Why Kids Don't Go Outside Anymore

[@flurfdesign]

**CORRECTION** 0:32 Firearm deaths surpassed vehicle deaths in 2020 (recent data is unavailable) for ages 1-19 in the US. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761 Vehicle deaths were still the highest among children ages 1-17 by a tight margin www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/LeadingCauses.html

[@kyyes5515]

Reason 18302 to not go outside:

[@KuleGuy27]

America moment

[@drrocketman7794]

That's because legally 18 and 19 year olds are ADULTS but they included them intentionally to skew the data to say "gun bad." Our country needs to focus more on infrastructure for travel other than cars, and let guns just be. They're already out there.

[@drrocketman7794]

Also, 18 and 19 year olds are legally adults, and nobody went anywhere in 2020 because we were in a global pandemic.

[@Jrob992]

That’s because they raised the age of “children” to include legal adults (18-19) which is also the average age for violent gang members in the US. Obviously done because of the agenda against firearms when in reality the problem is gang violence.

[@Mthwe8]

I stopped going outside, because everybody else my age stopped going outside. Walking on the sidewalk by myself, no trees, no grass, just concrete is a special kind of depressing.

[@jooot_6850]

There’s nothing out there for us. Sprawl literally as far as the eye can see. The closest thing you can get to identifying another human is, ironically, what car they drive.

[@blitzboy2934]

The most I do is go do shit with my friends, or sit outside on my patio listening to the rain when it’s raining. Or listening to music.

[@Hawker_Tempest]

I relate to this too well

[@starbéreux]

Honestly. They took down so many parks and even my local skatepark. There’s literally nothing anymore

[@xofxtou4400]

Honestly

[@felixthecat2786]

We constantly complain about the lack of independence in young adults, but they were conditioned to lack independence.

[@micosstar]

yup

[@horsepowermultimedia]

Exactly! You've hit the nail right on the head!

[@the_expidition427]

Saving this

[@vincegay986]

A lot of us boomers have also always wanted communities that are people-centered, not car-centered.

[@catborg780]

And 3rd spaces are shrinking/disappearing

[@sircharlesmormont9300]

I kid you not: I was in my mid-twenties when I was stopped by a cop and asked why I was walking, where I lived, where I was going, and which route I was taking. It was a nice spring day. I had a backpack of books and was trying to return it them to the local library, which was about a mile away. It creeped me out. When you can't even walk a mile to the library on a pretty day without being questioned by police, it kind of makes you not want to walk.

[@jaysouthmusic8230]

Dang that’s messed up

[@NoahWoodard-dn3kv]

Same thing happened to me, they frisked me to and then tried to give me a ride back home.

[@kaydenweathers7480]

Literally the pedestrian :(

[@altobonifacio8936]

I'm brazillian and authorities do this in favelas over here, CRIMINAL AUTHORITIES, drug lords and militiamen, this is not normal at all it's dystopic.

[@absolutelycitron1580]

And this is why the pigs will never support human-centric infastructure and will advocate against it at city council meetings. Maybe an individual 1 will support it occasionally but def not the FoP

[@gameknightplays1211]

Parents: Go Outside. Also Parents: If you go outside alone you will get kidnapped.

[@Cordray.]

Literally my mom

[@odg1190]

I'm always nervous out in public. Ever since I was like 8 my mom would always tell me everytime I went outside, even just to play in the yard that people could kidnap me and do bad things to me. That shit fucked me up and made me a massive recluse.

[@rustym.shackelford5546]

> TFW it's usually Family Members who do that, not strangers

[@rustym.shackelford5546]

@@li-sj4yh Yeah, by Family members.

[@theyluvvi_.]

but then they wont go outside with you.

[@DK-nv9zu]

One upside of living in a lower income area is a lot of kids still play outside.

[@RichardParker-se1oh]

this is how they develop street smarts are and able to adapt to harsher living circumstances opposed to sheltered kids who whine and complain about everything

[@perisleaf]

I think a lot of kids still play outside. As someone with no irl friends I go outside on long walks, sit on the swing and hangout with my brother all the time. I’m thinking of getting my bike back in shape so I can go on bike rides. My brother and his friends and other kids around his and my age are always outside.

[@Vaquix000]

fail to see how that's an upside. Yay someone's screaming children are playing outside, being loud and annoying the neighbours. great

[@range685]

@@Vaquix000 You're part of the problem if you think children being excited outside is some big issue.

[@cyo_gollyna]

​@@Vaquix000 Children are "loud and annoying" inside the house too, just let them exist and hang out, they aren't going to be outside forever

[@Luminousplayer]

Getting arrested for picking up your kids on foot is something i never thought i would read

[@nulian]

Yeah saw somewhere that in some states in canada you can't leave a kid alone till they are 16 or 17. When I was a kid around 10 years old I spend loads of time just playing outside without parent supervision.

[@YouTubeCensors]

WHAT!? That is insane.

[@bd-fp9fb]

"Land of The Free"

[@SBKHLkneehockey-shorts]

@@bd-fp9fbnot anymore ig the way these parents are overprotecting kids

[@charlieterry8506]

I hate when Ray Bradbury is right.

[@callmeej8399]

I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that “stranger danger” education in schools and the fear mongering of parents has created a plethora of problems for gen z and millennials and how they interact with others and that it has impacted the problems in loneliness, dating, and the friendship recession. We were taught to be incredibly fearful of each other when the statistics don’t call for it

[@jonathanpinckney9227]

Yes. Made us paranoid of the outdoors.

[@Cordray.]

Yeah, and that’s probably because crime rates have been dramatically increasing in the USA, like my mom said “when I was a kid, I would go outside all the time, now kids can’t because of all the creeps out there, and cars, children can easily be stalked” personally, I mostly agree with her.

[@Bennysol]

​@@Cordray.Except the so called people you think are creeps are just lonely people looking to make a friend. But you let the media rot your brain

[@enid9911]

I am a millenials and I love it that way because it leads to more people playing video games.

[@usaroblox9336]

I been experiencing problems of loneliness, dating, and the friendship recession

[@lostanguishbladelord2461]

1) Schools and their overwhelming amount of homework take up a lot of the kids time. 2)The commute to and from school can be long and draining. 3) Adding in extracurricular activities add to the time consumption. 4) Parents having a "my child is to be with me and nobody else. No one is being responsible for my child when not in school and I will not be responsible for anyone's child either" mentality. 5) Parents not wanting their children to mix 6) Some kids live in the middle of nowhere 7) There are no mom & pops diners, pizza parlors, ice-cream & soda parlors, community centers, burger joints, arcades or fun zones for kids to go to and hang out. 8) Any park in neighborhoods is usually only for younger kids so many older kids and teens are displaced. 9) If you are bullied, why would you leave your house to face more torment? 10) kids live far away from there schools, so any friend they make are at school only and it would be too costly and hard for them to meet up and hang out. 11) These suburbs/developments being built have nothing but houses as far as the eye can see, on super narrow roads with no space between them. When they should have clinics/doctors offices, multiple parks, movie theatre, convenience stores, mom & pops places, community centers, public pools, comic/dvd/games stores; something to bring some diversity and life to the landscape. 12) A lot of neighbor hoods have in recent years become very unsafe due to criminals, gangs, druggies, dogs. 13) A lot of the time when kids want to go to a local watering hole, a grotto, woodlands, fields, abandoned infrastructure - old people complain and call the cops. 14) People complain and call the cops on kids just playing in their yard, skateboarding or riding their bike. 15) religious people drag their kids to various faith based facilities and events and they may not get back until late at night, exhausted and drained. 16) A lot of fields and lots that kids could go to to play and hang out have been cornered off or turned into housing. 17) Parent buy expensive clothing items for their kids and the kids in turn cannot get them dirty as the parents would pitch a fit when having to clean them, so the kids just stay quiet inside. 18) The only thing the youth have for fun and interaction is there computers, tablets, cells, videogames and tv. 19) A lot of kids have allergies and other health concerns which make it difficult to be outside for too long. 20) Some environments are just too harsh to go outside in - dust, pollution, dangerous animals, heat, cold, rain. 21) Parents don't like to let their kids go outside unless their other siblings can come. which poses challenges when if the other sibling is opposite gender or much younger, so it may be better to stay home. Likewise, some older kids are forced to stay home and keep house/ babysit their younger siblings. 22) A lot of clubs and activities have been hijacked. So kids would rather stay home and avoid that headache. 23) A lot of clubs, activities and programs have become severely underfunded and/or overpriced, so things have been left to degrade to sub par levels of fun and safety. 24) Even if there is somewhere to go, its overcrowded and/or too far away.

[@cheeryrozetea]

You made a list of valid points right there

[@ExtremeWreck]

Man I can relate to some of these. Around here, I have no friends to talk to, only 2 friends in high school & otherwise it's just me on the internet.

[@slasher3336]

I grew up in the sticks myself with no one my age anywhere nearby. Aside from video games and TV, my only other options at home were either exploring the massive forest in my backyard by myself or playing solitaire card games. Granted, once I hit middle school I had access to after-school activities, which I took part in at least 3 of, but after those were done it was straight home.

[@Cordray.]

Yeah, and you know why those places are taken down? Because people remove them to build churches so they can get more money.

[@flyingtank]

Tf is a mom and pop

[@aff77141]

People are so worried about making sure kids live safe, they aren't allowed to live at all

[@jumbothompson]

Safety obsessed society and running away from the smallest problems which leads to feeling the exact opposite of peace and safety.

