Teenagers and kids don’t go outside anymore… Why? Is it because of those “darn phones,” or is it the fact that cities and suburbs now aren’t meant for kids anymore?

     Wnyc.org reported on the fact that fewer and fewer kids are biking or walking to school and says, “in the ‘60s, about 50-60% of kids walked to school.” So, why is this not the case now? 

     The lack of independence and security in kids is roughly to blame. Many will claim the unsafe nature of the streets and the possibility of creepy people and kidnapping. However, statistics show that kidnapping rates have gone down. Just from 2015 to 2020, kidnapping cases dropped by  60% in the United States. This could be decreasing from the fact there’s not many kids outside to be kidnapped in the first place. However, statistics report that today it’s safer than in the 1950’s when half of kids used to travel by bike or foot to school. 

     The fact is our streets and suburbs are not meant and built for the public anymore. The American suburbs are spread out from activities and are becoming a concrete plain. The main threat to children are not kidnappers anymore: it’s cars. Vehicle deaths are the highest death among children one to 17, with a tight margin with gun violence, according to the CDC.  American suburbs are car-dependent, and that’s an obvious fact. The similar single-family homes laid on winding roads, connected to businesses behind giant parking lots. Downtown having muti-lane, high speed lanes in between stores and businesses.Take the areas near the Harford mall for example, there are multi lane roadways in between stores and restaurants that the public wants to go to but has to weave around cars to get to or even drive. These roads are for the flow of vehicles and not pedestrians. No wonder people are walking around anymore; these places we live in aren’t designed for us. 

     This creates a cycle; parents are scared to let kids go out because of roads, opting to drive them instead – then adding to the problem of cars on the road, causing danger. This is where the term ‘soccer mom’ came into play, which is a “suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to youth sporting events or other activities.” 

     However, North Harford students are often not in suburbs, so why does this relate? How many sidewalks are around? How many stores do you go to without taking 543? Living in a rural area, you have your yard, and that is your outside. It’s far better than suburbs, but public bike lanes and walkways are few, so the public doesn’t get a chance to go outside. If you want to travel to highs to get a gallon of milk it would be a 3 mile walk, bike but most take a short drive to get what they need instead.

     If you want kids to go outside, then create an environment you want them to go outside in. This result has only the adults and older people to blame because they created this and made this problem.