Ok, disclaimer: It’s none of my business, and I wouldn’t dream of making a comment or implying it them in any way.
But seriously. They’ve been living here for nearly a year now, and they never come out. I’ve met them, they’re like 8 and 6. We don’t live in a dangerous area at all, we live in an apartment complex in a nice town. There is room directly in front of the apartment windows for them to play a little. There is a GIANT lawn out back with lots of room; lots of other kids play there and the windows overlook it.
Whenever I come home they’re peeking out the windows for their dad to come home (they live with dad & grandma, I don’t know where the mom is). Today it was 40 degrees out, sunny, it’s Saturday, I didn’t see a peep. When the snow was perfect for snowballs, I didn’t see them come out. And even on the days we’ve been home all day, and I’ve been working on the balcony or something, they never come out. I suppose they might sneak out when I’m not there or something, but seriously, in a year, I’ve never seen these kids in the sunshine.
And, this may be relevant, they’re ultra-conservative Hindu. They repaint their porch every single day with Hindu religious symbols, and if we go downstairs to the door, we can hear the little ones praying loudly every evening, and singing religious songs. This seems to be their entire entertainment, or watching TV, which they do all day. They do go to school, at least.
What’s the deal? Perhaps Dopers can come up with a better reason to keep them indoors then I have. My version is not very charitable.