S/O: Do the kids in your neighbourhood play outside unsupervised?

[Monykalyn]

We know phone numbers just so us moms can text things like:
"Send them over for lunch"
"Are you cool with them watching_______?"
"Are the twins there? They haven't been by begging for snacks in a while."

This could have described our AR neighborhood! But we had 30 kids under age 12 in 10 houses on that street and we were ALL "transplants" (no immediate family in area). Fabulous neighborhood! Although the texts would often go like "counted shoes/bikes/skateboards-think an extra kid was here but kids not here now-anyone missing shoes/bikes/skateboards and acquired extra kids?"

Kids on my street now are generally older (here for 8 years now) so less playing outside as the teens start driving and/or have jobs/sports. Although cycle is starting over with 2 young families! But my son and his friends often play outside unsupervised (and walk to other side of subdivision unsupervised-although we know alot of families on other side of subdivision too). We live at end of cul de sac and have basketball hoop.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Don't know about my whole city but our neighbourhood doesn't have many children. We have an old heritage school building from 1911, but there haven't been enough children to have the local school open since at least the 1980's. Most of my neighbourhood is inhabited by childfree adults who either garden or train their agility dogs. There are a few families but their income bracket keeps them from "going outside to play" - aka, they have sports clubs to go to and lots of playdates with other wealthy children... no need to be outside! The shiny SUV vehicles are always getting filled with hockey gear or the like as they head out of their garages.

And the few children there are, they are always supervised unless they are walking themselves to Jr High or getting their younger siblings to the care centre at the local church. If anyone saw kids under the age of 8 wandering around unsupervised, I can see any of us "old people" calling up the non-emergency line and letting them know about it. There is a small crew of 10-12 year olds that hang out in summer but they are seen walking to the friends' house and then they go inside and stay there. Children are almost always escorted by adults UNLESS it's "going to school time" or "leaving school time".

But younger than that? Yeah I can definitely see a phone call to the police happening... I mean, we had to call the police when our across-the-street neighbour got horrendously drunk and decided he was going to come over to tell us how beautiful our child was and how much he enjoyed watching her play outside.... *sigh*

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Don't know about my whole city but our neighbourhood doesn't have many children. We have an old heritage school building from 1911, but there haven't been enough children to have the local school open since at least the 1980's. Most of my neighbourhood is inhabited by childfree adults who either garden or train their agility dogs. There are a few families but their income bracket keeps them from "going outside to play" - aka, they have sports clubs to go to and lots of playdates with other wealthy children... no need to be outside! The shiny SUV vehicles are always getting filled with hockey gear or the like as they head out of their garages.

And the few children there are, they are always supervised unless they are walking themselves to Jr High or getting their younger siblings to the care centre at the local church. If anyone saw kids under the age of 8 wandering around unsupervised, I can see any of us "old people" calling up the non-emergency line and letting them know about it. There is a small crew of 10-12 year olds that hang out in summer but they are seen walking to the friends' house and then they go inside and stay there. Children are almost always escorted by adults UNLESS it's "going to school time" or "leaving school time".

But younger than that? Yeah I can definitely see a phone call to the police happening... I mean, we had to call the police when our across-the-street neighbour got horrendously drunk and decided he was going to come over to tell us how beautiful our child was and how much he enjoyed watching her play outside.... *sigh*

Are you saying you'd call the police if kids younger than like 10 play outside unsupervised? Does that idea extend to them playing in their own yards? That's too much to me.

I'd call on the neighbor in the situation you described but not for kids playing.

 

[holden]

We live in a suburb of Philadelphia in a development on a cul-de-sac. Our kids play outside often. They bounce back and forth between our yard and their friends' yards (within 3 houses of ours). They also play in the cul-de-sac, which is nice since no cars really drive there. When DD9 heads out I have to find her for lunch and dinner. They are outside all day when the weather is good.

We have nice neighbors and we all looks out for each others' kids. There is one family who is anti-social. They won't let their daughter play with anyone on our street and never let her go outside without a parent. She's 9.

