Saturday's question of the day 8/10

smitten4kittens

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
1,449
Purraise
42
Location
pennsylvania
Hi Guys
. I'm filling in for Mani today. Today's question is:

What is something you grew up with that you feel today's kids are missing out on?
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Nowadays kids seem to have supervised "play dates" rather than being able to knock on neighbors' doors to see who can come out and play all day. Maybe it's our neighborhood, but I just don't see that anymore.

A lot of people say you can't let kids do it because of the risk of their becoming crime victims, but crime rates are much lower today than they were when we Baby Boomers were "running the streets".
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

smitten4kittens

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
1,449
Purraise
42
Location
pennsylvania
I think some of them miss out on playing outside everyday. There is so much technology they want to keep up with inside instead. No one had a computer at home or a cell phone when I was little.
 

peaches08

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
4,884
Purraise
290
Location
GA
I agree that many kids are missing out on playing outside like we did as kids. Yes, I see kids dressed for soccer practice and what not, but what about noncompetitive play like riding a bike? I live on a very bike friendly island and almost all the bike riders are adults.
 

colts2broncos

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
284
Purraise
15
Location
San Pierre, IN
No question, outside play... interaction with other kids and active play.  Technology has destroyed it all.  No one goes and visits each other and games are played in front of a TV set.  This results in overweight children, lazy people and no one ever has to leave their home to do anything.  It starts at childhood and stays with you through adulthood resulting in people who rarely interact socially.

The world today is a very sad place.
 

mservant

The Mouse servant
Veteran
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
18,064
Purraise
3,451
Location
The Mouse Pad, UK
Where to start ......
  

Along with the out door play and social interaction etc etc etc  (poor co-ordination, poor balance, poor social skills, understanding rules and boundaries, poor concentration.... )

Understanding food and nutrition. Knowing what food is, what's in it, and what we need it for. Include what they drink in this too.  

How to prepare it and how to eat it - scary but many children now do not even learn to use cutlery! They don't know what they're eating or how to cook it. Nor do they know the different effects that what they eat can have - in both short and long term. They also avoid different textures and smells.   Many households don't grow/buy basic foods and only consume convenience or ready meals and little food and cooking knowledge is passed from parent to child.  Combine this with reduced physical activity and imagine the future. 
   Not pretty.

Sorry, I could rant on - child development is a thing of mine. Children are the adults of the future - what are we creating?
 
Last edited:

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
Parents who are free to discipline their children!  Discipline=training.  Everyone has an opinon on it; from the old lady next door, to the man at the supermarket to the government.  Maybe back in the day parents dealt with interference from others; but gosh now that I'm a Mom there isn't a thing you can do in raising your kids that wont be criticized.  I could rant on this all day.  
  Thank the Lord our parents respect the boundary between parents and grandparents!  The rest can go climb a tree.  Might be good for them; get that physical exercise in. 
 

Willowy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
31,886
Purraise
28,287
Location
South Dakota
Parents who are free to discipline their children!  Discipline=training.  Everyone has an opinon on it; from the old lady next door, to the man at the supermarket to the government.  Maybe back in the day parents dealt with interference from others; but gosh now that I'm a Mom there isn't a thing you can do in raising your kids that wont be criticized.  I could rant on this all day.  

  Thank the Lord our parents respect the boundary between parents and grandparents!  The rest can go climb a tree.  Might be good for them; get that physical exercise in. 
Ehhh. . .I'm glad when people take a stand to protect children. My grandpa once hit my uncle in the groin with a belt buckle, and his privates swelled up so bad that my grandma took him to the hospital (against my grandpa's wishes, because he said the kid would be fine), and she said the doctor just laughed and told her to tell her husband that the belt is supposed to go on the other end :/. He hit my other uncle across the head and burst his eardrum so that he needed surgery, and again the doctors did/said nothing. He hurt his kids a lot like that; he could have used more criticism. Lots more. So I'm glad the world is a different place now and I can't fault anyone for standing up for children. But there should be a middle ground, I guess :tongue2:.

