We were not neglected. Our parents would show up to all of our events and cheer us on. We ate dinner as a family every night and spent our evenings together on school nights. We watched TV or played board games together until they went to bed. Our parents never really treated us like babies. We were treated like little adults and were expected us to act like one, especially when we were out in public. We had very strict parents when it came to behavior and rules but we had the freedom to make our own choices and had to deal with the consequences. Literally the opposite of how kids are raised today.
100%! We learned confidence by doing things ourselves and figuring stuff out. We didn't need someone to babysit our every move. That is what is wrong with these generations, they don't know how to do anything for themselves. had a 26 year old male last winter who didn't know how to boost the battery in his car! He didn't even know which end was positive or negative and what to do with the cables! When you live in a country where it's 3 feet of snow six months of the year, that is completely unacceptable.
Summertime was the best when I was a kid in the 1970s. I would hang out and play with my friends and siblings. There was always something to do-riding bikes, swimming, roller skating, playing games, etc. We would run after the ice cream truck for a treat. I never felt neglected. My family would eat together at dinner and watch TV afterward.
And our parents were able to trust that we were actually able to learn how to behave respectably & responsibly in the real world. Not acting like an entitled snowflake with *NO* patience and non-existent attention span, who have become accustomed to the expectation of immediate gratification because some "influencer" tells you that you "deserve" this or that, while having done absolutely _nothing_ to actually *_earn_* it(i.e. = participation trophies).🙄🤦♂️
Not neglected, we had a whole community of people looking out for us... We just got to do whatever we wanted outside, then chores or whatever inside, it was better outside😊😊😊
Its not abt caring more or less. We had the freedom to grow, learn, and explore. Our parents cared abt us in the 70s and 80s but they expected us to be independent and learn about the world around us and develop interpersonal skills. Its why, in my opinion, Generation X has such fortitude. We had to do all these things because we didn't have a choice. Both my parents worked. My dad was raised poor. We lived in a RV when I was in kindergarten. 6 of us. By the time I reached 3rd grade we were living in a 2500 sq foot house on 3 acres of land. I had to watch my sister during the summers starting when i was 10 and she was 6. My older brother and sister had to work in the summers to help support the family. So i was left alone as babysitter for 3 months a year till my little sister was old enough to be left alone. Around 10-11. What my older siblings made paid for our vacations at the end of summer. You learned alot. Like how to make mistakes and how to be responsible. Looking at the reality of the internet and social media, I would give anything for my son to have been raised in the era I grew up in. Hes 27 now but I wish he could have experienced living thru the 70s as a child and the 80s as a teenager. And the 90s as a young adult.
@neverettebrakensiek8771 100% We had to survive and cope on our own for most of everyday. Our parents were there if something was really wrong but for the most part we became savvy enough to do most things on our own. And nothing could ever replace that sense of adventure we experienced in those years.
I grew up in the '60s and back then, the world wasn't so dangerous. My mother didn't have to worry about me because every other mother in the neighborhood looked after us. We also learned a lot of lessons about how to bear pain from all the playground equipment we had that we don't have now. Big swings, metal sliding boards, metal merry-go-rounds that we got slung off of, and metal seesaws with splintery wooden seats. Mom was always their with the methylate and band aids, so we were in good hands. It was awesome being free range kids.
Gen X, had to be Mid to late 90's. Same time that spanking was starting to be viewed as bad, and magically there was a drug to help overactive children.
My parents wanted me to be safe and be a good kid. That being said, they didn't want me hanging around the house doing nothing (i.e. watching TV or reading) and they didn't want to hover over me at organized activities. To be honest, what 30 year old wants to hang around an 8 year old. Even if they're your kids, kids are kids. What interests a kid doesn't interest an adult, and vice-versa. Hanging all day together is a drag for both adult and child. "Go out and play" was "get fresh air and exercise" as well as "get out of my hair". One final point, my parents knew that "don't get into trouble", "if you're in trouble, get yourself out of trouble" and "don't get caught" are three different skills. And valued all of them, in varying situations.