 

[rastahomie]

Well, I don't live in a "neighbourhood," because I live in a country that spells things correctly. But here in my neighborhood, yes, kids play unsupervised outside all the time. As I type these words, the 12/13-year-old boy next door, who fancies himself a pitcher for the Cardinals, is working on his curve ball and throwing balls into his net (and missing most of the time and sending them into my yard instead). Down the street are all manner of kids enjoying the beautiful spring day.

 

[ronandannette]

Are you saying you'd call the police if kids younger than like 10 play outside unsupervised? Does that idea extend to them playing in their own yards? That's too much to me.

I'd call on the neighbor in the situation you described but not for kids playing.

I know, right? If you saw an upsupervised kid in your neighbourhood that you thought might be in peril, why not approach the kid and ask where they live and if they need help, instead of calling the police. I simply DO NOT understand this.

 

[ronandannette]

Well, I don't live in a "neighbourhood," because I live in a country that spells things correctly. But here in my neighborhood, yes, kids play unsupervised outside all the time. As I type these words, the 12/13-year-old boy next door, who fancies himself a pitcher for the Cardinals, is working on his curve ball and throwing balls into his net (and missing most of the time and sending them into my yard instead). Down the street are all manner of kids enjoying the beautiful spring day.

Joke? Snark? Not sure what you were going for. Why not clarify - I'd hate to miss being offended if that's what you intended.

 

[mjkacmom]

By 10 my kids have the run of the town. During little league season, kids of all ages hang at the fields all day (they all have playgrounds and concessions). There are a bunch of younger elementary kids in our neighborhood who are always outside on scooters, bike, trampoline, playing games. In the morning, groups of little ones pass my house on their walk to school (which is encouraged). I love spring and fall when I can open up the window and hear them, reminds me of when I had little ones who were always outside playing.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Are you saying you'd call the police if kids younger than like 10 play outside unsupervised? Does that idea extend to them playing in their own yards? That's too much to me.

I'd call on the neighbor in the situation you described but not for kids playing.

If they're in their own yards, one can't see them, so no, of course not. Of course, I can only think of 2 houses who have children in a 2 block radius, and none of the kids play in the backyard. They go to lessons and their friends houses - my neighbours have a stupidly small yard - too small for even a dog! I don't let my small person play outside in the backyard alone ; we are on a major walking route to the bottle depot and too many times someone has stopped by the fence to converse with my little one. Yes, 99% of people are harmless but you know at least one might be tempted to misbehave if they thought they could get away with it, or at least they're thinking about it...

The house a few doors down is a Dayhome, and THEY don't even go outside much! The whole basement was renovated into a giant playspace and so they don't have to go out to the park for outings. Less liability!

Also we really don't have any undeveloped land in the city - all open spaces belong to someone, and if kids were say.... riding their bikes through a muddy field that was land intended for construction, yep, someone would call bylaw. Because the property owners would be held liable for any injury that occurred on said land...

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

If they're in their own yards, one can't see them, so no, of course not. Of course, I can only think of 2 houses who have children in a 2 block radius, and none of the kids play in the backyard. They go to lessons and their friends houses - my neighbours have a stupidly small yard - too small for even a dog! I don't let my small person play outside in the backyard alone ; we are on a major walking route to the bottle depot and too many times someone has stopped by the fence to converse with my little one. Yes, 99% of people are harmless but you know at least one might be tempted to misbehave if they thought they could get away with it, or at least they're thinking about it...

The house a few doors down is a Dayhome, and THEY don't even go outside much! The whole basement was renovated into a giant playspace and so they don't have to go out to the park for outings. Less liability!

Also we really don't have any undeveloped land in the city - all open spaces belong to someone, and if kids were say.... riding their bikes through a muddy field that was land intended for construction, yep, someone would call bylaw. Because the property owners would be held liable for any injury that occurred on said land...

You can see kids in the yards around here. We live on a corner lot and only have a chain link fence. I couldn't imagine someone calling the cops on us because we let our kids play outside alone.
I live in a developed city as well... We have sidewalks. No need for kids to go trudging over anyone else's property.

