Do your kids play with other kids in your neighborhood?

[Carolina Husker]

From the time I was about 7 to about 13 we played tackle football within 10 feet of Providence Road during rush hour traffic.

I don't think I would let my hypothetical children do that nowadays.

[j2sgam]

My kids dont really.. We try, but the neighbors arent really the hang out type.. Then theres the ghetto-ass apartments at the end of the street. We're moving before the kids start elementary school and have to be subjected to that influence...

Its nothing like when I came up, nothing at all...

[Darth Biscuit]

From the time I was about 7 to about 13 we played tackle football within 10 feet of Providence Road during rush hour traffic.

I don't think I would let my hypothetical children do that nowadays.

Oh man... we did so much crazy poo that I would never let my kids do now...

Played demolition derby with bikes, shot each other with bb guns, played with lighters and WD-40, played with machetes and throwing stars... it's a wonder we survived period, and I'm surprised me and my friends still have all our fingers and toes.

Come to think of it, I think it was more lack of parental supervision than anything... I doubt my mom would have let me do most of that had she known.

[Mvp2014]

i think it depends on the neighborhood.

[PanthaSan]

How do you keep up with all your kids Pantha, much less feed them???

Multitasking and a great job/career. :lol:

Actually, we liked that the kids played at our house. We kept an eye on them and when we needed a sitter, the other parents always obliged...

[Kitten Diver]

My kids dont really.. We try, but the neighbors arent really the hang out type.. Then theres the ghetto-ass apartments at the end of the street. We're moving before the kids start elementary school and have to be subjected to that influence...

Its nothing like when I came up, nothing at all...

a statement like this might be considered a little:

but who can really be sure...

I plan on having kids after this current society collapses and we dont have technology anymore. That way they will have to play outside in the woods and use their imagination.

[Kettle]

lunaticoutpost is giving you the finger

[Kitten Diver]

well that's just funny. lol. but if I was really that serious/worried would I have invested some cash into the market yesterday?

[GritsRgreat]

Oh man... we did so much crazy poo that I would never let my kids do now...

Played demolition derby with bikes, shot each other with bb guns, played with lighters and WD-40, played with machetes and throwing stars... it's a wonder we survived period, and I'm surprised me and my friends still have all our fingers and toes.

Come to think of it, I think it was more lack of parental supervision than anything... I doubt my mom would have let me do most of that had she known.

LOL! Did all of those things and more....No lie, i lost an eye.

[hepcat]

Well the neighborhood I came up in was semi-rural, semi-suburban. Every house had about an acre yard, and the streets were very wide and great for street hockey. There was almost no traffic and everyone seemed to know each other. Parents let their kids roam the neighborhood freely and I knew just about every kid around. It was mainly children in elementary or middle school, and we all went to the same school (small town). I must also mention that the neighborhood was 100% White.

To answer the question, the kids in my neighborhood do not seem to play with each other. There are a small number that I've seen playing with each other from time to time, but it's nothing like when I grow up. Maybe it's just the neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood now that is primarily Mexican, but there is a fair showing of White and Black people. My house has barred windows from multiple robberies and just a few months ago, my roommates band's trailer got stolen right off the street. I do live in a neighborhood of a far lower income than when I was growing up, but that shouldn't deter children from playing with each other. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of kids that live there. The roads are sort of busy and that could have something to do with it. But I don't know, times are certainly different, even from the mid '90s when I grew up.

[neverlosethefeeling]

Well the neighborhood I came up in was semi-rural, semi-suburban. Every house had about an acre yard, and the streets were very wide and great for street hockey. There was almost no traffic and everyone seemed to know each other. Parents let their kids roam the neighborhood freely and I knew just about every kid around. It was mainly children in elementary or middle school, and we all went to the same school (small town). I must also mention that the neighborhood was 100% White.

This describes my neighborhood exactly. I grew up in Matthews, but still. There were probably 6-8 houses in just our part of the neighborhood that I went to to hang out with friends. Then add in the attached neighborhoods, and 4-5 more houses. The neighborhood pool and lake were our hangout spots. We rode our bikes for miles every day going different places and no one had a second thought. Then at night we'd have a campout or something in someone's back yard. Great times.

[pstall]

my kids do play with kids around here. its nowhere near as intense as when i was a kid. my family had to send out search parties for my bro's and I once school was over. no telling where we would end up.

[Davidson Deac II]

Mine doesn't, primarily because there aren't any kids his age in the neighborhood. There were some teenagers across the street, but that ended when the Davidson County sheriff's department drug the youngest off to jail a couple of years ago. :)

[Chaos]

My wife is the paranoid one, I wish my daughter would play outside more. Our neighborhood is full of kids, yet some days you ride down the street and don't see any of them. But an entire school bus lets out down at the corner and it looks like an invasion weekday afternoons.

Growing up in the 80's, Mint Hill area, we would stay out until dark playing kickball, football, basketball, war, flashlight tag, whatever. Then, there were the teen years and "sneaking out" the bedroom window to throw eggs and water balloons at cars. Good times!