My stepdad was telling me that in his youth, the neighbourhood kids would get together to play hockey at makeshift rinks by the nearby ponds that would freeze over.

Can't do that now because of muh safety regulations & a lot of these areas being fenced off as a result.

Think I'm amongst the last gen. who occasionally observed neighbourhood kids playing hockey & basketball in the streets (didn't grow up with pond access though & the nearby forests and woods were gradually restricted to the kids as I was growing up).

Anyways, I do often wonder how much the amt of by-laws/safety regs (amongst other trends) have to do with recent observations that low-income kids are being excluded from sports & outdoor activity.

^ Want to retvrn to when this stuff wasn't largely confined to the hyper-bureaucratic, exclusive, and $$$ rec centre pass.

Kids should be able to play outside organically, explore local nature, skate through the ponds/lakes―even if that entails some risk included as a result.