As a kid, I love reading, but my mother didn’t want me to read because she was not very good at reading and didn’t understand the importance of reading. I don’t think my mother has ever read a single book from covered to cover. She dropped out of high school and To her reading A book was not something you did. I remember her complaining about her sister because she read the newspaper every day.
@@mildredpierce4506 Your mom probably felt very self conscious about the fact that she couldn't read. Someone most likely made her feel stupid because she couldn't and then she felt anger towards the whole concept of reading in general. Hurts and traumas manifest in different ways. Sorry you both had to go through that.
it has been pretty cool to live from the late 50s with almost no technology to today. childhood was a blast-we weren't hovered over. we got to discover things.
I'm the last of the boomers, graduated HS in 1982. When I was a kid and I went outside...I was free, I did what I wanted and went wherever I wanted. I remember being 4 years old and riding my bike (yes and I never had training wheels or a miniature bicycle) about a mile from home out on the main road to the local playground, which also had woods that we explored. Totally free lifestyle as a kid then. Thank God I was young then, not now.
I lived in Miami, as a kid we were out running around finding fun things to do, we loved climbing & hanging out in trees. As a teen I spent every day not in school at the beach, 50 plus years later a large group from those days still gets together & have a yearly beach reunion. Many have moved away, I sadly haven’t made it for one yet. They were the best days of my life, including lots of concerts.
The 60's & 70's were great decades to grow up in. We rode our bikes everywhere. Spent time in the pool, or played in the sprinklers at home. Sometimes we would play softball. We didn't spend a lot of time inside. We ate dinner together and watched TV or listened to records. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
4:39 parents didn't have 24/7 media telling them we were in danger. We had a lot of kidnappings but the mid 80's was the real understanding of kidnappings. Then everyone over reacted and never let it go.
Never felt neglected, I feel we were encouraged to live life, explore, and enjoy the world the way kids should. Our parents still parented, had rules, chores, and expectations. But our parents didn’t hover like a micromanager at a terrible job.
What you call "neglect" we called freedom. Yes it is a fine line. It may qualify as neglect... but we didn't "expect" supervision... so I don't feel like it was neglect. It was just playing outside, or out of the way at least. Oh and that 140° was probably °F so only 60°C - still stung. Why do so many commentators have an "undertone of snarkiness" ... um... have you met Gen X English is our second language... maybe third, after snark and sarcasm. We... were probably in our teens or nearly, before we saw a game "console" (Atari 2600 anyone?) in our home or anybodies home. Computers... older still. So yeah we invented games and built stuff to amuse ourselves.
Back, then we were very streetsmart and looked out for each other. The older kids also looked out for the younger ones, which was cool. We were far from neglected. There weren't counselors or psychiatrists or therapists, or diagnosed with conditions that required medication. We handled things with the support of each other. Growing up doesn't come with directions. Life is tough, get a helmet!
I was not neglected. The year I was born, my mother quit teaching and became a stay-at-home mom. Mom was always home until we started getting into high school, and then she started taking classes to be recertified. Our summers were spent doing match and reading workbooks for an hour, then running around the woods the rest of the day.
I would not call it neglect. Our parents still taught us how to behave(right and wrong) & respect others when we were out and about. We were expected to sit down for family dinners and played lots of board games as a family.We were not locked out of house, just heavily encouraged to go outside to explore and hang out with people. When we did stay home, chores were assigned and then you were free to read a book, building a tent in your bedroom, or going outside. Treehouses, bikes, go carts, rivers, burns from slides: all true! Hands on education in the world taught us how be resourceful, think critically, work hard(building stuff), how to address conflicts diplomatically or sometimes not so diplomatically, and use our imaginations. Gen x contributed a lot to the modern world. We gave you STAR WARS.
