacrificed Anything they have Chosen a Different Lifestyle.
There are also many videos about how the car took over North America. It wasn't an accident.
There are also many pics of how the US is dominated by stroads. They weren't bombed, they did this to themselves:
Many beautiful cities were knocked down for the car:
The kids didn't choose this lack of freedom.
When I was about 12, I biked 10 miles across Hull from one suburb to the other with a friend. There is no way I would let my kids do this now, and its down to traffic. Even though there are the odd cycle path that wasn't there before. But its so disjointed, as to be useless.
To quote an expert:
Eugene Minogue, Executive Director of Play England, said:
“This research shows that children have not stopped wanting to play outdoors, explore their neighbourhoods and spend time with friends. Children have not changed. The conditions around them have. Traffic-dominated streets, too few welcoming public spaces and social norms symbolised by ‘No Ball Games’ signs have increasingly squeezed children out of the places closest to home.
“Less than 25 minutes a week of street play is not a failure of parents or families. It is the result of decades of decisions about streets, parks, housing, planning and public space, compounded by societal attitudes that too often treat children playing outdoors as a nuisance rather than a right and a normal part of everyday life. Restoring a play-based childhood demands coordinated action across government and society.
“England needs a new National Play Strategy, underpinned by Play Sufficiency legislation and backed by sustained investment of £125 million a year, so all children have the time, space, opportunity and freedom to play outdoors, close to home, every day.”
You also said:
we were the Real Recycle Generation, anything thrown out or abandoned became a challenge to make it the next plaything, or game or fort or tank or castle or slide or ramp. What we didn't have we made up out of whatever was available.
Professor Helen Dodd, Director of the new Outdoor Play Research Centre at the University of Exeter and an Elected Director (Trustee) of Play England, joined Amber Ogunsanya-William, Elected Director (Trustee) of Play England, on BBC Breakfast to discuss new research exposing the generational gap in
www.playengland.org.uk
Yes kids have better computer games now, but they are still kids with the same sort of brains that we did. They would be just as capable as us to take junk and play with them given a chance:
"The Land is a playground that takes up nearly an acre at the far end of a quiet housing development in North Wales. It’s only two years old but has no marks of newness and could just as well have been here for decades. The ground is muddy in spots and, at one end, slopes down steeply to a creek where a big, faded plastic boat that most people would have thrown away is wedged into the bank. The center of the playground is dominated by a high pile of tires that is growing ever smaller as a redheaded girl and her friend roll them down the hill and into the creek. “Why are you rolling tires into the water?” my son asks. “Because we are,” the girl replies."
- Interesting article from 2014
But lets not get rose tinted about the past. I also used to watch too much TV (Tizwas, cartoons etc). But I still managed to get out and explore on my own.
