Where Have All the Children Gone?

It’s Summer in Oregon. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the sky is a deep cobalt blue. As I travel around the neighborhood riding my bike or running some miles, I keep pondering a question. Where have all the children gone? 

I am thinking about this because the weather is spectacular. There is no better time to be outside in Oregon than right now. School is out, the streets are quiet, the parks are plentiful, and all the children are out of school, a great time to be young. 

There are hundreds of children in my neighborhood. I see them in the morning and the afternoon, year around, waiting for the school bus to pick them up and drop them off. Now that school is out for the Summer, I see no children. Where did they go? 

Are children at camp? Summer camp is a traditional part of the childhood experience. Camp lasts only a few weeks of the Summer. Are children at sports camps learning new skills in a sport they enjoy? I don’t know if sports camps last all Summer, do they? Some children are at academic camps brushing up on math, science, and reading in preparation for the upcoming school year. The children could be inside playing video games and interacting with other media. 

I wonder what children are up to because of a possible missed opportunity. A large part of learning and growing up is done on your own, hanging out with friends, creating, and experimenting with the knowledge you have in life. For children, this happens through free play. 

When I was young, we were always outside. My parents gave us breakfast and then told us to take our bikes and find someone in the neighborhood to play with. During free play was the time we learned new things. We tried out new ideas, good and bad, learned social skills, and engaged in plenty of activities. Our work as a child was to be outside playing until it was time to come home for lunch or dinner. Hanging inside the house was not an option. 

I am not a parent, so I base this experience on being a child once. I never watch the news, so is it possible that children are not outside because parents believe it is unsafe? I am sure in some specific locations, that is true. Assuming it is safe, what could be the cause for no children playing outside?

Has the culture changed? Am I an old person wishing for things to be like the good old days? Did I miss the change when children and people, in general, stopped going outside?

What are the benefits of children being outside playing with friends in unscripted free play?

One benefit is developing a well-rounded education. Children spend many hours in school learning facts and figures. The purpose of learning this information is to apply it to something. When children engage in free play outside, the experience opens up opportunities. Free play is the pathway for children to apply knowledge gained in school. Children in free play apply their knowledge to creative pursuits of interest. 

Hanging out, creating things, and socializing invite children to use their knowledge. Free play is active and more beneficial than passive activities children engage in. Engagement is the key to learning. Engagement is challenging for children when directed to what and how to do things all the time. Here is an example. Children may appear active during a passive activity like video games. The meaning of the game, the creative practice, came from someone else. So, this is a passive experience. 

The application of knowledge is essential and is how humans move from reading to knowing. Words divulge information, and children can repeat this information on a test. For words to be valuable and lasting, the information needs to connect to an experience, and words need to relate to something tangible.

School begins in about a month. After Labor Day, I will again see hundreds of children walk past the house down to the school bus for their first day. For their benefit, I wish they would go outside sooner.