All of this brought me back. Yes, yes, and yes, we did all of this. Neglected? Never. We would go and "call for" our friends by knocking on the door. We would often take our bikes and ride...everywhere. Sometimes we would see kids playing that we didn't know and join their game of kickball, whiffle ball or street hockey. We were in the house when the street lights went on. We sat at the dinner table as a family. We watched television together as a family. My parents were very involved in my schooling and extra curricular activities, but I loved my time home alone as a "Latch Key" kid, which meant I came home from school and used my personal house key to let myself in. I had about two hours before anyone came home. As for the roller rink, yes we had one. Ours was a little different in that we had open skate for anyone, couples only songs for two people who held hands, and lady's choice songs for the girls to have to ask the boys to skate a couples skate. All the music was popular music, and we met so many kids from other neighborhoods making new friends, and yes some young romances. I am so glad to have grown up in this era. Oh, and yes, I did get a burn or two from a hot slide. lol.
Not neglected. All the neighbors watched us kids from afar, and when I would get home, my mom knew everything I had been up to. She called it, having eyes in the back of her head.
My mum called it the same. We weren't allowed to tell tails, but obviously all of the adults in the neighbourhood were. We were well behaved to people, so it was nice when my mum said that someone had told her that we'd helped them carry their shopping or something like that.
I was a child in the 60's and a teen in the 70's. I was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Summers as a child were spent climbing hills and playing in the Bow River as well as going up to Banff and Jasper. Being in the house as a child was boring! No good TV during most days and if you're caught sitting around inside you'd get put to work. As a teen we still had a lot of freedom. Roller skating, dances, just hanging around or hitchhiking with friends to the next town. I understand though why parents are so much more watchful now. We didn't have as many people or cars around when I was a kid. Not as many traffic accidents or iffy people about.
The 80s had the absolute best cartoons, TV and movies for kids. There was so much fantasy, and kids' media had a bit of an edge to it, like The Dark Crystal and The Secret of Nimh. My son loved Coraline; same slightly scary spirit to it. Kids love to have adventures outdoors and in their imagination if they are allowed to explore. Coddling them too much makes them weak, like when scientists tried to grow trees in a biodome and they fell over. They needed the wind and weather to push them and allow them to grow strong.
I think we need to be challenged to grow. In 2003, the whole East Coast from Canada to New York state lost power for two days. No TV, no internet, no bank machines. If you had batteries for your radio, you were good to go. But the power outage was a challenge that brought out our survival instincts. We had to cook all our meat on the barbecue so it wouldn't spoil, because the fridge runs on electricity. This generation would freak out if they had to go without their smartphones or tablets for even 20 minutes. But we grew up without all that stuff and turned out just fine.
I never felt neglected. We'd have a home-cooked breakfast or cereal, maybe watch a little morning TV on Saturdays, then go outside unless it was pouring rain or freezing. Our parents thought it was good for us to be outside, independent, and hanging out playing with our friends. It was home or to a friend's house for lunch if we were invited, then back outside until dinner when there was no school. We ran or road bikes all over, pretended to be our favorite characters on popular TV shows, or played seasonal pickup sports. Everybody's neighbors watched out for the kids. Grandma lived three blocks away, so we'd go there to play with cousins. You settled your own arguments and if you were bullied, your friends backed you up or we had permission to defend ourselves. My brother stood up to a friend bullying a younger kid and told him to stop. The bully slugged my brother and broke his wrist on my brother's head. lol! When the bully's mom called my mother to complain, she told her she couldn't help it that her son had a hard head and that HER kid threw the first punch. Those two ended up being best friends and college roommates. As to long car rides, we read books, played games, or entertained ourselves. That took a lot of imagination. It was great. No AC in cars when I was a kid in the South. If we were lucky, we got to ride in the backyard-facing seat of a station wagon and pretend we were on a spaceship. After dinner, it was homework and be home before dark! Those pocket knives came in handy for making things out of sticks and all kinds of things. I still have mine. I became a teacher after college. When video games came along, I noticed that some students slowly started forgetting how to pretend or make a toy out of stuff outside. (Bee stings? My dad would wet some of his pipe tobacco and put in on the sting. That worked to pull out the sting. Coolness was getting a bandaid!) My grandpa had a general store and was the butcher in the back. People knew how to tell if meat or other foods were good or spoiled by look, texture, smell, etc. We cousins had free rein in that store and best of all, access to anything on the comic book rack. That's how I got hooked on Marvel and DC heroes. I passed that on to my millennial daughter. She became a professional artist and makes costumes and props seen on shows like The Mandolorian.