[@zkittlezthabanditt604]

Benjamin Franklin once said that we should never curb our freedom in the name of security...

[@cherryblossom7120]

You are so on point.

[@Black-Rat]

More like an obsession or collective paranoia if you ask me.... .

[@mahmoodabdulbaqi824]

​@JG-MV who? What people did u you see do this, or are you referring to yourself?

[@taylorsloley4170]

"Kids these days just don't go outside anymore!" Meanwhile the closest park is 13 miles away with no sidewalks leading to said park

[@legthieff]

And the people saying this are telling their children they can’t go outside without arranging it or supervision

[@HellecticMojo]

not to mention the ever increasing climate extremes where summers hit record highs and winters hit record lows or precipitation. Outside suuucks

[@kamilareeder1493]

As a kid it was uncanny. Id be like 15 and dropped of at my fathers' for the summer. I'd hop on my bike and go look to make friends. I'd ride for a mile in all direction until I fit the main road and NEVER meet another kid 😢💔😪

[@user-hp8db9zc7z]

This is why I won’t live in a suburb. Unfortunately, I grew up in one, and there was rampant drug abuse. Because, as was mentioned in the video, there’s nothing to do in suburbs. So literally, kids are doping up their brains without their parents knowing. Suburbs are just a modern day, disaster, cultureless, and a pathetic excuse for living

[@manletopia4801]

curfew laws I got put in a cop car at 17 for walking in my neighborhood even at 21 I still get harassed

[@Maliiiii781]

The world is honestly horrible right now. Kids have depression because they aren't allowed to go outside because 1. Parents are afraid of them going out. 2. The own governments laws about it It's absolutely insane that kids cannot go into some fast food restaurants without parent supervision etc. ontop of all that kids under the age 16-18 are bejng banned off social media making it even worse. Scientist wonder why our children are so depressed and have such fewer friends in this generation but the world has been making it so hard for them to socialize at all.

[@waldorocha604]

It is not the world, it is just the USA. I mean all that you named above.

[@user-eq8pp2jj4o]

@@waldorocha604not true, im not from the us and this still affects me

[@waldorocha604]

@user-eq8pp2jj4o if it affects you, you need a new hobbie, buddy.

[@inferno7997]

​@@user-eq8pp2jj4owell idk about you but no rules in my country states that kids could get banned from normal establishments except bars, clubs, and liquor stores. Pretty much anywhere is safe for kids just don't let your kids go out past 8pm alone

[@ikanmesra]

Plus, introvert and social anxious people are increasing day by day.

[@grannde_]

A lot of kids are so insecure and self conscious they don’t even want to be seen outside or suffer with severe social anxiety with no help to get things better. Also they just want to play video games all day like I do to escape reality.

[@magdalenasracz]

Couldnt agree more.

[@jonathanpinckney9227]

I am also in this boat.

[@Cordray.]

Yeah, like me, I have social anxiety

[@enid9911]

which is the sane thing to do because I saw a news report from my city of someone being kidnapped and murdered because she had to buy her mother cigarettes from the machine. I think it is better when we sit inside and watch netflix or play pokemon stadium 2. The virtual world has so much more to offer than the boring real world.

[@jonathanpinckney9227]

@@enid9911 Boring real world?

[@farwolff]

they really created the most unappealing outdoor environment for actually anything and have the nerve to ask why kids arent going outside anymore

[@YahNation]

My neighborhood destroyed every public access beach 20 years ago and only left behind the shitty ones. They had a building and I literally got Rocks to kick now none of the kids in my area would even know that we even had the potential of a nice hangout location in the neighborhood.

[@Kehwanna]

Even as an adult driving through suburbia it drives me up a wall. I had a meeting one time in a bland office park and had a few minutes for lunch, which having to drive to the nearest chain restaurants was insufferable in itself with the way these places are laid out. I've been to great suburbs before, but we don't see enough of them.

[@yakimandu5098]

multi-cultural societies in big cities are just unsafe and unpleasent

[@Kehwanna]

@@YahNation Gotta love those empty beach houses taking up the coastline that only get visited once a year by whomever owns them. It's especially a shame when you're in a place where the only places you can look at the ocean are all blocked by beach houses, the same with hillsides with great vistas. I know a lot of Caribbean islands are having the same issue where natives can't use their own beaches due to it all being bought up.

[@Digger-Nick]

Leftist America. Create a problem, refuse to fix it, and then complain at others because of it.

[@gamerguy6942]

Getting arrested for picking your kids up on foot instead of in a car is.. It feels illegal.

[@Blixtwixy]

dude i got chills at that part. that's so insane and i can't fathom what's next

[@josephcalabrese6337]

@@BlixtwixyA world of Idiocracy. That’s what’s next.

[@user-yj9pp4lh6v]

Duuuuude I got chills!!!!!! Muh Idiocracy 🤡

[@jcruz5050]

They say he was trying to violate policy that all parents had been well informed of & was being belligerent but he got a $100k settlement outta a couple hours in cuffs so...

[@josephcalabrese6337]

@@user-yj9pp4lh6v Never argue against stupid people! They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

[@Senacacrane]

Let's be honest, if your kids don't have independence as children they're going to have problems as adults kids nowadays have been conditioned to have dependents on their parents. That's the reality we need to show these kids that they can be independent.

[@enid9911]

No they won't because we have AI now. just watch the movie wall-e.

[@viaxxl]

I’m a teenager and I feel it already. I’m so fucked when I turn 20

[@cobus81]

@@viaxxlfr

[@tomb6576]

I'm 25 and going outside still often feels "wrong." I had a few neighborhood kids around growing up but by the time I was 12 going outside was mostly only for a walk, bike, or skateboard around the empty neighborhood roads. The only interaction was a weird stare from the neighbors or a car passing by.

[@SassyFraspondue]

I live in Ohio I get stared down big time for getting my mail or just standing in my driveway or taking out the garbage or watching the eclipse in April we were stared at big time been living there 40 plus years I asked a neighbor if their electric went out just stared at and said nothing

[@SassyFraspondue]

I actually just went out side today may 14 neighbor across the street was out mowing then saw me stopped and went back inside people are weird she does it all the time when we are out side the best thing about being out side here no one bothers you my house is pretty private in the back yard area is a big plus

[@newcinema4931]

​@@SassyFrasponduesame, I can't do shit without being stared at (this includes literally sitting down on my porch stairs in the sun.)

[@edythebeast7087]

Yeah, it feels too damn quiet and exposed

[@devoteeofmediocrity821]

I remember being kicked out of the house because “playing video games all day is unhealthy” but I wasn’t allowed to leave our property. So what was I supposed to do? Rub a stick in the dirt?

[@Wildslayer50]

You were supposed to use your imagination, and imagine yourself playing videogames whilst playing tic-tac-toe solo.

[@CausingChaos.]

Except you can’t even dig because then your parents would get mad at you for digging holes in the ground that the mower could hit.

[@baltakatei]

Get a child labor job so you can start paying rent to them to fund their tropical cruise and their next rental empire property?

[@sweetpurple8812]

@@baltakateigot to love childism and youth hate destroying everything good we had as a society 😭😭 Literally been a backbone of our politics since hippies and rebellion and all that. Youth international party. Why is our edication bad? Why does everyone think kids are dumb as rocks? Why is every kid miserable? Idfk its suUuUuch a mystery. Its called being scared of the people who can and did challenge the establishment, the youth. So they make sure through bribery and screwing us over the youth are miserable and systemstically abused and considered subhuman and get no freedom or thought or information other than things like tiktok which at this point they need to be happy because they took everything else away.

[@redridingcape]

Kick rocks? xD

[@OofOuchOwie]

Getting arrested for having your kids play in your backyard is insane

[@juliaengel6492]

I cannot imagine the rage I would feel if I was arrested because my son was playing outside in our backyard by himself.

[@saimajavedsaimajaved4515]

But I played in my backyard before, but I did not get arrested

[@user-sh6pg2rh9x]

Why we need less gun regulations, not more.

[@zackakai5173]

@@user-sh6pg2rh9x the only thing I can see that resulting in is the kind of people who call the police on a kid for playing in the backyard having *more* guns. They're exactly the kind of people who shouldn't be allowed to own a pair of scissors.

[@user-sh6pg2rh9x]

@@zackakai5173 They are also the kind of people who won't have guns in their homes.

[@therealmkraken7051]

Parents when kids stay inside: “Stop playing video games and go outside!” Parents when kids go outside: “It’s too dangerous, come back inside!”

[@devilsoffspring5519]

My parents (many, many years ago): Stop playing video games, it's the middle of summer! Me: "What should I do?" Parents: "Read a book!" (Me: Fuck you)

[@Guy96477]

"Read a book!" My dude i’ve literally almost read every book that I have

[@devilsoffspring5519]

@@Guy96477 Yeah, and kids do it all day long in school and when the summer comes they will read when they DAMN WELL PLEASE, thank you very much, not because someone ordered them to!

[@Carl_Edits]

1st one valid. 2nd point, that might be for night time mostly, since kidnappers and predators mostly come out when It's that time.

