Go outside and play

For more children, less time for outdoor play. Busy schedules, less open space, more safety fears, and lure of the Web keep kids inside.

Some long-ago summer experiences can shock today's youth. As a child in Stoneham, Mass., in the 1950s and '60s, Neil Gussman rode his bike to Boston (about 10 miles) when he was 8. "When I told my kids that I rode to Boston one day, they could not conceive of doing something like that," says Mr. Gussman of Lancaster, Pa. "I think they suspected my mother of neglect." Noting that his four children are attending camps this year, he says, "My kids and I grew up on different planets."

Read more in the Christian Science Monitor.