 

[rastahomie]

Joke? Snark? Not sure what you were going for. Why not clarify - I'd hate to miss being offended if that's what you intended.

Just snark. America spells it "neighborhood"; Canada, Australia, the UK, and I'm guessing the rest of the Commonwealth spell it "neighbourhood." Just a joke at the spelling differences is all.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I know, right? If you saw an upsupervised kid in your neighbourhood that you thought might be in peril, why not approach the kid and ask where they live and if they need help, instead of calling the police. I simply DO NOT understand this.

In peril yes, *I* might even call the cops.

Playing. Not even close.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Kids definitely still knock on doors instead of calling.

I mean... Randon kids aren't knocking on my door but my kids' friends know that after school, or after 10:30am on the weekends they're more than welcome to come looking for the twins. And my kids do the same at their friends' homes.

Just because they knock doesn't mean they can always play but I don't mind, and neither do the other parents.

It would annoy the crap out of me if my phone was going off everyday with calls or texts asking to play, sometimes multiple times a day(yes they play almost everyday). I prefer the knocking.

I think a lot of the knocking vs no knocking may be that so many kids have play dates now. We have never done scheduled play dates. We are very informal people.

 

[elaine amj]

I live in a small city on a quiet street. By 4/5 my kids were playing in the front yard with me keeping an eye on them from inside the house. By 6/7, they were free to roam the street (but only our street). Once one kid goes out, the other neighborhood kids start showing up (we used to joke that they must keep watch on my yard!). They played in my front and backyard a lot, which I encouraged since I could keep a better eye on my kids. Now in their teens, they roam more widely and knocking on doors is still common. My DS' friends just showed up at my door (he's not home) a few mins ago

If we had lived on a busier street, things would have been very different and they would have needed much more supervision. But my street is almost like a cul-de sac so very few cars.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, I don't live in a "neighbourhood," because I live in a country that spells things correctly. But here in my neighborhood, yes, kids play unsupervised outside all the time. As I type these words, the 12/13-year-old boy next door, who fancies himself a pitcher for the Cardinals, is working on his curve ball and throwing balls into his net (and missing most of the time and sending them into my yard instead). Down the street are all manner of kids enjoying the beautiful spring day.

You do realize words are spelled differently in the UK (and they came first...).

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I think a lot of the knocking vs no knocking may be that so many kids have play dates now. We have never done scheduled play dates. We are very informal people.

Same. If we're home, they're welcome to play. If we're having a snack or meal, they're usually welcome to eat(I do send the parents a quick texts regarding meals). I can't plan every moment of my kids lives. They need to just LIVE!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Same. If we're home, they're welcome to play. If we're having a snack or meal, they're usually welcome to eat(I do send the parents a quick texts regarding meals). I can't plan every moment of my kids lives. They need to just LIVE!

I also don't want to have to be friends with the kids mom just bc they want to play. Lol. Or play babysitter to this extra kid during a drop off play date. No thanks. Just go outside and play with the kids in the neighborhood.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I also don't want to have to be friends with the kids mom just bc they want to play. Lol. Or play babysitter to this extra kid during a drop off play date. No thanks. Just go outside and play with the kids in the neighborhood.

EXACTLY.

 

[rastahomie]

You do realize words are spelled differently in the UK (and they came first...).

Yes I know. Does no one get snark anymore? I was just making a joke - one that appears to have bombed horribly, lol. Won't be the first time, won't be the last.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Yes, they always have. We live in a small town near the end of a dead-end street and there are 7 or 8 other kids living here. Mine weren't unsupervised until they were 7 or so, but there have always been kids playing outside here. They ride bikes and skateboards (yes, in the street), shoot baskets at the end of the street, nerf guns, games they make up. My oldest son and the other 2 his age just hang out on someone's back porch a lot, and they like to play capture the flag after it gets dark. It isn't much of an issue now that they are older, but my two were only allowed to go as far as a certain house, and no riding/turning bikes around in anyone's driveway. They aren't allowed to go in people's houses.