[@Carl_Edits]

Doesn't mean that kidnappers and predators don't come In day time, they come out whenever they want

[@phil-bean]

This might sound silly or off-topic, but I think this is why Animal Crossing resonated with so many people. During a time where these issues were at their worst in lockdown, people were given an opportunity to start a new life (granted, a virtual one), build a perfect town where everybody was together, and have the ability to easily get to places on foot. Animal Crossing was and is the epitome of the good that society is missing.

[@_EnisStudiosASNR]

My parents always complain about how I don’t go outside meanwhile I can’t walk around the APARTMENT COMPLEX I LIVE IN without being scolded

[@SuspendedFlame]

Fr, i get too scared to just walk around my apartment because i dont want to get in trouble And whenever my mom "takes me outside" she just drives me to restaurants

[@Lightwaslost]

my dad only lets me around the apartment complex but after almost 10 years here it got so damn boring so now i just go where i want cause my dad cant track me

[@trueaura369]

I can relate

[@chrhadden]

thats a lie

[@Peachykats]

Omg I’m like you but not I live in a small neighborhood next to a big ish city there’s no kids around my age and there is only like adults and elderly people I can’t go outside by myself because I just find it borinb

[@charlesvattimo4674]

It’s mind boggling how the boomers who grew up with outdoor childhoods, stereotypically known as valuing the good old days, loathe the thought of today’s children getting to live how they used to.

[@Lightwaslost]

im 15 my dad only wants me in our neighborhood but is only a tiny bit alright with me going to other neighborhoods next to mine but the furtherest i can probably go isnt even a mile from the neighborhood but he cant track me and my sister has my location so i just go wherever i physically can but i dont have any friends near me even though ive lived here for almost 10 years 3 months til its 10 years of living here and it gets boring and my original friend group i had all moved away the last person moved about 2 years ago and i wasnt really hanging out with him for the last 3 years since thats when i deicided i wanted to play minecraft on my ps3 rather then go outside so whenever i go out i just ride a scooter and there are people my age around here but none of them really mess wit me that much and then everybody else who goes outside there house are dog walkers and kids 7-13 and since this is a apartment complex if i do make friends in here they move after a few months.

[@flowerasteroid6241]

​@@Lightwaslost Keep putting yourself out there and if you find someone you wanna be friends with dont be afraid to apply a little pressure and become their friend. My 2 current best friends were not made overnight in fact I kinda didnt like one of them at first but over time with hanging out more I would now die for my buddy. Keep your head up and talk to people. Theres a friend for you out there. People are also generally nicer/more playful than you think. Love you

[@MastaHosen]

Boomers grew up in a 90% white country. That's not the case anymore.

[@chrhadden]

i wish you all played outside like we did but im gen x. i think you are a bunch of dim w imps. get that straight

[@metricccccc]

@@Lightwaslost im sure your story is great but holy hell use periods

[@Coffeepanda294]

What always gets me is that looking back at my childhood, I have so many good memories from just walking home from school with my buddies. The walk home was about half an hour, and we'd talk, play, maybe take a detour, stop by a shop for candy, what have you. So many memories. On school buses at least kids sit together, but if you're driven, chances are you ride the car alone with your parents. Kids who get driven to and from school miss out on so many experiences.

[@thiago64]

Im from Brazil, i always see kids in the streets, being happy, walking to the school. (Sorry my broken english)

[@nearbystudios]

Thats actually not bad for broken english

[@karlfasselt8230]

they made the outside hostile and wonder why their children won't play outside

[@kaleycooper9111]

Seriously. I’m Mexican, but this whole situation still applies here (perhaps even more so). Bike lanes are non-existent, side walks are either broken or have cars parked on them, there are aggressive stray dogs everywhere and don’t get me started on crime. There are a few crosses on my street alone (these are placed in hispanic culture to signify exactly where a person died/body was found) and just a few months ago one of my neighbors killed a man! It’s insane here and I absolutely DO NOT blame my mom for never even allowing me to walk alone to the convenience store just a few houses away from my own. Her fear is, sadly, not irrational in any sense of the word. I can’t wait to finally raise enough money to move to the US. At least the government makes an effort to make the place look nice

[@GarbageTVoriginal]

It’s not hostile, you’re just scared of your own shadow.

[@tumultuousv]

​@@GarbageTVoriginal tell that to your predator neighbor

[@CCA.C17.SQL.02Idot]

​@@GarbageTVoriginalWhat a tough man you are, go back to work please

[@pastaboiman06]

@@kaleycooper9111omg the sidewalks in my area (north America) are TERRIBLE. There’s mutiple big stroads and even roads that have no crosswalks or sidewalks for pedestrians to cross. There’s literally a bridge I used to walk on when I would go to Walmart with my mom after she picked me up from school (we have no car bc ours is broken and we can’t afford to fix it), and it has no sidewalks so youre just walking next to the cars. It sucks so much

[@maqy01]

I actually can't believe that kids can't even be alone in a park in the us. I can't believe it dude!!! american children are prisoners!! what!!! land of the free and you can't even walk places!!!!!

[@jp6869]

Our country hasn't always been like that but it is now, and the psychological harm it does is only dimly understood.

[@enchantedbananas]

Yeah actually if you're a minor from a poor family in the US life is really house arrest until you're way too old to develop independence and critical social skills.

[@PlaystationMasterPS3]

America is a sick joke, freedom is nothing more than a nationalist buzzword

[@mrleafbeef634]

Illinois and Chicago there be kidnapping taking place

[@TheOneRioji]

I love the fact that no one takes into consideration how at risk kids are these days if left unsupervised. I don’t trust anyone with my kid, even more so because my kid is a girl.

[@Libycops003]

1:25 Not gonna lie, that Bus driver is a good man for protecting the children.

[@ncfncfli2268]

as an immigrant who is new in the us, one of the worst sides of the country is that city designs are very bad. back in my country everything was close and i did not really have to know how to drive a car, but in here it is almost impossible to go outside and do something if you do not know how to drive.

[@moe2000]

The last time I walked into my local library with my 19 year old little brother, the librarian yelled at us from the circulation desk, declaring that teenagers could not come in without supervision or written permission from a gaurdian. And they wonder why kids are the way they are.

[@combos7]

at 18 your legally an adult so i dont really understand why they would say that.

[@moe2000]

@combos7 I agree. For clarity, he looks younger, and she let us by after learning our ages. It's just that the idea that any kid walking into the library would be turned away is so frustrating.

[@B0OBIES]

Right. My teen sister wasn't allowed to go into the teen room at the library so she straight up left. Disinterested in the library thanks to the dumb librarian 🙄

[@AviKats66]

That sucks. I work at a library, and we are a community space - we encourage people to come in and hang out, not just for books or other items we offer to borrow/browse, but to participate in the many different programs we host, or other services like reference questions or computer use and free wifi. We have a dedicated kids section and a thriving kids program - I am being 100% truthful when I say kids love coming to our library, and we love that!

[@gaerekxenos]

@@moe2000 If they are under a certain age, I can maybe see that. But teenagers...? I think teenagers are old enough to go around on their own without supervision, yeah...? If they're under 10 years old, then *maybe* you'd get someone to watch over them. Or those are the standards I grew up with, so about 15 years ago that was probably how things ran

[@lullabychannel5400]

Like even at college, no one talks to each other. My mom was surprised that no one in the dorms knows their neighbors. We've been raised that way, we grew up as kids not allowed outside and dont know how to talk to each other

[@caucasoidape8838]

When you are bullied all your life, that makes you not want to interact either.

[@KatKaotika]

​@@caucasoidape8838depends on the person I think.. I was bullied BAD but I got a job and made friends with my coworkers and hung out with them. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@ShadowMudkip123]

I graduated in 2022 and during that last year the freshmen were literally like NPCs. They rarely interacted with each other so upperclassmen would do the socializing lmao. I think COVID fucked them up

[@Nevermore13082]

Kids are growing up with their friends, actually their entire lives in their hands. Texting doesn’t develop social skills, idk it’s so impersonal.

[@duckway4733]

​@@ShadowMudkip123 damn can't wait for college then. Covid fucked me up too.

[@milkycolaaa]

I want to go outside so bad, I prefer nature over devices, but my parents get worried about kidnappers, so I can’t go ANYWHERE without supervision, and they barely go outside so that kinda leads to me barely going outside. Trust me, I'd go ride my bike all day rather than being on this phone typing right now. I just feel really isolated from the outside world and it makes me feel sad.

[@mokje_]

Same!

[@sunsetter4940]

im a techie personally but i hate being forced into one side. I really do want to explore nature and observe those tiny flowing rivers and landscapes or even just basic parks with anything green! theres a lot of small streams in my area, i dont know if they're safe but im not allowed to go out and ask anyone!

[@devilsoffspring5519]

If you live in such a shitty part of the world, why did your parents have kids?

[@UselessGoddess378]

Me too! (I mean, I live in a place that turns into a hellishly hot sauna in the summer, so heatstroke is a fair concern. But jeez... I can't at least go in the morning? I hate being cooped up inside.)

[@bumbleprime7713]

Finally, someone talking about this issue! Im 14, and I personally wish i could just.. go more places. But i can't drive yet, and also, my parents don't want me out much due to the danger. It took a fair amount of convincing to get my parents to let me walk outside of our neighborhood. Keep in mind that my parents are some of the most chill parents I've ever met.