PS - if the weather was bad, we'd go on the bus, by ourselves, to the YMCA to play or go to the library. Wilt Chamberlain came to our YMCA to play a summer league tournament game. Talk about 😎.
No, we were NOT neglected. Our parents raised us to be trusted to know how to act at home, at school, and at play. Most of us were raised with the same do's and don'ts. If we were underfoot for too long, my father would tease us and say, 'Go play on such and such road', and we would laugh and say 'oh Daddy' . . .❤
Speaking for myself never really felt neglected. The times when adults weren’t around supervising and protecting were by far the most fun times. No lie. We didn’t feel afraid or in danger and when we did we felt confident we were capable of handling ourselves most of the time.
children were to be seen and not heard.. lol as long as we didnt get into trouble and we were home by dark we could go anywhere and do anything. We also played a lot of games and stuff together because remember we only had a couple channels on tv so if we didnt like it we (including my parents) played games (scrabble, checkers, chess, dominos, and a bunch of board games like Life and monopoly).. so I dont know that I felt neglected but I would say it was just better to be out having fun with no one to watch to make sure you followed the strict home rules. It was pure freedom. That community pool is just like the ones that I spent growing up (the high dive) and the rocket ship park was the exact design we had at our local park - good memories
Being seen and not heard is why so many people as children suffered silently because they were too afraid to speak up when they should have. And when they did, the adults didn’t believe them or helped them I believe not in all situations, but in some situations kids being treated as if they were a burden is why some people have mistreated their parents when their parents were older and couldn’t do things for themselves. There is no love between the child and the parent because of what the parent has established from childhood You don’t show your child love when they need it, don’t expect them to show you love when you need it.
@@mildredpierce4506 I see people treating their elder parents that way with or without those circumstances. Ive seen it from kids that were doted over and given everything. Regardless there is this thing called forgiveness and there is no such thing as the perfect parent, kids dont come with manuals and every generation makes mistakes, 2 wrongs dont make a right. Also it should be noted that you show your kids how to treat you in your twilight yrs. by the way you treat your own parents in their twilight.
7:26 No, there was not a lot of rust in those metal lunchboxes. A lot of kids got a new one each year. Even if there was rust, the food was always wrapped in a sandwich bag, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil. The best part was the little insulated thermos which kept hot chocolate, cold milk, soup, eggnog, or whatever was wanted. The cap became a little cup to pour into. There were also cheaper plastic lunchboxes, but they cracked easily and didn't last long.
For Christmas one year (I was 6 or 7, my brother was 8 or 9) we got our first bikes. I had spent the entire previous summer learning to ride on an adult bike. When we got them, my brother, who had never ridden a bike in his life, jumped on and was immediately riding. Pissed me off.
I appreciated being outside with less supervision. It was preferable to chores, being yelled at nonstop, or beatings in the house. My favorite thing was spending time at my Silent Generation grandparents’ house; that’s where I got “spoiled” according to my Boomer parents. They doted on me, listened to me, taught me life skills, & made great meals. Otherwise, I loved swimming at local pools & lakes all day into the night. I climbed trees, roller skated around the neighborhood, caught fireflies (lightning bugs), jumped off the neighbors’ roof, had water balloon fights, & even carried my art supplies outside to draw all day. We even got a trampoline by the mid ‘80’s.
As a baby boomer and someone who grew up in the 60s and 70s it wasn't that our parents didn't want us around, they just wanted us to go outside and play rather than sit around inside the house where we'd probably just get bored anyway. we DID not feel neglected, it's just the way it was back then.
I have to say that I did not feel neglected by going out and hanging with my friends. We got to develop differently. There are some things for sure that needed improving upon, and newer gens try to do that. Problem is that some gens were over protected (helicopter parents) from life exploring and growing to be self sufficient. Over coddled perhaps. It's about balance really. Many now use their phones to avoid talking to someone passing in the corridors or in the elevator. We had to say hello and smile.
