'Feral child summer' trend rad for some parents, bummer for others

Article content

Water from the hose, fanny packs and endless roaming as long as the streetlights are on?

Yes, please, say some parents.

Giving kids a “feral child summer” — also being tabbed as a “’90s summer” — is the latest parenting trend making the rounds online as overworked moms and dads are trading day camps for the memory of carefree summers fuelled by Kool-Aid and Dunkaroos.

While some parents see the fad as unrealistic in a time of increased gun violence, extreme weather and online distractions, others are throwing structure to the wind in favour of no-limit couch time and exploring the outdoors unsupervised.

Brooklyn’s Eric Katzman, 46, told the New York Post he is trying to let his kids embrace the freewheeling ’90s spirit.

“We roamed, went to the candy store, the fro-yo place, but we always knew to come home,” the public relations professional said about his childhood.

To that end, he plans to let his nine- and 12-year-old to bike and walk around at will “within reason.”

Podcast host Kylie Kelce, who is married to retired Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce, raved about the fad in a recent episode of Not Gonna Lie.

“I love the idea,” the mother of four said. “I currently will unleash my children into the backyard. If one of them ends up digging out a rock, have at it.”

Chill out for a moment, dude. Not everyone thinks this is a sick idea.

Recommended video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Anna Levy-Warren, a Brooklyn-based psychologist who works with families, told the New York Post that while it’s “crucially important” to give kids a chance to be bored and explore their imagination without the help of a screen, “we live in a very different world than the one of the ’90s summer.”

Plus, it may be the result of parents overcompensating for their family’s busy schedule.

Claire Vallotton, a professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University, told USA Today that the desire for a ’90s summer is “likely a reaction to a parenting culture that tries to overschedule kids with summer activities to optimize child development.

“They are overscheduled and using technology too much,” she told USA Today. “It’s a reaction that makes a lot of sense, but trying to solve it all in one summer isn’t going to work for either the children or parents.”

Vallotton suggested parents find ways to ease their kids into a “feral child summer” by limiting screen time, promoting outdoor fun and scheduling peer play with minimal supervision.