[@cartoonmaster2401]

I'm 25, and remember at 10-12, the highlight of my day was hearing the doorbell and the kids of the neighborhood asking my parents if me and my sister could come out to play. As long as we'd did our homework, we could go. We'd play hopscotch, tag, jump rope, one of the boys taught us how to play with Pokemon cards, and gave us two (I still have my Jolteon and Charizard.) We played without supervision, came home when it got dark, and not a single person worried about getting arrested.

[@Joseluis10119]

As a teen that doesn't live in the US, I'm experiencing that rn, it's really cool getting along with people I didn't even know their names and now getting invited to play at the park

[@zarrowthehorse]

this is still possible, i dont get it

[@NotLuaYT]

@@whiteboikev I’m in that new generation, ‘addicted to screens’ and I’d still absolutely love to of all of those things. It’s just a lack of those things being available to us kids, and with the public school system being as awful as it is. Can you imagine a 15 year old going out to a park and playing hopscotch? Well maybe you could, but younger kids will shame you for being childlike because that’s what they’ve been sort of conditioned to do by the school system. Just either be cool or fit in, those are the only rules. I sit in my room for hours at a time, yet I still would prefer to have fun with my friends outside. It’s just a matter of possibility with this new system, and if you’d actually watched the video fully or been in our current situation before you got older, you’d understand.

[@whiteboikev]

@@NotLuaYT “possibility in the new system”? what “system” would that be? actually curious i’d love to know the new system .

[@LadyLunarella]

I miss those days.....playing ding dong ditch did get us in some trouble but it was fun. I would say harmless but everything's harmful these days....so yeah not much to do these days. parks used to be the one place to go to make random friends now a days idk if kids are even doing that?

[@daviddurango9562]

I'm 67, and I can damn well tell you why it is. There is nowhere left to go. When I was a kid, we went swimming at the old abandoned gravel pit. We rode our dirt bikes through the woods. Us kids in the neighborhood took an abandoned lot and mowed it, cleaned it up, and used it as our neighborhood baseball field. We didn't need no stinkin' Parks Service! In my home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan, ALL OF THOSE PLACES ARE GONE!

[@jakeedits312]

I am 15 and live in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa. There isn’t any woods here, no empty lots you are allowed to go on, everything is just so boring. We have a couple playgrounds and a tennis court, that’s about it. Also, you can’t go anywhere because there is lethal traffic on 6 lane roads on all sides of the neighborhood. And if you want to go do anything other than that you have to pay for it and have your parents drive you there when they have time.

[@amazingenzofilipek]

Nice childhood. You lucky you didn’t get kidnapped at the age of 7 like me in 1898

[@M00N3CL1SPE]

You're 133? ​@@amazingenzofilipek

[@Eosinophyllis]

I live in Winnipeg, Canada. There’s not much to do for teens nearby. You can shop (expensive), go to a park (but all of them are school parks meant for young young children), go for a walk (where? with who?) or stay at home. it’s clear which one is the best option. The closest actual park is kilometres away and hard to walk to. There’s a library close to where I live, but that’s about it, most people don’t have one that close, and it’s closed often when I actually have the time to go visit it. it’s depressing.

[@beccak8166]

The parks service has done some incredible things in my home city of Minneapolis. There's a park within a mile of every home here. I think you picked the wrong enemy in your comment 😅

[@McRibless]

I feel like this whole issue got worse when the pandemic passed. It really killed a lot of people’s social skills

[@dasupamario5588]

I stopped going outside because there is barely anything even cars, and walking in a small sidewalk with few trees and no life around is really depressing

[@frempy4426]

Pokemon is a child independence simulator

[@turtleanton6539]

Yes🎉🎉🎉😊

[@inappropriate4333]

This is so true it hurts

[@Someone-yg9nz]

Earthbound too

[@LobsterCameramanProductions]

Pokémon go*

[@sleepydudespillow]

@@LobsterCameramanProductionsnah just the Pokémon series in general, gold and silver, ruby sapphire etc

[@xSPAZNSPARTANx]

No wonder there's a loneliness crisis in young people. When your infrastructure, laws and helicopter parents discourage you from doing things outside and experience things at a young age you tend to not grow and develop social skills properly, which makes your 20's very difficult. And I feel most people are having to spend their 20's realizing things they could've figured out and should've been taught in their teens. Also, I think it's part of the reason why so many kids wanna go away to college despite the debt while also not knowing what they want to do. It really is mainly for the social aspect, it's their last chance to make up for what they couldn't get out of high school or growing up in general.

[@scruf153]

more like when they were 10 or 11

[@mathbathh]

fr man its true. I'm a young adult now and this is like an epiphany to me. I mean im still realizing things and learning to socialize. It's not normal

[@whiile1239]

That's why I want to go to college. You've read my mind. I grew up in a bad environment and then was taken away from my mother to my gramn. She was a severe helicopter parent and I had undiagnosed autism so the change was super hard on me. Now that I'm 19 I realized how much of life I missed out on. But it's nearly impossible to make friends outside of school now

[@rexman971]

I love how older people talk about living their glory days so that the young generation didn't have to. I.e. racing bikes down that steep hill off a ramp over a creek type of stuff. There's so much emphasis about becoming a criminal because you had fun that kids don't do anything but play with electronics. Can you get hurt doing physical activities with your friends outside? Yes but it's something you'll cherish until you die.

[@mr.nobody2858]

Yeah this was something that was unfortunate for me as well, I don’t have the urge to always go outside. I’ve gotten a bit better at socializing and trying to manage social interaction with others but it isn’t too easy. My parents only let me use my technology rather than bringing me outside or encouraging me to go outside. Not to mention various other aspects that I had to handle in my life which messed with me a lot. Depression, emotional numbness, anxiety, stress, slight suicidal tendencies, loneliness and many other things in high school didn’t do me much either since the kids there only considered me a psychopath. When I was just always fucking suffering and now I am feeling better as a young adult. And guess who helped me? Barely anyone in my school, only teachers were nice to me and some students or classmates were cool with me but ain’t that many. Even my French Teacher gave me a fucking hug once, I wish I could hug her again and cry into her arms. Because she was a good teacher, as well as a nice woman, the others who helped me are those that were online. And I found my own passion is to help others who may not be so fortunate, thanks to people online which is unlike the cunts outside in society. So I plan to become something like a therapist or a psychotherapist as well as just being someone that other people, especially kids can rely on. Because with the way shit is going, kids don’t have someone to listen to them who’s an adult so if I have to be the adult that other kids can speak to and give them a chance to speak up about anything then that’s what I’ll be. Society can go fuck itself for trying to destroy me and those I love, I’ll be laughing my ass off at all the adults when I’m finished helping children who will be asking for help and need the help.

[@georgekim933]

You’re very observant and insightful. I’m 64. I always thought many of the things you said but was never as articulate and productive as you! I recently sold my overpriced and depressing suburban home, got lucky and moved to a small farm with acreage. Cars are dangerous as you say but people still don’t operate them like farm equipment. Thanks for the great job, young man!

[@legendary_orange]

As a Gen A you'd think I'd be fine with just staying indoors half the time but I'm sick of it. I've had dreams were I could run outside into my neighborhood all by myself without any problem. I barely get to leave my house. Its so stupid. My mother got to leave yet she thinks its the end of the world if I even step foot on the sidewalk without her permission. Everytime I see a kid walking around the neighborhood I feel insanely jealous and salty. Please just let me go outside.

[@Tatsuro_98]

this is soo true. people nowadays think that kids are like "fuck the outside, i have tiktok and skibidi toilet" but the true reason is the parents not letting there kids outside thinking a asteroid will impact them. and also because there is barely anybody going outside too. i hope you can take a step outside freely. good luck

[@izuix5629]

I think this is what makes liminal spaces resonate

[@Bearadactyle]

Alot of this is why VR is so appealing to teens and kids in general... it gives them a "physical" space to socialize and play in with out having to leave their homes.

[@rileyyost4959]

100% agree

[@NuttyTheKidd]

that’s what i did over covid… i would just go on, talk to everyone, make some pretty good friends, one of which i still an in contact with today, and i just felt like i finally belonged somewhere with other people who made me feel welcomed

[@SuperFlashDriver]

This is how I felt too when it came to KZbin/Art websites was that people had something more in common with my interests than those in my elementary school. While everyone at Knollwood elementary school in 2005/2006 were into spongebob, they didn't realize I was into the Saw/Hostel/Horror Movie franchises back when I was 9/10 years old, which I've been a fan of horror movies since I was 7 years old in 2003 (20/21 years ago to be exact). Needless to say, my parents thankfully allowed us and my siblings to bike or walk anywhere not because of school, but rather because it was for health and exercise. So thankfully it wasn't because they kicked me out due to video games, but rather they were concerned I wouldn't get much sunlight or activity to feel better and not get sick all the time.

[@sp00k48]

It sucks for me since it gives me a headache.

[@Harpy-with-Legs]

That was legit awesome. I remember one time there was a social event for that VR game Rec Room. it was like a hide and seek game in one of the paintball pvp maps. It was a blast weirdly awesome how a bunch of random online players were able to work together and simulate a real game of hide and seek in a completely virtual world.

[@BeyondBaito]

"Why dont kids go outside?" *does nothing to keep the public safe*

[@zm1786]

We let literally anyone in our country with no background checks.

[@Azelf89]

⁠@@zm1786 That's the post-9/11 paranoia talking. You guys absolutely do background checks. A lot of them. Any more, and y'all would practically turn into North Korea with how isolationist you'd be.

