""Wait, you just walked out of the house and your parents had no idea where you were?" My colleague's eyes widened as I casually mentioned spending entire summer days roaming the neighborhood with friends when I was eight. No mobile phones. No scheduled check-ins. Just a general understanding that we'd be home when the streetlights came on. Growing up in the 70s outside Manchester felt completely normal at the time."
"Summer mornings started the same way: breakfast, then out the door by 9 AM. Where were we going? Our parents had a vague idea, "playing with friends" covered everything from building dens in the woods to cycling to the next town over. The rule was simple: be home for dinner. That was it. No tracking apps. No hourly texts. No predetermined routes or approved locations."
Children in the 1970s routinely spent entire days roaming neighborhoods without constant adult oversight, returning home by a simple rule like being back for dinner. Absence of mobile phones and tracking apps meant no scheduled check-ins or hourly texts. That freedom required children to navigate, assess danger, solve problems, and build resilience through trial and error. Modern parenting trends favor supervision, predetermined routes, and close monitoring, reducing opportunities for independent exploration. These differing childhood experiences produce divergent skills and perspectives across generations and contribute to misunderstandings about safety, independence, and what has been lost.
Read at Silicon Canals
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