If mom lets her kids play outside alone, even in their own back yard, she's a "bad mother", but too much TV indoors makes kids fat. Mom has stuff to do. What now?
When I was a kid in the 70's, we played outside a lot. I could try to put one over on you and say that it was mainly because we only had three channels and very little children's programming. Cartoons were on after school and Saturday morning but not much else. Long summer days consisted of games shows and soap operas. There was no Disney channel of Nickelodeon to keep us occupied. I could tell you that we played outside because we weren't being enticed by non-stop kid channels 24 hours a day and access to DVD's of our favorite shows on demand but I would be lying.
We played outside because mom made us.
If I were to be entirely truthful, we argued about it. True, "The Price is Right" wasn't Looney Tunes but the TV was, (and still is), addicting enough that we would have rather vegged out than gone outside a large part of the time. Mom, however, had stuff to do in the house and when she wanted us out from under foot, the finger would point and the announcement was made - "Outside!"
Today's mom has it tough. If she allows her kids outside alone, she's a bad mom. If she sits outside and watches them she can't get anything done inside and she's a bad housekeeper. If she keeps the kids inside watching TV, they get fat and she's a bad mom. The sad thing is that children aren't in any more danger outside now than they were when I was a kid. Most abductions are committed by family members and non-custodial parents involved in custody battles. The number of children abducted by strangers in the US each year is incredibly small. Your child has an astronomically bigger chance of being in a car accident with you driving than of being abducted from their own backyard. Media sensation and violence on TV is what caused the fear of child abduction in the first place. It's a vicious cycle. Do yourself a favor. Stop watching so much TV and relax. Your kids will (someday) thank you for it.