[@bobtheball5384]

​@@zm1786 YOU are part of the problem

[@Digger-Nick]

​@@Azelf89How and where? People coming in from the border aren't even vaccinated against the most basic things... Stop pushing blatant lies and propaganda

[@Digger-Nick]

Leftist America 🤣

[@zainubatif1827]

I live in Japan and I’m in middle school, everyone walks or bikes to school and even elementary school students walk to school! And there’s always places for kids to hang out in Japan. Even adults bike to work or anywhere. People only use cars if they’re going somewhere far, lol

[@palerider2143]

Beautiful video dude, I’m a (soon 15) teen who loves the outdoors and I love adventuring with my friends. Where I live we have plenty playgrounds and cool areas to go to. Everything is where I need it, so we go out and play, we have a childhood, we explore, it’s fucking beautiful. This summer I have nothing on my mind except going outside, chilling with my friends, exploring the rural side of where I live, and drinking slushies on the curb. Playing video games are boring in comparison, I can’t believe kids are missing out on this!

[@P_Diddy_Official]

Your lucky. I’m also 15 and I live in a semi rural town and whenever I go outside to ride my bike or skateboard the cops always show up to scold me and bring me home. I haven’t left my house for anything but school in over a year and a half, I just scroll on my phone all day every day because I don’t have anything left to do. And even worse, I don’t have WiFi at my house anymore so I can’t even play on my console :l

[@palerider2143]

@@P_Diddy_Official I used to live in Brooklyn NY and it wasn’t that bad

[@TheTaxiCast]

the past few years i've been looking at those "children at play, drive slow" signs and saying to myself...where are these said children

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

It’s sad 😢

[@scallie6462]

They grew up. You should still drive slow in residential. Pedestrians and animals are everywhere.

[@lisabonanno3839]

Sheltering in place.

[@user-gu9yq5sj7c]

Watch Not Just Bikes on traffic calming. Just plopping up signs doesn't work. There needs to be physical and logical indicators to why drivers should slow down. Even in this video, Flurf said drivers wouldn't even let kids cross to school. The bus driver had to intervene and protect the kids. Which I'm glad the bus driver did. I saw a comment on Not Just Bikes or Shrifter from a European tourist to America who asked why was America empty of people. Also, check out Not Just Bikes on third places and Cash Jordan on anti-homeless/hostile architecture.

[@Maytrixwasheree]

Same, I don't even see adults out unless they are walking their dogs, it's honestly depressing

[@ezzysalazar]

I’m only 23, born in 2000, and man it’s astonishing different from when even I was growing up in the mid-late 2000s, early 2010s. I was always outside, riding bikes around the neighborhood and exploring the general area with my friends that lived nearby, and our parents never cared as long as we came back before night. I didn’t even realize things had changed so much since then.

[@whentherookbirdsings]

The reason I never go out anymore is because I was never allowed to make friends outside of school. The only people I could hang out with were the kids right next to me. I could never go across the street. I couldn’t leave the property. So when those kids moved away, and my childhood friends and I moved apart from each other, I had nothing else to do. I don’t even have chalk to draw on the sidewalk with. None of the surrounding houses have kids my age. So I’m stuck.

[@Asrajzz64]

Same.

[@vinson3725]

Same

[@Caragoner]

I love that whenever i talk about how my parents are hypocrites for always hovering around me after they talk about the crazy shit they did as kids their first argument is "things are different now, you just didn't want to be outside." No, what I didn't want was to be locked to a 2 block radius around my house and allowed to explore and interact with others. "I used to stay out until the streetlights came on!" If I did that i would get grounded. I was actively punished for going out and being social and now my parents wonder why i don't like people and I'm a shut in.

[@Justin-uc8sc]

I pooped in the kitchen sink

[@bobtheball5384]

Bro you are so right about being locked in a 2-radius outside the house. I couldn't fucking step one foot on the PARKING LOT outside our apartment block like the other kids because my mom didn't want that when I was 7. I was afraid to walk across the street by myself at age 12 and 13...and they expected me to know how to cross the street on my own after consistently being told I have to stay attached to their hip.

[@Alex365x]

​@@bobtheball5384 When I lived with my dad from age 6 to 12, I wasn't allowed to leave the house to play with people. For some reason my dad thought that I would insta-turn into a gang member if I played outside with the other kids💀

[@PastelPeachEdits]

BRO SAME OMG MY PARENTS USED TO NOT LET ME GO PAST 2 HOUSES 💀💀

[@Lolo_fried]

Wth your parents are way too strict

[@beefbmx]

The second I sold my car to get around via bike skateboard as an adult it really made me realize how pressured you are to have a car

[@emmypants6727]

I remember getting a skateboard and wanting to bike more but there were just signs all over town saying no skating and there were no lanes or bike racks. It’s really a car centric world now :( not having a license can completely cripple your ability to go out and be in the world in so many cities

[@octosquid48]

My mom constantly pressures me to get a car

[@o0Donuts0o]

Your friends who have to drive you everywhere want the same.

[@goobersguide]

Same

[@Maytrixwasheree]

Same, as soon as I turned 14, my parents, my younger brother, and just anyone in my family was begging me to study for my learner permit so I could start learning on how to drive until I turned 16 so I could get a car and start driving myself when I'm not even interested and even slightly scared of driving knowing how reckless some people anymore, I miss where people weren't so independent on driving, I would rather walk 4 miles to a store than do a less than a minute drive thank you very much

[@waspwrap1235]

I truly do not care if it’s considered authoritarian to take away cars from people especially in the United States, the way we set up transportation here is objectively terrible and needs severe reevaluation.

[@gunnarcarlson2118]

I'm a 13 year old boy and my neighborhood doesn't even have a park, instead we just have pits full of lava rock, when me and my friends got some leftover wood that construction workers weren't using from a nearby construction site, we built a massive fort in the pit of lava rocks, it had two rooms, chairs, and even a roof, then the town had to get involved and make us take it down even though it was on public property, then me and my friends just had to sit in our front yards with nothing to do because the town cared about their stupid pit of rocks more then the citizens of the town being productive and healthy, and I was 12 when that happened

[@user-kn1rz]

The same thing happened to 2 other friends of mine they used some wood and then proceeded to get the cops called 😮‍💨

[@juliathelittle7007]

I remember one time in middle school one kid missed the bus and used his bicycle. He was reprimanded rather than praised for coming to school.

[@cavanmorber3238]

That's messed up...my main mode of transportation is walking, biking, and the bus

[@freeamericanthinker558]

Reprimanded?🤨

[@Wepawnet]

@@freeamericanthinker558 what's the issue

[@Zythryl]

@@freeamericanthinker558You do know what that means, right?

[@elleaaaron6775]

@@freeamericanthinker558makes sense. We weren’t allowed to bike or walk to school either.

[@snowbird1381]

“Go play outside!” The outside they made:

[@nazomius7033]

Wdym? Outside is safe

[@xyippee]

@@nazomius7033op means that the outside is unfit for people to hang out, with some stores even not allowing individuals under 18 to enter

[@nazomius7033]

@@xyippee You can still go outside and have fun without doing alcohol or drugs

[@Awesometdsplayer]

As a Polish Person i find it very funny after 2 world wars we have better roads than the L a N d O f F r E e D o M

[@VikktheVick]

​@dawidsmigielski1232 i want to move to poland

[@SMITHOMATIC]

Its sad knowing some kids cant even ride a bike anymore 😢

[@frankm.2850]

The difference between the US and Asia is that Asia is a collectivist society. We, on the other hand, have taken individualism to a self destructive extreme. If I approached a kid in a public space who appeared to be lost/seperated from their parent, in a collectivist culture, the parent would be grateful I reached out and helped their kid. In the US I'd probably be accused of being a child molester.

[@TheCottonCandyQueen]

“We will build a bunch of roads for our cars in mind first and the people last.” “We will keep our children under surveillance literally 24/7 and expect them to be independent.” “Why isn’t anyone going outside anymore?”

[@theperfectburger9892]

The problem that these officials are having is they’re trying to make it easier for some motive they have without considering others and the consequences of their decisions

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@Herobeans]

​@@highestpeeqs9532Too eurocentric

[@khakipeach2128]

Not to mention that a 12 year old will get arrested for ding dong ditching, whereas a few decades ago kids could get away with much worse

[@joestewart5406]

Then why were the roads built 60 years ago when kids spent there entire life outside. What a joke. You don’t have a clue what your talking about

[@StumbleMetal]

I live in the suburbs, and there ain't SHIT to do outside. If you go literally 0.2 miles from my house roads, roads, and even more roads. It's awful when I go outside there's some liminal space crap going on. it's creepy as hell.

[@NickSofranko]

liminal space, thats a great way to describe it

[@PlutoProtogen]

welcome to my town, im 30 and its a small town, ive never had anything to do here and i wouldnt have minded some good outdoor spaces growing up! it honestly sucks and i really wish the younger generations had something to do outside of home life

[@dudethatuploadsstuff4247]

​@@NickSofrankothat IS the description. Did you learn sum new?

[@GensChilledCola]

exactly! the closest thing to my neighborhood is my school and a plaza, which just has a deli and other pointless shops, and atleast a 30min walk would get you to another neighborhood or a dollar store, 45min and you'll get to the gas station

[@borahaeist3215]

i live in the suburbs too but I biketo the town center, to my school which has a couple of shops around, and to the park, pools, and ponds around.

