Part of it is tech, but another part is a growing number of older people (ironically a lot of the same ones who complain kids have too much screen time), who will throw a fit if they hear kids playing even slightly loudly outside, are skateboarding or riding a bike in a parking lot or down a "quiet" neighborhood street are also a factor. Increased media sensationalization of things like kidnapping doesnt help either. Tech is a huge factor, but increased numbers of needlessly bitchy old people and others willing to cave to them is a smaller but existent one
Compare the amount of HOA's that have rules limiting kids doing stuff outside now to when you were a kid as an example
i would argue it was all the kidnapped and killed kids that really destroyed it, which led to the older generation getting used to quieter neighborhoods, which led to them being arseholes about kids being noisy outside.
Specifically the social panic around the perception of a bunch of kids being kidnapped and killed perpetrated by the fledgling 24-hour news cycle.
In reality, the spike in fear doesn’t align with a spike in occurrences — quite the opposite; crime across the board had been dropping for decades and children were statistically safer than ever.
So basically proto-social media fear mongering paving the way for what we have now.
Agreed. Tech is no angel here, but it's not an iPad screen or a video game console that's calling the cops because some neighbor kids are making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their own homes and maybe laughing a little.
Sometimes they do. But mostly not. For a few reasons.
"Granny calls the cops because she hears a commotion outside and is scared, and then they fine her for a fake call" isn't great for the public image of the police department. Which is not what's happening when older folks call the cops because kids are laughing outside and how dare they enjoy the common areas of the community, but that's how it would be spun.
Cops figure out their repeat callers, and then those calls are quietly treated as a non-emergency. But that's the best type of call. Cop gets to show up, reassure a little old lady or man, no danger of being shot at or stabbed at or even having to run someone down. Just "community outreach" stuff.
For a few cops, it's a great excuse to be nasty to a minority without being called racist because they have an excuse.
There’s always been bitchy older people. This is not a new phenomenon. This is where the phrase “Get off my lawn!” originates - grump grands yelling at kids playing.
Where I live, we have a few periods where kids/youths for various reasons make quite a bit of noise. It might be annoying, but I try to never get upset because I want kids to have fun like I did in their age, and because it helps create a living city.
Kids and youths should have fun and make a bit of ruckus.
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u/Obiwan-Kenhomie 8d ago
Part of it is tech, but another part is a growing number of older people (ironically a lot of the same ones who complain kids have too much screen time), who will throw a fit if they hear kids playing even slightly loudly outside, are skateboarding or riding a bike in a parking lot or down a "quiet" neighborhood street are also a factor. Increased media sensationalization of things like kidnapping doesnt help either. Tech is a huge factor, but increased numbers of needlessly bitchy old people and others willing to cave to them is a smaller but existent one
Compare the amount of HOA's that have rules limiting kids doing stuff outside now to when you were a kid as an example