[johnnyanmac]

>and playing smug semantic arguments like that doesn't help.

How is it semantic? They go outside and now they are running in a giant parking lot. They go a bit further and now you're a bad parent for not keeping an eye on your kid. Tell them to sit down and play on a tablet and you're also a bad parent.

There's no winning here.

>you wouldn't tell someone in the library not to hush them.

I don't consider a mall the equivalent of a libary in this situation.

[mlrtime]

Why is everything so black and white?

Do kids need more places to run free, yes.

Should they be running in mall food courts, no.

Just because this trend of kids having less free play outside doesn't excuse parents of these kids from taking any space they want. Any reasonable person can see there are still boundaries, are we just disagreeing on what those are? Kids still can't/shouldn't run at swimming pools, it's been that way for decades (just an example).

[johnnyanmac]

>Why is everything so black and white?

because you see the effects but fail to trace the cause. I'm beyond tired of people attacking the symptoms but ignoring the cause.

[master-lincoln]

If you let your kids run around in giant parking lots I would argue you are a bad parent. That seems like asking for an accident.

> Tell them to sit down and play on a tablet and you're also a bad parent.

Yes. If this is the alternative to playing in parking lots that comes to your mind first, I really wonder what kind of experiences you had.

> There's no winning here.

Ever heard of parks?

[bean469]

> If you let your kids run around in giant parking lots I would argue you are a bad parent.

> Ever heard of parks?

I remember being bored as hell when my parents used to take me to the city park. Many other kids thought the same, too. I couldn't wait to run around with my friends wherever else in the city afterwards. I'm thankful for my "bad parents" for letting me roam around anywhere I wanted, as was the norm back then for kids where I grew up in Europe

[rglullis]

I'm guessing you are talking with someone who is used to life in the North American suburbs, where kids need to be driven around and most of the options for activities are indoors.

[johnnyanmac]

Sadly, yes. The nearest park is 5 miles from me or the mall. The buses run on the hour and will get you within 2 miles of the park. They stop running around 7pm.

I wonder why more kids aren't at the park.

[CalRobert]

How do they get to the park?

[johnnyanmac]

>Ever heard of parks?

Yeah, my city did a great down tearing down amenities for the kids and yelling at kids to stay off the grass. I love my city.