Transcript of The Problem When School Is Out
Strong Towns
0:00What's the deal with kids these days?0:02Seems like they don't spend time outside0:03like they used to. And actually, there's0:05evidence to support this. One study0:06showed that between 1997 and 2003, up to0:1037% of children had significantly0:13reduced outside playtime compared to0:15their parents. And this was well before0:16the smartphone and the modern screen0:18time era. So, what happened? Is social0:20media and video games to blame? Or could0:22it have to do with the outside that0:23we've created? Here are three reasons0:25why the built-in environment might be0:26partially to blame. The first is safety.0:29For the last six decades, cars have been0:31the number one killer of young children0:32in America. A study found that the0:34accessibility of an area for children0:36drops by 75% if parents consider traffic0:39to be dangerous. Speaking of 75%, that's0:42the amount of parents who won't let0:43their kids walk or bike to school even0:45when they're a close enough distance to0:46do so. And research shows time and time0:48again that a kid's ability to play0:50independently outside is tied to the0:53parents' perceived safety of that area.0:55The second reason is autonomy. As0:56development patterns move things further0:58and further away from each other, kids1:00become increasingly more reliant on1:02parents to drive them around. Even in1:03cases where parents might be willing to1:05accept a moderate amount of risk for1:07their kids to get somewhere, sometimes1:09it's just not feasible because of the1:10distance. And so, their social life1:12becomes another thing that has to be1:13scheduled, and parents become1:15chauffeurs. For number three, it's the1:16lack of third spaces. There's dwindling1:18areas where kids can spend time without1:21heavy adult supervision or having to1:23spend money. Research shows that1:24adolescents with regular access to third1:26spaces have fewer emotional and1:28behavioral problems. And experts are1:30increasingly connecting youth loneliness1:33and isolation to the disappearance of1:35these places. So, yes, I actually think1:36we're justified in worrying why kids1:38don't play outside anymore. But perhaps1:40the real question is, what would it look1:41like to make an outside that's worth1:43spending time in?
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