[@huntress1013]

It is not just kids. My bestie from the US visited me and one evening we did a nice leisure stroll around the city (I live in Europe). People were sitting on benches, etc. She looked at me wide-eyed and said, " We don't do this." I looked at her, confused. "What? Take strolls?" "That too, but we don't go outside after dark...that's way too dangerous." It is so sad, really.

[@shoetoss2655]

Tl;DR: it's not as simple as telling someone to "go outside", it's more about making the outside more accessible to said someone.

[@Emperor-Quill]

It's terrible that you can get arrested and have your kids taken for letting them play in your yard unsupervised, or picking them up on foot, but there's still a ton of horrific cases where people straight up abuse their kids and have them live in horrible conditions, and nobody does anything till the kid's name is on a headline and their body's gone cold.

[@KamilDeKerel]

if this would be how it works in Belgium (where i'm from) i'd be put in an orphanage when i was younger lmao

[@bboi1489]

​@@KamilDeKerelAre the waffles nice there?

[@starglow4375]

Yep, hey folks why dont you check out the dark web kids being sold, raped and chopped up alive to have their body parts sold. Hey folks remember when it would take a while to get body parts and now during covid 19 it was like I got covid 19 but they just replaced my lungs, heart, liver etc... wow and how many children and adults disappear in America every year many never to be heard from again a lot, so nowadays its best to be safe than sorry.

[@gothixxx12]

Ya because America

[@MrLeroyJacob]

Where the heck do you live where you can get arrested for letting kids play in the yard. You're exaggerating! Please tell me you're exaggerating! lol

[@traceydelfs2657]

The 6yo across the street from me plays outside constantly but no one to play w so he hangs out w me on my porch and we chat. He says his friends aren’t allowed but his mom cant stifle his freedom😅 he has confidence and self esteem.

[@weldonyoung1013]

What "sheep" that do the same as everyone else, don't !

[@Bayyyro]

i live in a small town that is very walkable so fortunately my little sisters are able to do these things. i didnt realize how much of a problem this is for larger cities

[@MegaDarkTroll]

@@Bayyyroit's such a problem, cities are just suburbs at this point

[@rcjpth]

I actually miss going outside it reminds me when I was much younger. Playing outside with the neighbors kids until night comes with only entertainment and games that we had to make up. I made much more friends too we all get along (or at least try too lol). Now I’m a teenager and rarely see anyone outside. Not allowed to leave the house unless an adult comes with me. The outside looks to bare and depressing with the lack of people that couldn’t help myself to do anything. If I were to ask my friends to go outside with me they said they don’t have a ride and what not, even though i can use bike to get other there I cant go outside still since my family grow me into the mindset that the outside is scary with bunch of kidnappers. The city I live has so much cars with monochrome colors which often is depressing too. I wish I was still outgoing when I was younger.

[@jenniferburchill3658]

When you could be independent as a child but not as a teen, that's a MAJOR step backward.

[@rcjpth]

@@jenniferburchill3658Quite literally yes. I take bike rides with my dog which ask a basket on the bike every now and then. I just ask my dad on the phone if I could go outside biking around the neighborhood and he said no because no one at home. But like?.. I’m going outside on a bike. Why would I need?? LIKE HUH?? It’s just frustrating at times and being at home in summer alone does not make it better.

[@EvaLuvzFnaf]

As a teenager who lives in a town so small it can be considered a village I agree 10000% with everything you said. All me and my best friend can do that isn't on the internet is shop at the nearby doller general and go to the park which is fun Don't get me wrong but it gets old quick and for a while I was terrified about going anywhere without an adult (I'm less afraid about this now but still)

[@ChrisDaGamer]

i hate modern american society

[@redrox3312]

9:20 this part especially pissed me off. It’s fascinating how closed minded people can be when they’re used to doing something else

[@althunder4269]

Then go back to the way it used to be with people living in city tenements or one room cabins with no electricity or indoor plumbing.

[@GeeEm1313]

Me too.

[@chromie6571]

@@althunder4269How about neither?

[@scruf153]

how do you think us GEN Xrs feel the boomer are to blame they started the for the safty of the kids thing

[@brendenstahl7007]

Whenever I go outside, I never see teenagers like me. It’s always little kids. 💀

[@amphibiland7315]

Same

[@darklordsauron3415]

You can prey on the little ones, I don’t see the issue.

[@unnamed6864]

​@@Ink_Animsbro is gonna play with the little ones

[@LUVTASTE]

sameee omg or really old folks😭

[@michellebradford438]

My mom made me move to the suburbs while all my friends live in the city I don't mind the park because no one really goes there

[@sheivacdl]

When i was younger all i wanted to do was get older but now all i want is to go back to the times of playing outside. What you said about people had more friends, a bright eye when you wake up in the morning. Its sad that this will never happen again in America. The freeway is the most sad thing i see because all we see in the whole state full of roads, and concrete.

[@Human-xn2lj]

As a teenaged girl, I don't feel safe walking or riding bikes unless it is with my brother or his friends (the 2nd shortest of these guys is 6 feet tall). Only time that is safe is the 4th of July where we close half the city down for bikes and very busy summer days. I live in the middle of a high desert, so I am trapped by lava rock. Basically there is no where to go here.

[@Tenavix]

I swear the parents just picking up their kids getting arrested pisses me off so much

[@chocolateearrings]

Same. I hope they got a settlement

[@SkyChildrenoftheW]

It‘s turning to a way that smart, good parents are being surpressed

[@elijahdelacruz3204]

Getting arrested for walking with your kids is crazy Edit: after seeing all the replies, I’ll never take walking freely for granted again. I grew up and live in the Philippines where walking to anywhere you want is normal (well, as long as you’re in one of the developed suburb communities or cities), very similar to our neighbors in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and basically every Asian country.

[@501isa]

Yeah that was a hard WTF moment.

[@cowpoop123457]

We live in a dystopian hellscape lmao. Suburban sprawl has ruined the United States.

[@Kehwanna]

Suburbs are also ripe with Karens and paranoia it appears. Apparently walking in your neighborhood looks suspicious as a lot of recorded 911 calls show and from my as well as plenty other people's experiences (far too many examples to put in this comment). It's no wonder why so many Karen videos take place in the suburbs and why so many people in suburbs get killed or harassed over some person's suburb paranoia.

[@NateDoesYT]

@@501isa Agreed, that's just a random wtf moment, I think that's too far at this point.

[@Lolo_fried]

Thank god i live in canada where kids walking is legal

[@cryon1158]

As a teenager who has been homeschooled for the past 7 years, (think COVID lockdown but for 7 years now) this really hits close to home. For years now the highlight of my week would be getting to leave my house, even for normal stuff that most people don’t want to do like going to the grocery store would make my entire week. Couple that with the fact that we have instacart, DoorDash, etc, and that my mother works pretty much 24/7, I wouldn’t be able to leave my home for months no matter how badly I wanted to. It was just the same mundane being in my house 24/7 and at some point I begin to fall into even greater depression, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. My bedroom had turned from somewhere to relax after getting home from school, to a place that I resented. It felt like psychological torture. Now I barely know how to talk to people, am extremely self conscious, and overall just fucked up because I was isolated for the most important years of development that I’ll ever get in my entire life, as well as basically wasting my teenage years away being a shut-in against my will. The US has gotten to the point where without a license and a car you can hardly experience life at all, and people wonder why kids and teens aren’t leaving their homes when all they can do is sit in their yard. It’s somewhat comforting to know that I’m not the only person that’s experienced this, but at the same time it’s sad that anybody has to at all. For those going through similar circumstances, I hope things will improve for you.

[@TheIntimateAvenger]

I have fond memories of spending all day at the park as a kid. The fact that today’s youth can’t experience this is just sad.

[@OhBortherProductions]

Fr man

[@MetallicMustache]

This is very validating, even as an adult. It's so hard to find neighborhoods that actually have walkable places. I don't want to HAVE to drive everywhere, I want to be able to walk around and see other people walking around enjoying being outside. It just feels so depressing the way it is right now

[@zarrowthehorse]

To be completely honest, yall just dont want to admit that being on the computer is more fun

[@Jvizzlezz]

@@zarrowthehorsebeing on the computer is fun, of course. but if we had the choice to just walk outside and go have fun with others our age, whether children, teenagers, or even adults, many people would do so. unfortunately, america is built in such a way now that most social places where you can do things like that are upwards of 15-20 minutes away by car, or roughly 8-16x that duration via walking. who in the hell is going to walk several hours, across many lanes of busy traffic, with sometimes few or no crosswalks (let alone safe crosswalks) just to have fun when you could have decent fun just sitting down in your home? the real enemy here is the inconvenience of going out in modern america and trying to find others that will do the same

[@michalpoplawski2651]

@@Jvizzlezzim lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that is not built near a major road or highway and have decent enough sidewalks with little to no cars passing by. I can usually just ride my bike to the pool or tennis court and hang out with my friends. I feel like the government of the USA should be focusing more on humans rather than cars, and this is coming from a kid that likes to play videogames pretty often.

[@michaelwineberger6910]

Word

[@highestpeeqs9532]

Jesus loves yall, died for us, and rose again! Jesus calls for all of us to repent! He's coming back!!!

[@ARwastaken1]

A lot of the times it isn't the kids fault that they don't go outside much, it's the parents fault. Change my mind.

