I remember making my first friend in the neighborhood as a kid. I was playing in the backyard with my brother and the kid next door popped his head over the fence and started talking to us. It was very innocent the way kids meet and talk about their favorite things. The kid asked if we wanted to play outside with him and we said yes. I began meeting all the kids around the neighborhood and learned how to use a skateboard, roller blades, bike, and scooters. Nearly every day kids in the neighborhood would go around knocking on doors asking if they could go outside and play. If someone was home, the door would be answered. We were very creative with the games we’d play too. I remember one kid found this long metal bar and we spent the entire day trying to grind it with our skateboards. Parents had simple rules: be back home before the street lights turn on and don’t go beyond this spot. Of course with peer pressure, you break that rule and come back home to an angry parent that was worried sick and had no way of finding you because phones weren’t a thing. You got in trouble and maybe you wouldn’t do it again for a few months.

The world is very different now and I don’t think it’s completely because of technology. I had video games as a kid. I spent a lot of time playing them and many of my friends would come over to play with me. But we always preferred playing outside. I don’t think children today really prefer to be inside. Ask a child if they would rather sit on their iPad or go to the park. They will say the park. I think this generation of parents are afraid of letting their kids out. In other countries where crime is low, kids are outside playing. They’re not worried about child trafficking. This is why it’s weird when people say that there is no better place to raise children than America. Something something constitutional rights. What good are these constitutional rights if it’s not safe for your children to play outside unsupervised? Even if you ignore cost of living, the US is just not a great place to raise children anymore.