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Comment by travoc | Hacker News Reader

I have to agree. My children have a 2 acre backyard with woods and a treehouse. They play outside with the neighborhood kids almost every day. When bad weather keeps them inside, they make up new games to play throughout the house.

Why? Because we limit the time they spend on screens.

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> My children have a 2 acre backyard with woods and a treehouse.

Very, very few people have this. Sounds like you have your own "third place" that the neighborhood kids can leverage, and which provides a compelling alternative to screens.

I noticed this sort of thing as a child when my family moved to a slightly more dense suburb. We’d do more things on our own with our peers once there were spaces that accommodated this within walking distance (parks, shops, libraries, etc.).

In the earlier, more spacious location, there were nice spaces for grownups to decompress after a workday, but we had to be driven around if we wanted to play with our friends. Television (and learning how to pirate Game Boy ROMs) was novel and interesting when a peer group wasn’t available.

This is how I was raised. Running around and forced to come up with games to entertain myself all day. As soon as I moved out for college I finally got to spend as much of my time on the computer as I wanted. It was great, and I still enjoy programming and video games way more than hiking or sports. I basically consider all that time outside as a waste; I could have been having more fun and learning more but my parents decided that I should enjoy the outdoors. That's not to say that I resisted and moped rather than engaging (most of the time), I tried to make the best of it. But I was constantly aware that I could be doing something I'd enjoy much more. I wouldn't say I resent my parents for raising me like that; they were doing what they thought best. I just think they were wrong.

This is how I was raised. I’ll forever be thankful.

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