Did those born in the 50's, 60's and 70's have a better childhood?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by St Leo
We had friends went outside and found them.

Except for those who didn't.

But they had enemies outside who would find them, so it all worked out in the end.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I wouldn't want any child growing up under Cold War conditions.

[Uncle Sparky]

I was born in '59, so I grew up during the '60s and turned 18 in '77. The biggest difference, I think between my generation and latter kids was the freedom and lack of fear.

When I was growing up, Winnipeg had about 500,000 people, so it wasn't exactly a small town. When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember walking to a park, about 4 blocks from where I lived with my 2 best friends (the same age as me) without adults. I remember a couple of years later riding our bikes much further than that and by the time we were about 9 or 10, taking public transit across town to see movies - all without adults.

When we rode our bikes, we would leave them, unlocked outside stores and they would be there when we came out !

I don't remember needing a house key until I was about 12 or 13 - we never locked the house unless we were going out of town overnight.

I knew all my neighbors names for over a block in each direction.

I wonder if anyone under thirty living in a similar sized city can say the same.

[Theben]

I used to walk to grade school a mile and a half every day. I wonder how many elementary age kids do that nowdays.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I grew up playing around farm machinery and disused quarries. In fact, two friends from my childhood died that way before they were 8 years old- both drowned.

Things may be different, but not necessarily worse.

[Theben]

When we were liitle we used to play in the foundations of unfinshed housing (tho kids today probably still do that).

[Pekka]

ALl those sounds familiar, and I was raised in 80's. And kids today, in here, they do the same stuff as the first post said. All of them, and most of them do.

Only difference I see is computers and game consoles, but that's been like from maybe mid 90s to this day for smaller kids.

[Rogan Josh]

My parents made me see a child psychologist because I was too well behaved.

I didn't like going out and playing with the other kids, and I had a fixation about keeping clean. (I have vivid memories of driving my folks mad when we were out somewhere by needing to go to the toilet but refusing to use toilets which were not up to my high hygene standards. We would walk around for hours trying to find a clean toilet.)

I would just sit inside all day by myself and read books. They were worried that I was mentally retarded (although why someone mentally retarded would read books is beyond me). I used to read these huge fact books with thousands of (useless) facts in them and try to memorize them all. (I was also really into poetry, but I try not to mention that in poilte society....)

I was a weird kid.

[CerberusIV]

I was born in 1961. I don't think I had a better childhood than kids today. Different but not necessarily better.

I do think being between 14 and 30 today is worse than when I was that age. Teenagers often seem to be trying to make up for something they didn't do as small children whilst being pushed to become adults overnight.

As for the costs of higher education in the UK and the pittance wages paid to twentysomethings, I'm glad to be well past that stage (wages were no better 20 years ago but the things you actually needed didn't seem to cost as much - like somewhere to live).

[Alexander's Horse]

and yet they alomst all seem to love capitalism, they seem willing victims of McDonaldisation. Passive.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
and yet they alomst all seem to love capitalism, they seem willing victims of McDonaldisation. Passive.

U got it mate!

We be like Vultures, consuming tons of fast food to the tune of BILLIONS of $$$$$ of Medical Bills treating illness's such as High Cholestorol, High Blood Pressure, Obesity,Diabetes..alll this caused by us eating a few mice!!

(For those whom dont remember the 70's McMOUSE BURGER!! )

Peace

Grandpa "Looking-for-some-cheese" Troll

[child of Thor]

It seems the 'MacDonalds' generation is also providing problems for western military recruitment too. I read an article a few months back about how todays kids were getting many more injury's during training, thats if they passed the entrance tests
The console/tv/fast food kiddies find it harder to run than 10-15 years ago apparently.
Still i used to do mad stuff as a kid with my mates, like making pitch fork fireing catapults and bows and arrows etc.
I suppose todays youth would rather pack a 9mm, but i reckon my mates and myself had more clean harmless fun?
I've vowed that when i have kids, they will never eat a McDonalds while under my roof, and i'll force them outside(if not living in a city) for atleast an hour a day, whatever the weather hopefully they will do it under their own steam.........

[GePap]

Where you grew up has as much to do with what type of childhood one had as to when they grew up.

I grew up in Panama, and no, we did not have all the same safety rules and whatnot, and I did have fun watching TV as I grew up, and I also had fun going to the beach each weekend, and so forth. And some of the kids I met sure as hell had very hard childhoods, though all children have some fun sometimes, in even the most horrid conditions.

[axi]

I don't envy the childhood of my parents. My dad was born in 1935 and grew up during the German occupation and the civil war and lived a life full of deprivation. My mom is much younger (1948) but her folks were very poor and in fact she can remember the times where there was no running water or electricity at home.

Anyway, since I was born in 1979, I can't say I was atotally corrupt child. Back in the 80's the TV was not so commercial and we didn't have a computer. And I grew up riding a bike with no helmet (there still are no helmet laws here, AFAIK) and doing risky stunts with it. During the long summers of my childhood, I had a very natural life, which was, hands down, much better than the winters in the city.

[Bereta_Eder]

My parents reached adulthood on the last years of the Junta. After that it was the metapoliteusi (the period of political normalizaton after the Junta) whith huge cultural influence by the left wing, radical thoughts/mindsets etc I guess it was an equivalant to a hardcore "flower children" revolution (not the sissy drugs type of the US). Perhaps the comparison doesn't describe it correctly at all coming to think of it.

One thing I envy from their era is the intense politicilization and involvement with society and politics, the socialization the fact that this generation brought down a dictatorship, the fight for democracy etc. Those were grim but heroic times for the one thing that matters: democracy. And there was intense interest on societal and political matters. But what I really envy is that people at that time had friends for life, were much more relaxed about relationships. The today's generation is more conservative than their parents which generally had a much, much greater passion for life.