I was a late boomer teen in the mid 70s, so my parents were the Silent Generation. My mom didn't work, but I was in and out of the house all day and she knew where I was or where I was going, so I didn't feel neglected at all. But we did have a lot more freedom to come and go as we pleased and do what we wanted without parental supervision.
It was considered unhealthy to sit around inside all day; go outside, run around, burn off all your energy, get some vitamin D. My mother would definitely say “go outside before I find something for you to do” so I literally laughed out loud at that part 😂. (But that’s because we kids would be complaining about boredom.. remember, no smart phones nor X boxes).
No internet (though its early form did exist), no cell phones, no social media and in the UK, only three terrestrial TV channels....heaven!!!. Long summer holidays, UK summer of '76 was a scorcher, 6 weeks school holidays, a lot of fun outside on our bikes, climbing trees, swimming in a local river (with our parents), seaside visits although swimming in the sea post 1975 was scary thanks to Mr Spielberg.... Tom Baker was Dr Who & some little sci fi movie called Star Wars opened....Childhood soundtrack by Queen, Abba. I miss those days.
My first date was at a rollar rink. We were allowed to hold hands during slow songs, played team foosball, and our gourmet meal was nachos and a coke. Saturday nights in middle school.😊
I was born in 1969... so, I had a 100% 70's childhood. This was an incredidly ACCURATE picture of life for my siblings, friends and I growing up in San Diego (and a cpl yrs in Indiana). I had a pink Freespirit Banana Seat Bike from Sears with a white seat, handlebar grips, and pink grip tassles. I don't feel our parents "negleted" us... they raised us very similar to how they were raised. Parents rightly didn't feel it was their job to have to entertain us, and just sitting around the house doing nothing wasn't acceptable. You either went out and played or you helped do chores if you wanted to stay home... Playing was obviously the preferred option. And it's not like "having to play" was torture... we had a flippin blast. It kept us healthy and strong, childhood obesity was practically non-existant. And being out in the world, playing with other kids, doing things for ourselves without parents hovering over us 24/7... it's what made us who we are and gave us the traits that define our generation... We learned diplomacy, independence, self reliance, etc. It made us tuff and resilient physically and mentally. We weren't left to run completely wild without guidelines, there were rules and expectations about our actions and behavior that we were very aware society and our parents had for us... I think the HUGE difference between then and now is accountability and consequences... Our parents gave us their trust, and the ability to prove that we were worthy of that trust, but if we broke it there would 100% be consequences and we knew it... Most often that was something like a wooden paddle, or dads leather belt on our rears and getting grounded... followed by a period of having to EARN their trust back. KNOWING there would be consequences helped to keep us in line. Of course the majority of us still did things we knew we shouldn't, that's just part of being a kid and the learning process, but we also knew and accepted that there would be consequences if we got caught... It at least made us stop and think... would it still be worth it even if mom and dad found out? Anyway, I don't feel we were neglected. We were simply allowed to be kids, to create our own triumps, make mistakes, test our limits, get hurt and learn invaluable life lessons while we did . Parents didn't schedule, direct, and dictate every moment of their childs lives or let us sit around in front of a TV for hours playing games or watching shows (except Saturday morning cartoons). Childhood obesity and depression/mental health have become epidemics. Those words weren't even part of our vocabulary growing up... so rare as to be virtually non-existent. The way children grow up today is so terribly sad and having such a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health. The way we grew up may seem shocking to younger people because it's so foriegn, but the freedom simply to play, make choices and mistakes, build relationships with our peers (our friends were everything, literal blood brothers and sisters...ride or die) without parental interference or meddling... All experience and experiences necessary for growing into a capable, accountable, functioning adult.
Our parents wanted us to get out and get some fresh air and exercise, socialise and get some independence. If we did stay home we had to help cook and clean, or go out and do yard work!