I do think that the lack of outside play is a big thing. I read somewhere that 2 hours of outdoor time daily reduces ADD symptoms by 40%. I think that says a lot.
 

catspaw66

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
5,508
Purraise
1,616
Location
Waldron, Arkansas
Being taught manners, boundaries and respect for other people, especially their elders. Like calling an older person Mr. or Miss, instead of using their first name.

I blame a lot of this on the media. Television, radio, video games and the Internet.
 

sneakymom

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
910
Purraise
21
Being taught that "it's all about YOU!  You are THE most special thing in the ENTIRE WORLD!"  Drives. Me. Nuts.  Especially since I'm putting in an application to go work at the preschool at church and some teachers have told me horror stories.  But I love the little ones- they need love more than anything else. 

VBS story.  I volunteered to teach a 3 year old class (I had kids ranging in age from 2.5-4) for a week b/c they had a shortage of teachers.  Mom shows up the first day with a lunchbox.  "Well- if "X" gets hungry- and won't eat snack, please offer the child this".  Ok.  Day 1- no problem  it was something with chocolate chips in it and the kid picked out all the chocolate chips.  Whatever, it's VBS I'm not trying to give them a balanced meal. .  day 2- problem.  "I don't like this".  I look in the lunchbox.  It's those gummy snack  things.  The rest of the class is eating Nilla Wafers. And yeah- they aren't my favorite either. (ever give one of those to a kid who only sucks on them?  They get SO GROSS).   BUT- if I give this kid this snack- all of the other kids sitting at that table are gonna say "I want one".  And we don't have them.  So I tell him "it's either the cookie or nothing (I did offer water- we'd been outside and it was hot). 

So then I had to talk to mom.  Told her what I did.  This woman had a fit.  "Well- you "accommodate" for kids with allergies- why can't my kid be accommodated"?"  Um because it's not an allergy (and you're raising a spoiled brat- no I didn't say that but I SOOOOO wanted to). I did go onto explain that there were 11 other kids in my class, and I can't offer something different to 1 kid without having to give the same to the rest of the kids.  Not to mention the 2.5 year old isn't going to get it anyways and pitch a temper tantrum b/c they can't have the gummy snacks.   So then, after the kids left- I had to go find the director.  This woman was mad enough that I felt that this could come back and bite me in the butt (you gonna fire me from a VOLUNTEER POSITION that I signed up for 2 weeks ago?)

Director was very understanding.  She came back to me the next morning (I told my story to not only her assistant but the director of Children's Ministry b/c I wanted to cover myself) and said that if there was an issue and mom went over the edge- to find her and get her.  And she'd talk to mom.  And that I did the right thing


Mom came in- dropped the kid off- and there was no hassle. In fact- she didn't even bring the lunchbox.  I don't know what I did (and no- director didn't talk to her).  Maybe she went home and thought about what I said (I really tried to explain it in the kindest way possible). 

I don't mean to offend anyone on this board who has a picky eater.  My youngest is a pain in the butt when it comes to eating sometimes.  But I NEVER caved and played the short order cook.  It was "you eat what's put in front of you- or you are hungry".  She still is- and there are nights when she refuses to eat what we have.  But at almost 17 years of age- if she doesn't like the food- she can make her own- and she darn well better clean up the mess she makes afterwards...............

Cheryl
 

peaches08

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
4,884
Purraise
290
Location
GA
Sneakymom, boy do I know what you mean! When I did my pediatrics rotation for nursing school, somehow I got lucky and didn't have the horror stories that my peers had. One of my peers was trying to get a 6 year old to swallow a pill. She promptly spit the pill into my peer's face and laughed. The mother cracked up too. I'm not surprised by the mom laughing, but she could have taken steps after that to get the child to take her medicine. Instead the kid did it AGAIN and they laughed even harder. I stood there just stunned.
 

calico2222

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
7,731
Purraise
41
Location
Over the river and through the woods...
Imagination. Most kids don't know how to entertain themselves anymore thanks to TV and computer games. How many kids today build forts or tree houses, how many play in the snow when they have a snow day? How many actually build something out of Lego's or spend hours drawing pictures? Or actually reading a book?

