I am from south Florida and we always went barefoot. I remember playing with my friends from 'up north', and wondering why their parents were always yelling at them to put their shoes on. Of course now I am always telling my children to put their shoes on. I keep imagining them stepping on sharp objects. And I hear the same argument from my children, that everyone else is barefoot.

I don't allow my children go barefoot on the playground. In my personal opinion there are too many risks. Carelessly discarded cigarette butts, small openings in the play equipment, other larger feet in shoes, . . Before we moved to Raleigh, we bent barefoot in our back yard all of the time. Since we’ve moved here we never go barefoot in our yard. The reason – copperheads. We found twelve in our yard the first year we lived here. That fall we removed an abundance of invasive English ivy from our property but we have still found 4 or 5 copperheads each summer. On the first day temperatures passed 80 degrees this spring, a copperhead bit our boarder collie for the fourth time in three years. So now we only go bare foot in the house.

Ugh, I'd never allow DD to be barefoot on the playground, except for maybe, temporarily, in the sandbox.

We do allow her to be barefoot in our backyard. Though she got four nasty splinters in her foot the other day as a result -- we may have to rethink.

I try to have my kids keep their shoes on, but my 2 year daughter is obsessed with shoes being on and off. If she sees other kids with their shoes off, then she wants hers off also. If I think far enough ahead of time, I put her in shoes that aren't easy to take off.

If we are here in the backyard, I don't mind if the shoes are off.

It's when we are at a public playground is when I try to be more stern.

I'm originally from NJ and I have always loved to go barefoot. DS and DD love it too. I let the kids go barefoot in the neighborhood and in our backyard. They have to have shoes on in public places and on our deck.

I love going barefoot. My boys on the other hand, they are a different story. They too love going barefoot but are only allowed to have their shoes off in the grass in our back yard. When it comes to the mulched play area or deck then shoes on due to splinters.

Loved the story - featured it at my CarolinaMama blog. Growing up Southern and barefoot, we tend that way. However, we are careful about the safety issues when necessary. Otherwise, there is nothing like sweet, cool, green grass between your toes in the summertime.
Warmly,

Carolina Mama

No barefeet outside here. I get nervous they will step on something. And, I don't want them to track sand and other dirt into the house.

My son does a compromise -- he takes his shoes off, but leaves his socks on when playing outside. I don't approve since I have to wash the dirty socks, but at least his feet are covered. If I see him take his shoes off, though, he must put them back on. I'm a firm believer in shoes. The South probably lost the war because outhouse hygiene wasn't up to par and people got hookworm from feces-laden sand. This problem wasn't cleared up in NC until the Rockefeller foundation educated rural people in the Eastern part of the state -- in the 30s! Makes you think again about shoes.

Alice Osborn, MA
www.aliceosborn.com

My kids have to wear shoes because I have to wear shoes. I'm too afraid I'll step on something either painful or just plain gross when I'm outside.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!

Our family rule is shoes off inside, shoes on outside. Though shoes often end up being flimsy flipflops.

well, this is a tough one for me, because I hate shoes and love to be barefoot myself! We also grew up in Florida, and were always barefoot. In interest of full disclosure, I did step on some broken glass one time when I was 8, that required 11 stictches in my big toe. But it didn't stop me. So I'm pretty relaxed about my kids taking off shoes and it's something that tends not to be on my radar. Knock on wood, no stitches here yet....lol........

My mom (parents) let's me go barefoot whenever I want. I really don't have to ask and I know a lot of other kids who don't have to either. I'm a 15 year old boy and I know the picture for the avatar says otherwise. We live in a really clean neighborhood in California and I've never heard of anyone stepping on something sharp or dangerous. It's just a gated community with big houses and really, clean and green grass.
I'm guessing some parents wonder why their kids want to go barefoot so bad and it's pretty simple: It just feels great. To step in the soft grass with it in-between your toes. That's why whenever I'm in my neighborhood, I never need to wear shoes... ever!. It's safe and clean so everybody wins. I think it's much better than wearing shoes or socks or even sandals or slippers. I mean, what's the point? Your missing out on something great! And I'm sure that's why you saw all those kids with no shoes on.
Summers are awesome for going barefoot. It's the best time to shed those shoes and socks and let go! That's what I always do every summer and it's worth the wait.
Yeah, I know some moms worry that your feet will get dirty but who really needs to care. Well, I'm just speaking from my point of view. Yeah, my feet get dirty when I've been out for hours barefoot with my barefoot friends:) But it's all a part of being a kid; getting dirty. I'm glad my parents realize that. My little brother (7) is a little mud tracker. He'll always end up dirty at the end of the day. It's no big deal for our family. We have a rule that if you come in dirty, you clean up the mess. And we take that risk to come in dirty.
Speaking of being a kid, so is a part of going barefoot. Kids love to go barefoot. It's child-nature! It's like that childhood memory of laying on the bark of the tree barefoot with your dog over your legs while you pet it. It's simply just like that. So I feel bad for the kids who don't get to experience something as traditional as this. Some kids just don't live in the right places or their parents don't approve of it.
So let me talk about race here. Because it does have to do with this. I'm a Caucasian boy or "white boy". I see a lot more Caucasian children going barefoot more than any other race. Usually when you think of blacks going barefoot it's usually makes them look poor. Not trying to be stereotype, just saying what I think. (Well, maybe that's a lot stereotype) Anyway, but when I think of white people doing it (and this is not based on what I have seen) I think of them going barefoot just because they want to relax or they do want shoes on because they like feeling of the grass. That is me but also what I think in generalization. So usually when you go to a nice suburb you'll see kids going barefoot, but I think most of them will be white. You can look this up and I'm sure you'll find something related to it. And I think this is one of the factors of moms of different races not letting their children go barefoot.

So with all that said, I know this was posted over a year ago but I couldn't help posting a comment. I'm not even sure if you will ever read this. But anyway, I hope this previous answerers have informed you of some useful facts of your question. And this is only to vent my feelings on the matter.