Evidence · Play and independence
Do children today get enough free play and independence?
Federal data show that most children fall short of daily activity guidelines, and far fewer walk or bike to school than in 1969.
The short answer
Most children do not get the hour of daily activity that federal guidelines call for. In 2024, only 19.2% of children ages 6 to 17 were active for an hour on every day of the prior week. The share of younger students who walk or bike to school fell from nearly half in 1969 to about one in eight by 2009. A 2023 commentary in The Journal of Pediatrics argues that less independence is a major cause of worse mental health in children. Most of its evidence is correlational. At least 11 states now say in law that reasonable independence is not neglect, and several states require daily recess.
What the research says about independence and well-being
In 2023, psychologists Peter Gray, David Lancy and David Bjorklund published a commentary in The Journal of Pediatrics on children's independence. They argue that children have far fewer chances to play and act without adult control than in past decades. In their view, this decline is a cause, and possibly a major cause, of rising anxiety and depression.
The authors cite data on how much independence has shrunk. In England, the share of children allowed to walk home from school alone fell from 86% in 1971 to 25% in 2010. They also cite studies that link a sense of control over one's own life with lower rates of anxiety and depression.
The authors state plainly that most of this evidence is correlational. They note that distress may reduce independence in some cases, rather than the reverse. They also name other factors, such as academic pressure. The paper discloses that the lead author serves on the board of Let Grow, a group that promotes childhood independence. For trends in children's mental health, see our page on youth mental health.
Other research looks at outdoor play directly. A 2015 systematic review of 21 studies found that risky outdoor play, such as climbing and exploring, had overall positive effects on children's health and behavior. The most common benefit was more physical activity. The authors called the evidence limited and asked for better studies.
How much physical activity children get
Federal guidelines say that children ages 6 through 17 need at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity each day. The same guidelines say preschool children should be active throughout the day, with a goal of at least 3 hours.
Few children meet that standard. In the 2024 National Survey of Children's Health, a parent or guardian answers for each child. That survey found that only 19.2% of children ages 6 to 17 got at least an hour of activity every day of the past week. Only 48.1% kept recreational screen time to 2 hours or less on most weekdays.
High school students report similar numbers. In CDC's 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 25% of high school students were active at least 60 minutes daily. The figure was 27% in 2013. Only 16% met both the aerobic and the muscle-strengthening guidelines in 2023, down from 22% in 2013. Only 27% attended physical education classes on all five school days. Screens play a part in this picture, and our page on phones and social media covers that evidence.
Walking and biking to school, then and now
The trip to school gives children a daily chance to move on their own. An analysis of federal travel survey data found that 47.7% of students in kindergarten through grade 8 usually walked or biked to school in 1969, compared with 12.7% in 2009. The authors link the drop to sharp growth in parents driving children and in teens driving themselves.
A later study of 2017 federal travel data found that 9.6% of students ages 5 to 17 usually walked to school and 1.1% biked. The authors caution that survey methods changed after 2009, so the years do not compare directly. Among students who lived a mile or less from school, 40.31% walked or biked frequently.
Distance and traffic shape these choices. In a 2004 CDC survey of parents, the most common barrier to walking was distance to school (61.5%), followed by traffic danger (30.4%).
State laws on reasonable independence
Many families worry that letting a child walk to a park alone could lead to a neglect report. A growing number of states have changed their laws to address this concern. These laws say that allowing an independent activity is not, by itself, neglect. Each law still requires that the activity fit the child's age, maturity and abilities. Supervision so careless that it endangers the child can still count as neglect or endangerment.
We confirmed the following laws in state legislative, statutory or court sources:
- Utah: SB 65, signed in 2018. Its text lists walking or biking to school, outdoor play and staying home unattended.
- Texas: HB 567, effective in 2021. It excludes independent activities that are appropriate and typical for the child's level of maturity.
- Colorado: HB22-1090, Reasonable Independence for Children, signed in 2022.
- Oklahoma: the state's definition of neglect excludes a child who engages in independent activities, under 10A O.S. § 1-1-105.
- Virginia: SB 1367, passed in 2023. The state code now names walking or biking to school, playing outdoors and staying home for a reasonable time.
- Illinois: Public Act 103-0233 covers travel to school and nearby places, outdoor play and staying home alone.
- Montana: a 2023 change to the child endangerment law protects travel to school, outdoor play and, with set conditions, staying home.
- Florida: SB 1286, approved in 2025. Its enrolled text covers both the child welfare and the criminal definitions of neglect.
- Missouri: HB 737, effective in 2025, added the protection to the state's neglect definition.
- Indiana: House Enrolled Act 1035, effective July 1, 2026.
- Kansas: SB 408, signed in 2026, excludes age-appropriate independent activities from the definition of a child in need of care.
Other states have considered or passed similar bills. This list includes only the laws we could confirm in primary sources.
What helps: recess and time outdoors
Recess gives children a daily block of unstructured play. Federal guidance from CDC and SHAPE America advises 20 minutes or more of recess daily for elementary students. It adds that 20 minutes should not be the maximum. The same guidance advises schools not to take away recess as discipline or because of classroom performance.
Gray and colleagues report that average recess in elementary schools was 26.9 minutes a day by 2014, and that some schools had none. Several states now set recess in law:
- Florida requires 100 minutes of free-play recess each week in kindergarten through grade 5, with at least 20 consecutive minutes each day. The rule does not apply to charter schools.
- New Jersey requires a daily recess of at least 20 minutes in kindergarten through grade 5, held outdoors when feasible.
- Rhode Island requires at least 20 consecutive minutes of unstructured free-play recess each day in kindergarten through grade 6.
- Arizona requires at least two recess periods each school day in kindergarten through grade 5.
Time outdoors also matters for children's eyes. In a randomized trial in Guangzhou, China, schools added one 40-minute outdoor class to each school day. After three years, 30.4% of children in those schools developed nearsightedness, compared with 39.5% in comparison schools. The trial included 1,903 first graders, and the authors called for more study of how well the result applies elsewhere.
What Restore Childhood is doing
Restore Childhood is a 501(c)(3) that makes films, reporting and tools for everyone who cares about children. Its film 15 DAYS covers America's pandemic school closures. We publish ongoing reporting on our Substack. This page is part of our evidence series, which gathers primary data on the questions that shape children's lives.
What you can do now
- Ask your local school how many minutes of recess children get each day. Compare the answer with the 20-minute federal guidance.
- Ask whether your school takes away recess as a punishment, and share the CDC guidance against it.
- Look up your state's neglect law on the state legislature website. Check whether it protects reasonable independence.
- Map a safe walking or biking route to school with your child, and start with short trips together.
- Build unstructured outdoor time into each week, and match new freedoms to each child's age and maturity.
Related
We update this page as new data comes out. If you see an error, please contact us.