I was an only child and when I was growing up I had to entertain myself or play outside with the neighbor hood kids. You really don't see that anymore.
 

ravencorbie

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
218
Purraise
15
Sneakymom -- I agree and disagree slightly.  I think there is still a middle ground.  I think it's important for parents to insist that children at least TRY things they haven't had before (my parents did and as a result I've been willing to try lots of things throughout my life and found a lot of foods I like that I might never have tried otherwise).  I also think the mom in your story was definitely out of line.  If she's not willing to pack something she knows her kid likes, she shouldn't blame the center for not coming up with something else.  And if it's something the kid HAS liked before, but for some reason not this time, that's also something that the mom will have to deal with, not the center.  On the other hand, I was a picky child, and I appreciated the fact that while my parents never cooked a special meal just for me, they didn't feed me things they knew I didn't like.  Now that I'm an adult, sometimes I cook for my parents -- when I do that, I don't cook foods that I like but that they don't like.  So, I think some catering to picky tastes is perfectly okay, as long as it doesn't inconvenience (with extra work) anyone else.  When I was living with my parents, I went without a lot of foods I like because they didn't.

As for what kids miss out on:  danger.  I know that all parents want their kids to be safe, but I think it's starting to become over stifling.  There are so many fun things I used to do as a child that simply don't exist anymore because there's some 1% chance of risk that something bad might happen.  I used to walk through a very small forest between the school and my house, and I had so much fun imagining things in there all by myself.  A lot of the playground equipment we used to have can't be used anymore.  I also think there are fewer forests and other natural areas that are just in the neighborhood.  That forest I walked through isn't there anymore.  Most of the others have been turned into subdivisions.  I think that's sad.
 

sugarsandz

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2013
Messages
615
Purraise
23
The only thing I can think of is dressing in kids clothing. I see so many little kids dressed like teenagers trying to defy their parents. Why do some parents dress them like adults? Let them be kids, who wants to rush them into teen style clothing at the age of 3? Having been a kid myself I can safely say that dressing like a hipster or a pop star was not on my mind. I loved to play dress up but that was the extent of my wardrobe concern lol. Let them be kids not tiny celeb clones!
 

mani

Moderator and fervent feline fan
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
46,566
Purraise
23,328
Location
Australia
The rest can go climb a tree.  Might be good for them; get that physical exercise in. 
The trouble is, they can't go and climb a tree.. too dangerous.  We have sanitised the world into something where kids can't possibly, in any way, hurt themselves, all in the name of avoiding litigation.  By all means, make the world a safer place, but some of the stuff is just ridiculous.

One thing I'm so glad I could do as a kid was play on the beach and leap around in the ocean in a skimpy bathing suit.. I know skin cancer is such a big thing and it's unavoidable (in Australia, and particularly in Southern states, the hole in the ozone layer is huge and I know one year in Tasmania people were hospitalised with severe burns).  But I still feel so sorry for those kids who are dressed in synthetic body suits and are contually slathered in zinc and other sunscreens.  I may have to get some skin cancers removed, but golly I enjoyed those carefree beach days when I was a kid.

Great question, BTW, smitten4kittens
 
Last edited:

mservant

The Mouse servant
Veteran
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
18,064
Purraise
3,451
Location
The Mouse Pad, UK
The trouble is, they can't go and climb a tree.. too dangerous.  We have sanitised the world into something where kids can't possibly, in any way, hurt themselves, all in the name of avoiding litigation.  By all means, make the world a safer place, but some of the stuff is just ridiculous.

One thing I'm so glad I could do as a kid was play on the beach and leap around in the ocean in a skimpy bathing suit.. I know skin cancer is such a big thing and it's unavoidable (in Australia, and particularly in Southern states, the hole in the ozone layer is huge and I know one year in Tasmania people were hospitalised with severe burns).  But I still feel so sorry for those kids who are dressed in synthetic body suits and are contually slathered in zinc and other sunscreens.  I may have to get some skin cancers removed, but golly I enjoyed those carefree beach days when I was a kid.

Great question, BTW, smitten4kittens
Yes, great memories there too - but not quite so hot swimming of the north east coast of Scotland tho'  (or in France or Holland from my summer holiday memories of there). 
 Kids now are too pampered, only go swimming in heated pools. Mind you, I love heated out door pools best of all! 
 
Top