That be it. Too much TV, too many video games, obsessive parents who fear the world.
Well, it's reasonable to fear a two ton machine moving 50 mph in the public space and controlled by a complete stranger.
Kids and cars don't mix. And we've decided collectively that cars are more important.
“When I was a kid we had 3 TV channels in black and white”
HA! When I was a kid, My Grandfather’s upstairs tenant got the first TV in the neighborhood. It was an enormous box, with a little oval-shaped picture tube. It was more black and pale green! My Dad built our first TV from a kit! One station, on in the morning, then the Indian head test pattern until sometime in the afternoon. I was outside all the time, either riding my bike, or exploring in the woods.
These days, I see my neighborhood kids come home from school, and don’t see them outside again until they’re waiting for the school bus the next morning. The K-9 school is about 3 blocks away. But they go to the Catholic school which is much further away, like 5 blocks!
I guess I am one of those “obsessive parents who fear the world” types. However, try going on the internet and searching how many registered sex offenders live in your neighborhood or near you. Ten years ago (prior to my oldest going to kindergarten) a van stopped by a first grader walking to school and attempted to get her into the vehicle. Other children and parents were spread out and he left only after an adult came running. No, they never caught the person but that incident coupled with the fact that about thirty sex offenders live within a five mile radius of us changed me forever. Am I “obsessive”? No, I am simply a Mom who doesn’t want one of her kids abducted, raped, tortured and found in a shallow grave. I will proudly wear the obsessive tag rather than the latter.
Same here. I was the near-sighted bookworm type, and my Grandma would often say "Go outside!! You haven't been outside in days!"