Growing up then versus now

I'm 53, so putting aside my years as a toddler and at nursery, my growing up was entirely throughout the 1970's.

From the age of 7-15 I would be doing such things as Airbourne Warrior mentions - playing football in the street, riding bikes, playing in the park, fishing for newts in the drain and being chased up the street by my dad with a slipper. In my teens it was quite alright for my parents to let me and a mate cycle all the way up to Hornsea or Bridlington, up to 30 miles away. Cars were fewer, child snatchers were non-existent and everything seemed safe and kids actually had smiles on their faces. Nowadays they seem cold and emotionless.

Fast forward to yesterday and Christmas Day.
My granddaughter was given a laptop and a mobile phone for Christmas by Santa (her mother). She is just seven years old.
Now I struggle with this. Is this wise? She is a bright little girl but being open to the internet and potentially harmful images etc certainly isn't the right way to progress is it?
I'm thinking that the main reason, as was the main reason I was let onto the streets to play outside as a kid, is to give the parents some peace and quiet.

And so what does my daughter do as soon as my grandkid is out the way on her PC? She won't be playing with her child...why, she'll be sitting with her own phone all night long. God knows what the kid will be like as a teenager.

And the internet is a fantastic invention if it's used correctly.

Yes I miss my childhood and if I was a child today knowing what I know now, I wouldn't swap those years. Not a chance.

Re: Growing up then versus now

Not sure back then was any safer, you can only judge by your own environment, at the time. There were more than the national average of fringe folks, who had the capacity to do harm.
Hope that has improved for todays kids.

Re: Growing up then versus now

My kids think my dad is great because he (still) drags them away from their computer and phone screens to canoe, hike, learn woodworking, go foraging for berries etc., make homemade ice cream, learn how to take things apart, help around the yard (garden), and so on.

My kids retell their outings with him like they were and are the best days of their lives. As a result, they are now all curious, outdoorsy, competent, and reasonably risk-taking.

You can't fight technology, but you can be that kind of grandpa!

Re: Growing up then versus now

Like it or not Floydy, the Internet and Smartphones are here to stay and anyone who is not competent using them will be left behind in their older years and unable to keep pace with employment or studying requirements. My Mum and Dad resisted new technology for a while believing that Motor Cars were not practical (nobody I knew had one, except the district nurse) television was also only used sparingly, with programmes starting in the afternoon (for children, 'Watch with Mother') and ceasing transmission at around eleven at night.

Prior to their passing they were both good drivers and avid TV watchers. Like you Floydy, most of my leisure time was spent playing cricket or football in deserted streets, or re-creating the second world war with my extensive army of plastic soldiers and model tanks. Unfortunately, the world moves on and the best we can do is to help the young ones to survive in this ever progressing society we have all helped to create.....

Re: Growing up then versus now

Im glad my childhood spanned the 50`s and 60`s, as a kid my time was spent outdoors playing and exploring my area. We were creative in our play building camps, swings anything we needed only a trip to the flicks once a week provided an escape into fantasy.

When my son became active i did my best to give him as many opportunity`s as i could, so helped him understand his environment and taught him to observe rather than just look. I was so proud of him when on his fifth birthday he climbed Snowdon, i feel this aspect of modern life is now taking a backseat to Tech and personal creativity.

Re: Growing up then versus now

It's no good asking a bunch of over fifty somethings which they prefer 'Then or Now' Floydy, because unless they had been brought up in a workhouse or had the parents from hell, they will inevitably answer 'Then'....

Summers were longer and warmer, winters were full of snow, and nobody got any homework to do.....At least I didn't, 'Bugger that' my Dad would say, 'You spend all day at school and that's enough learning if you want to follow in your Dad's footsteps and work down the pit!'

There was nothing to do at home, unless you were a Nancy Boy and helped your Mum with the baking. So armed with a homemade catapult and a jam sandwich stuffed in my trouser pocket it was off into the country to explore, collect birds eggs and shoot at anything that moved with the catapult.....I must point out that very few animals or birds were hurt during these expeditions because most living things had long since fled by the sound of an advancing group of noisy scallywags crashing their way through the undergrowth carrying vastly inaccurate weapons that were more a danger to themselves than the surrounding fauna.

So I say, like Nom, I'm glad I grew up in the fifties and sixties, but then, my daughter will proclaim that she is glad that she grew up in the seventies and eighties, and my Granddaughters will say.............Well you get the idea......most of us look back on our childhood with fond memories.....It's just a case of.....What can possibly be next?

Re: Growing up then versus now

I still remember the summer of '76. I would wake up, stick my head out my bedroom window and the street would be full of kids playing football up the wall, skipping, riding bikes etc. Within ten minutes, I would be out there with them (we didn't wash in those days).The only time the streets were ever quite was when the Cup final was on TV.

I have so many memories from my childhood, some good, some not so good but I do wonder what some of today's children will have to look back on when they grow older.

Re: Growing up then versus now

Hi

There have always been child abductions and kiddy fiddlers.

It is just that with modern media, we are far more aware of them.

I can remember being told not go out of the sight of the house when we had the Moors Murders.

Re: Growing up then versus now

7 is, in my opinion, too young to be given both a laptop and a mobile phone. Maybe one of those kid-friendly tablets would have been better.

Re: Growing up then versus now

I agree...way too young imho, but I can see it's not easy when it's so close to home.
Best thing you can do is ensure that all the filth and danger that the internet offers children these days is filtered/blocked out.

It makes me angry that the default is that it's all there and you have to block it yourself.
It should be the other way around that its default setting is it's all automatically blocked and you have to specifically search for it and obtain permission for access.

Things may have changed, I do hope so.

We had a thing called Net Nanny years ago...