[@scourgatory]

i have friends who want to go outside and their parents would want that too but their parents are simply too busy to drive them around everywhere. going anywhere nowadays takes so much planning and stuff. this is almost 100% due to infrastructure that values the giant moving vehicle more than the human. if our infrastructure was made for civilians, parents wouldnt have to be the ones responsible for making sure their kids can leave the house.

[@michaelschneider1471]

Wanted to play outside, roam around a little. Too many gangs in the neighborhood due to living close to low income housing. Very diverse.

[@s-nooze]

​@@scourgatory💯 parents just want to keep their kids safe, the blame lies with planners and people paying and taking bribes to wreck our cities for pedestrians and keep us car dependent.

[@out_spocken]

@@scourgatory you literally open the front door and you are outside. You don't need parents to drive you anywhere. Issue of american? society

[@Daedalus-YT]

@@out_spockenIdk about other countries, but at least here in the US, I and many other americans I have known can attest that if you *do* step outside, you will walk in front of one of several cameras, set off an alert on your parent's phones, then they immediately chime in and ask what's wrong/what's happening, and bring you back inside. Parents are simply too paranoid due to mainstream media spreading fear about the "man in a white van" so they don't want their kids exploring anything independently.

[@Hayden-pg4og]

I’m 21 years old, I’ve always felt like there was nothing to do outside, even at a young age, the only things that came to mind when wanting to do something out of the house, it was always either the park, going out to eat, or… well that’s it really. I’m tired of living in a world built for cars when we as humans are the ones who need the space. Also I would like to note that I made this comment about 1/3 through the video, I was somewhat surprised to see that this video had the same conclusion that I had come to

[@fornicateinanalternatevector]

It's a crime now for children to be unattended.😢

[@Oguy2020]

Finally someone brings light to this problem, if adults want kids to go outside then build a place kids want to be. Suburbia is a pretty boring place outside Edit: a lot of neighborhoods (not all) only have small playgrounds, which can be fun, but older kids would rather be at places like skateparks. Normally a lot of these place are built further away from suburbs so teens would rather just stay inside.

[@beverlykandraceffinger3764]

Right on! I agree.

[@CerealKiller669]

"build a place kids want to be"...wouldnt that be skateparks, malls, amusement/water parks, movie theatres, or anything else yall already have that dont really care about kids being there lol. Give an example

[@Oguy2020]

@@CerealKiller669 all of those things are at least 20 minutes away in car, and I don’t even live in a rural area

[@randomexeter3627]

@@CerealKiller669 We used to have these things called "arcades" where you'd go with your friends and pump quarters into machines to play video games. Strangely enough, so many of those have vanished... almost as if the demand for them wasn't there.

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

@@beverlykandraceffinger3764some suburbias have slides and swings

[@empanadassucias3572]

OMFG what were those clips of those boomers just having melt downs over people sugesting bikes and other modes of transportation 😭 like they sound like a bunch of preschoolers agruing over what name they should give the new class pet like omfg CALM DOWN let here people sleep?? Did biking kill your grandma or smth? 😭💀

[@luigi55125]

Reminded me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo lol

[@althunder4269]

How old are you? 16 ? OMFG LOL !!!

[@onrch]

​@@althunder4269Did you even watch the video? Or will you just do personal judgements?

[@althunder4269]

@@onrchboth.

[@awesomeferret]

Why is bigotry like that applauded by 54 people? Wow.

[@DrawingEyes]

Thank you for sharing this and standing up for children and teens. As a young teenager people always act like I never go outside. But do you just expect me to go into my backyard and kick a soccer ball around by myself? Then I’m also not able to walk to the park near me because it’s too far away! Thank you so much for addressing this issue. Keep going with ur yt channel ur doing amazing.

[@nothingloz9942]

Growing up my parents never wanted me to go out, granted they were new to the US but would hate when I played video games, but also never wanted me outside out of "kidnappers and murders or other wild animals by chance that can just show up." Now I have shit social skills and low self esteem

[@mysticmint1584]

I’m 32 and trying to get back into skateboarding. It feels like no one goes outside at all and no one even wants to see people outside

[@karsisonline]

Fellow skater here, unless you go to the skatepark I know only 4 street skaters, it sucks too cause it’s the only skating you can do.

[@stevearnold8265]

I grew up in Vegas and skated for years. I recently moved to Washington state and 20 years after quitting skateboarding I see no one outside skating, unless it’s a longboard for travel.

[@SouthernSouthAsian]

For real, you actually go outside and do something, and people look at you suspiciously.

[@zombieblaster5754]

try an electric longboard. they are a great way to get around and some are scary fast 30+ mph.

[@felixbrochu7821]

My neighborhood paved my local skatepark into a parking lot. I havent skated since

[@Yukari_Yakumo]

Social media is another large part of the problem. Parents spend so much time on social media and constantly see stories about people being murdered or dying in an accident outside. Then as a result, they become too paranoid to allow their children to do anything alone.

[@trainenthusiast5199]

fax. Why is paranoia a part of 'merica nowadays? (Probably due to 9/11) "land of the free" my ass.

[@IPS-bk2wr]

Agreed. I’m letting my 10 year old daughter go to school by herself even though the walk is known to have drug addicts. If someone won’t step up for our kids, then I will

[@SecretKeeperForever9]

@@IPS-bk2wr Now I know this is only trolling, but seriously don't troll like that on a serious video. This whole made up situation is the complete opposite of what they said. They are talking about paranoia about safe environments. That would be an unsafe environment for an adult let alone a child.

[@IPS-bk2wr]

@@SecretKeeperForever9 It’s called sarcasm lmao. And serious video? Those memes in the vid sure made me cry. That’s the thing, there’s no such thing as a “safe space” - there’s assholes everywhere and you don’t know which person might mean harm

[@FelipeKana1]

​@@IPS-bk2wryour clearly one of those ignorant people claming the cyclist was telling lies in the townhall.

[@dancingforever-ph9zr]

all the teens who are just like me and feeling trapped inside gather around! ik how your feeling.. i have the same problem im constantly crying over it and i didnt realize its the same for other people i know you probably feel like your childhoods boring sending virtual hugs and hope pretty soon we will have more independence :( now im currently suffering so i dont really know how to comfort you guys too- but its sad knowing people relate :( my parents are trying to help me tho and get me outside :) but i wont be able to go out on my own and my parents will only go out when there is a reason too.. :( luv yall and i hope you guys see this..

[@RavensFan634]

It’s mostly about safety because on my local news I constantly hear about kids in Washington, DC getting shot and killed. A few years ago I would see a lot of kids playing outside and going on walks. Now I mostly see adults outside and going on walks. Some teenagers can’t wait until the day they move out of their parents house so they can do things they aren’t able to do now

[@johnannand5449]

Thank god to that one kid in every suburb with a basketball hoop infront of their house.

[@tripps3631]

The real mvps of the cul-de-sac

[@TopixAnimations343]

We can't even use ours cuz the driveways to damn small

[@LastBastian]

Unfortunately, that one kid is a complete dick to all the other kids on our neighborhood.

[@sashimi879]

Damn that's sad​@@TopixAnimations343

[@twestgard2]

It’s okay if you like basketball

[@arpit0092]

Parents really be super strict and not ever allow you to leave the house and then have the nerve to ask you why you dont go outside...

[@FRYE_4EVER]

FR THATS HOW MY PARENTS ARE They asked me why I don’t go outside and I told them that I do but number one they don’t let me go outside because “YoU cAn GeT kIdNaPpEd! And it’s for your safety!”,number two I’m not even allowed to to play in the front of my house even though my neighborhood is a good neighborhood like nothing has happened plus I’m not even able to hang out with my friends anymore! It’s just so ridiculous that kids like me can’t go outside without having parent supervision 🫤

[@awkwardautistic]

My kids have always had freedom to run around the neighborhood. Well, when they were old enough to not run in the street and not talk to weirdos.

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Don't think this excuses your obsession with phones by 1%.

[@FemboyKaiSaku]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmarits hard to not get addicted when your parents raised you as an ipad kid, im so thankful for the lockdowns because i got so bored i started a hobby and realised it made me feel way better so many parents really just let their kids sit on their phones etc all day and then get surprised when they do use it all day. Like help them pick up a hobby or anythimg..

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@FemboyKaiSaku Maybe that's why you are trying to escape from being a male or female. For absolutely no reason other than the "whatever" mentality of today... effortlessly charming in its own regard.

[@LilJooga]

unbelievably said. this is why I love spending time outside in europe. because of PEOPLE!!

[@Cassidy440]

I stopped going outside because of pit bulls

[@isaxx21]

Lack of independence and parental "superprotection" really makes us more lonely... I'm 16, almost 17, and I'm completely dependant on my mom to pick me up from school and basically to drive me everywhere I need to go. Some of my friends are more independent but I can't hang out with them cause my mom is afraid os something happening to me. Result: I barely exit home, except for school everyday.

[@scooby8561]

have you gotten a drivers license or started working towards one? i mean if you have the opportunity to get one it might convince your parents to let you go outside more. or maybe a bike

[@isaxx21]

@@scooby8561 I live in Brazil and can't get a driver's license until I'm 18... But that's not quite the problem. What stops me from going outside more often is my parent's concern about my security. And without this autonomy, I won't be able to learn how to take care of myself in the outside world, you know? It's more than just a practical issue, but I'm working on that, and things are starting to change, though slowly.

