We Live In A World . . .

We live in a world in which playground swing sets are becoming a thing of the past, in which merry-go-rounds are disappearing, in which sledding in snowy parks is an act of civil disobedience.

We live in a world in which young children are increasingly made to spend the bulk of their days indoors, being drilled in developmentally inappropriate ways, on developmentally inappropriate material, just so they might pass developmentally inappropriate, yet high stakes tests. 

Five-year-olds are down to two 15 minute recesses per day, and then when they get home there are more hours of homework.

We live in a world in which weekends and evenings are full of soccer and piano lessons and tutoring sessions. 

We live in a world in which summer holidays are getting shorter while school days are getting longer.

We live in a world in which nearly half of Americans believe that it should be illegal for children under 12 to play unsupervised in a public park.

I'm not the first to ask, When to they get to have a childhood? 

It's driven by fear, of course: fear of lawsuits, fear of falling behind, fear of strangers, fear of the children themselves. That fear is robbing children of their childhoods and it is criminal.

Children need to scrape their knees and bump their heads.

No one needs to be reading by five, or seven, or even ten. Homework does little to advance learning and lots to create strife between parent and child. 

And it's inhumane to deny anyone their childhood quota of endless hours of aimless outdoor play.

We owe our children a childhood. We can't be afraid. They are counting on us to be brave on their behalf. Our fears are destroying childhood.

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