‘Global Epidemic’ of Childhood Inactivity

[derrick]

Traffic free residential streets. There are simply far more cars than there were in the 1970s You can't let your children out to play if they are going to get run over. This has to be built into town planning and traffic management policy.
Parents haven't changed. I played out in the 1970s/80s but my mum didn't take me places - she was busy. Parents today are also busy.
Blame government policy prioritising cars and street design not parents

That is total bulshit.

 

[Julia9054]

That is total bulshit.

So you disagree that there are far more cars now than the 1970s?

 

[Mo1959]

If that were true, the roads would be deserted the rest of the time. They are not. There are simply far more cars now than there were in the 1970s

Yep.........I happened to notice on my way out of town for my morning walk today that there was 2 or 3 cars in every single drive on one street.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Exert some parental control over their games consoles and mobile phones, and stop driving them to school. It's that simple.

Which by and large would not exist but for the school run.

Except it's not that simple. How do you get parents to accept their responsibility to change their behaviour for the sake of their kids.

I agree with you about the school run adding to the traffic problems.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Exert some parental control over their games consoles and mobile phones, and stop driving them to school. It's that simple.

Easier said than done: We exert a lot of control for the local society, but the problem then, is that it causes social problems for the kids because they hear about what is happening through Watsapp or similar. This is in part because German catchment areas tend to be quite big so it's harder to stay in touch. I know telephones exist, but they just don't get used.

Less taking kids to school by car would be a step forward. Our schools tend to be pretty strict on that.

If that were true, the roads would be deserted the rest of the time. They are not.

They are here: school holidays are a dream on a bike.

Mind you, Saturdays are pretty quiet too once the shops close at midday, and on Sundays everything is silent: supermarket car parks are deserted.

 

[keithmac]

I think you have to also take into account diet when talking about obese children.

Lack of exercise is a factor but also eating to excess, piling sweets and sugary drinks down etc. Seems that goes hand in hand with lazy parents though..

We walk to school on a morning, wouldn't let my 8 year old daughter go on her own though due to traffic which is bad outside school.

I've mentioned it before, one woman arrives 1/2 hour early so she's got shorted walk into school to pic kids up, needless to say they are all fat (real shame for her children imho).

Our lad hasn't an ounce of fat on him, active and reasonably good diet, we've managed to avoid getting both ours hooked on sugary drinks and sweets. They do still have both but not all the time..

Thinking about it we don't have any overweight Beavers Cubs or Scouts, maybe that's the parents taking care of their children...

 

[derrick]

So you disagree that there are far more cars now than the 1970s?

NO. You just need to educate your kids.

 

[screenman]

You cannot outrun a bad diet, but for sure too many kids are not moving enough, the responsibility belongs to the parents certainly not the schools.

 

[Julia9054]

NO. You just need to educate your kids.

Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible.
Times have changed.

 

[Drago]

Except it's not that simple. How do you get parents to accept their responsibility to change their behaviour for the sake of their kids

I find it very simple - Mini D has an hour on her iPad, max, and that's only after homework. Then for every hour on the iPad she has to spend an hour reading a book. I walk her to school. I ensure she plays physical games, and she's a champion cheerleader as a result (my eldest was a martial artist with 3 black belts in different disciplines, second a cross country runner, third a kick boxer). I feed her sensible food with of vegetables, and the occasional sweet treats don't come unless shes eaten her veggies first (her favourite sweet treat is actually raw carrot, which she often chooses over chocolate). Complaining, tantrums and whining dont work with me - i don't let the tail wag the dog. Start down that route even just once or twice, and you may as well not bother trying. Kids are master manipulators so you need to stand firm.

This is mind bending easy stuff, managed perfectly well by parents across the world, and the only reason not to indulge in thoughtful, balanced parenting is laziness. Easy, easy, easy. Anyone who can't figure this out probably doesn't have sufficient iq to know how to breathe. Christ, I've never had any lessons on the subject but I figured it out.

As for making parents take responsibility - that's easy. Carrot doesn't work, the biggest carrot being the physical and emotional welfare of their children. In that case it's time to wield stick - your kid is a persistent bloater and their health is suffering, have a fine. You've been seen driving your kid to school every day this week yet live only 3 streets away - have a fine. Your kid's not done his homework again yet but has found the time to be on his X station every night - have a fine...we need a series of adverse consequences for parents whose adverse behaviour is affecting their children's development. Of course, it will absolutely never happen - no government has the political will, and too many bleeding hearts will whine about having to suddenly take some responsibility for their parenting for a change.

It will absolutely, never, ever happen - but the solution is easy. It's the will to do so that is lacking.

 

[Drago]

Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible.
Times have changed.

Not that that is entirely true (look how quiet the roads are at rush hour during school holidays, for example - 13% to 20% less, depending on which source you choose to believe, 10 million less rush hour car journeys for every week of school holiday ) but even so the solution is simple - parents walk their kids to school. Fitter kids, less traffic, safer roads, a virtuous cycle.

 

[derrick]

Ok. So it’s fine for a child at any age to cross a busy road by themselves as long as they are „educated“ enough.
My favourite game aged about 7 was to string a skipping rope across the street. We would tie it to a lamp post on one side and one kid would turn it on the other side. It was an ordinary terraced street. About half the households owned a car - no households owned more than one car. At „work kicking out time“ we would maybe have to stop our skipping game to allow a couple of cars - mainly neighbours - to drive through. That same street now would have cars parked end to end both sides and be used as a rat run. Anyone who allowed an unsupervised 7 year old to play out would be highly irresponsible.
Times have changed.

And you need to change with them.

 

[Julia9054]

And you need to change with them.

No practical suggestions then?

 

[derrick]

No practical suggestions then?

No its just common sense.

 

[alicat]

Too right, @Julia9054. And drivers drive faster and are multi-tasking more than they used to and are unlikely to be hurt in a collision in an urban area.