[@seasonalchanges14]

I am also turning 17 soon and am going through pretty much the same thing. I am so sorry that you have to go through this too 🥺

[@catrasuperiority5013]

yes definitely, i have never rode a bus until this year (im 15 almost 16) so i had to learn all this public transport stuff super late due to my parents wanting to drive me everywhere to ensure "safety"

[@_pugito1659]

Chillax I think your parents are protecting you from the world. The world could be dangerous. They dont you to get hurt. Ask to go out with a friend or with them to find spot you can hangout safely with friends. I will pray for you to longer feel/be lonely.

[@Black_Shaheen]

As a european, that news pages was trully shocking!! You cant let your kids play in YOUR backyard??? You cant WALK your kids from school??? Land of freedom my @ss.

[@mihaleben6051]

Yea, i feel slovenia is more deserving of the title "land of the free"

[@fairywingsonroses]

Right. What happens if your car breaks down, or if you can't afford a car? Or if you can't drive for legal/medical reasons? How on earth do you pick your kids up from school then? America is the land for entitled and wealthy people. Everyone else is criminalized.

[@justjesse4276]

Because of overzealous lawmakers and LOTS of "lobbying" (Bribes) lead to benefits for large corpos. Its a endless cycle of late stage capatilism that endlessly feeds itself.

[@mihaleben6051]

@@justjesse4276 endlessly feeds itself? That sounds like something im into... Plant cells. *realizes this comment is a mistake*

[@elultimo102]

The US is about down to 24 in terms of being a "free country." "1984" is a reality in the US.

[@Josephlopez724]

If u really think about it we are in side in a room more than we are outside

[@star_solaris]

this guy is speaking straight facts bc as a high schooler I wish I had grown up in a much safer, walkable neighborhood. thank you for spreading this message!

[@mr.slowking_64]

My parents kept me inside for 14 years, no friends could come over, I couldn’t go to their houses, I could not leave the single small length of street in front of my house. It has stuck with me my entire life, I’ve had barely any social interaction with people my age since middle school because I was unable to build relationships outside of school Edit: I’m now 19, out of school, working in trades with my best friend, but I truly didn’t start living until I was around 16

[@mattymcfabb]

I’m so sorry, friend. I believe in your future having so much more in store for you.

[@michaelmartin1520]

Nothing stops today. Today you can be anything.

[@ISayThingz]

It’s a double whammy when you get bullied. I was bullied viciously on top of having very protective grandparents. Death threats and rape threats will make you stay home, rather than have any friends your age at all.

[@BamBlamboTv]

FELT "you had a safe life." Then you introduce me to all the shit you kept me away from cause it was too tempting and "adult" to begin with so now that I'm big and adult and think i know better than people because that stupid kid shit of "I'm not a kid" and now like a magic trick a former gifted student turned hard addict. For clarification I'm clean now and have been for a while but struggled with substance abuse issues as well as horrific mental health issues and this is probably the most traumatic part of my life that most people just don't even seem to think is hard. The worst part is I see it happen SO often. Children with NO lives except content at home and friends get replaced with virtual ones but then those same people make sure to assure you online friends aren't real friends. Its fucking GAY

[@bubblelady8528]

my mother never let me go to or host sleepovers because "everybody's a murderer" but she did force me to hang out with her friends' kids 🙄she didn't even want to give me a phone number/phone so that I could at least stay in contact with the people I did know.

[@walter_lesaulnier]

It makes me sad that, where I live, an adult on a bicycle is often considered to be an alcoholic or drug addict that lost their license and car. I don't see kids on bicycles- I see several kids in a yard together all with their noses buried in their phones and not talking with each other.

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Stop giving a shit what some hypothetical other person thinks about something that does not affect them.

[@mikiandfriends1820]

Was riding my bike and saw two kids playing in their front yard. No effort st all to play together

[@rexman971]

You can get a dui riding a bicycle. Problem is too many laws that we are all criminals.

[@UserName-ts3sp]

yep. only crackheads ride bikes, that’s the general stereotype

[@valerypc25]

Take comfort in that some of us young ones are trying to be more social, even the more introverted and quiet people like me, it’s difficult for me to start or make conversations, but we are trying, we just have to get past the awkward phase haha

[@Lavteas]

I honestly hate how much the media focuses on negativity. There are still plenty of people that go to parks and its abnormal to not see atleat 1 person jogging. And people are addicted to making these weird edits on how society is "crumbling". No, its literally the same as its always been. Atleast from where i grew up in the USA. Obesity rates make it seem that the USA is a country built on mobility scooters and big macs, but when u actually *go* there, you would get a lot more reality than some graph. We kids are still very active and dont get me wrong, there are still people that make their whole life revolve around being lonely and not trying to get better.

[@sunsetter4940]

you're not exactly wrong, all this dooming talk of "dystopia" is unhelpful, but its really not the same as its been , some parents, maybe not yours but some will flat out not let their young outside out of paranoia or go full Woodworm and claim there's no reason to go outside in favor of creature comforts. Also yeah some melodramatics do blame everyone for their lack of social skills (i know i personally could've tried harder to make friends) but dont you think the freedom and space of communnity places would encourage more people?

[@Yomjael]

Grew up in a rural community in the early 90s, I had a ton of fun running around a giant patch of land with my cousins. I lived right next to my aunts and uncles, my grandmother and grandfather. Then we moved 30 minutes away to a quiet suburb. I still played outside with my neighbors but not as much. My mom still let me walk all the way from one end of the neighborhood to the other side, unsupervised, because we chose to trust first instead of distrusting everyone. Then, more people moved in. More houses and subdivisions. The speed limit just outside my neighborhood is 55 mph. The sidewalk had to be put behind a row of trees, an entire ditch away from the road itself. But the sidewalk is also the bike path. The only place I can feasibly walk to and back is the gas station. The one time I tried walking much farther into town, my legs cramped up bad from the inclines and it took me over an hour round-trip. I used to think I'd go for walks to stay in shape but I can only speed-walk around the same empty streets so many times before I'm sick of it.

[@violamateo-on8pc]

Some of those suburban vistas depress me. People spend so much time and money on their LAWNS, but there hardly aren't any TREES! Also, the American idea that public transportation is only for the poor is so ridiculous. Americans are too car-dependent. WAY too car-dependent.

[@the_expidition427]

Then lets stop looking down on the poor

[@scruf153]

how many car owners comeplain about not having any money it is because they own a car

[@laurie7689]

It depends on the location. I live in suburbia, but the State that I live in has an abundance of trees and so does my neighborhood. Most of my backyard is wooded as is part of my front yard and at least one side of my house.

[@coke8077]

@@the_expidition427 People in America don't realize that 'the poor' doesnt just mean homeless people and bums. It's also most college students and young workers.

[@JdeC1994]

Most Americans want to live in auto-dominated areas. Why? To keep out the hard-core losers.

[@Rykusu]

As a teenager recently moving from mississppi to tennessee, I can't BELIEVE the lack of independence that I am immediately greeted with as soon as i walk outside. The place I live only recently added sidewalks, about a year ago, walking or biking wasn't even an option. As someone who want's to socialize more and get out of the house as I spent my very early years doing NONE of these things, I am completely dissapointed by modern american road and town design.

[@papelplayz]

i live there too and it's awful. even the older parts of cities are not made for walking and despite all the cool natural stuff and monuments nearby, you have to have a car to do anything. i used to walk around my neighborhood a lot but we don't even have sidewalks 😭 i stopped just because it gets boring walking around the same 1-2 mile stretch of suburb for a year or two. i've almost gotten run over a couple of times. i need to go out and do stuff but i can't!!!

[@Lightwaslost]

@@papelplayz ive been walking/riding in the same 1-2 mile stretch too and also almost gotten ran over alot and ive lived here for almost 10 years so ive seen everything i could possibly see here so i just leave the apartment complex even if my parents dont want me too

[@mediocrecontent2449]

Hey! Welcome to Tennessee fellow teenager! Yeah it’s like that here.

[@beverlykandraceffinger3764]

Rykusu, you are in a perfect position to be an agent for change. You've experienced an environment where your freedom for movement wasn't as curtailed as in your current place. And you know what you want as far as your social life, the chance to meet and mix with others, is concerned. Don't let the downside of where you're living get to you-- you didn't create the problem. But you can encourage others not to give in to the poor urban/town planning which brings all of you down. Your positive example, living well in spite of conditions, can create the change which could benefit everyone.

[@ryan_1314]

I grew up on a tiny cul-de-sac where anyone close to my age was either at least 7 years younger than me or gone for college. I was constantly told by my parents that it was "unnatural" for a kid to spend all day inside. There's only so much biking up and down a ~1,000 ft badly maintained road before you get bored. I never really hung out with friends before I could drive because they all lived at least 5 miles away and my parents were too busy to be constantly dropping me off. I actually get kind of depressed seeing teenagers hanging out at a store/theater/etc because I never got to do that when I was their age. About a month ago I didn't have access to my car while out of state for a few weeks and I had to walk to get a few things from a nearby convenience store. The route looked exactly like the "car based suburban hell" everyone shows and the whole time I felt like what I was doing was illegal.

[@michaelb866]

I was born in ‘78. Growing up in the 80’s was all about being outside. At 7 years old, I could’ve been a town over and parents wouldn’t care as long as I was home before dark just to “check in” then it was right back outside.