My son says I suffered child abuse lol I say it’s what made me who I am…strong, fearless, and capable just to name a few… times have changed, we were told not to go to the man in the van offering candy…now we are full of human traffickers stalking kids to abduct…
I always wanted to dance on a disco floor. The kind that lit up under your feet.. in different designs? But once I grew old enough.. they were all gone. So young lad.. imagine everything you're growing up with now is gone by the time you're 50.. nothing looks the same or is familiar to you, even though it's the same place. It's a surreal experience, I assure you.. you too will experience it. :)
I am a 70's kid, and was raised by Silent Generation parents, so their scarcity trauma had them prioritizing work and understanding that kids have a bit of resiliency. Parenting "skills" wasn't really a thing. Are your kids alive? Great! Even though I didn't get that soft parenting and my emotional needs weren't met, I knew I wasn't neglected and that I was cared for because my parents worked hard to keep up taken care of. Plus I was raised in a neighborhood where all the kids played outside and all the adults served as second parents. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't that totally neglected vibe some gen x'ers experienced.
My parents were not from the boomer generation they were from the silent generation. We played together with our neighbours and got into mischief that is tame by today’s standards. I did stuff with my mum and one day during the summer she took me and my neighbours kids on the train to the museum in Toronto. My friends and I used to play in those half built new built houses when I was a kid after the workmen left for the day. My local roller rink is a bingo hall now.
We were not neglected, but we weren't coddled and we had freedom to make choices and learn from experience. Safety standards were different, true, but we didn't need to be told not to stick a fork into an electrical socket (we either learned not to do that after the first time OR we learned from one of our siblings or friends, lol).
That was kind of a sweet video. I'm so glad that I grew up when I did. My Dad once said that his goal was to get my sister and me to be independent ie able to take of ourselves and support ourselves. There were lots of expectations regarding behavior, chores, and schoolwork but also tremdous freedom. No one worried about kids. They expected them to play hard and get scraped knees, not be watched every minute and roam around the neighborhood in a pack. Later generations wanted their kids to be "Happy" and then "Fulfilled". I think independent was a better goal. I was born at the end of the Baby Boom. 🙂 Kool Aid contained two scoops of sugar BTW. No one worried about kids being amped up on sugar.
No neglect.. we were loved .. but we were raised DIFFERENT! as, for skating rinks, there are still a few around... my now 40-year-old son @ 16 met a15-year-old girl at the staking rink, and I have a 24-year-old grandson as proof
I was going to mention how much healthier the kids in this video look. No hover craft parents back in those days thank goodness. Definitely grew up self reliant.
The drinking out of the hose was real, but like he said it wasn’t first choice. If we were playing on our block we’d go inside our homes a grab something from the fridge. If we were near a park, school, store, we’d using the drinking fountains. The water hose was for when there wasn’t anything else nearby 🚿
Certainly not neglected. Our parents gave us a lot of personal agency. They didn't hover, but they still had an important presence in our lives, it was usually just in the evenings. They wanted us to go outside because 1. They needed time for themselves, 2. There really wasn't much to do indoors (That's what made getting grounded such a dreaded punishment...one I knew all too well since I screwed up at school a lot), and 3. Going outside was good for us. Exercise, social skills, and vitamin D. If we stayed inside all the time we'd be sickly, antisocial and just plain weird...Kinda explains a lot these days huh? God I miss playing Ghost in the Graveyard... 😞
Yes we met boys at the rink, we used our local rink mostly in the winter when it was too cold to be outside. I still have a set of lawn Jarts that get used once a yr at at family picnics. Wish I could live those years again, kids today are missing out on so many fun learning experiences, it makes me sad to see that.
It was not neglect. My parents ALWAYS knew where I was, and if they did not, I was in trouble. Freedom does not make neglect. We did not have to have our parents up our ass 24 hrs. a day. We did stuff together, but we also were allowed to live and make choices. That is why we have "safe spaces" now. We learned to win and lose. We learned about real life, and how to deal with other people. We grew strong relationships with our friends. We learned that life was not always fair. Pampering a child and keeping them from all hurt and pain will not prepare them for real adult life. I think Gen Z could learn a lot from Boom/GenZ'ers.
I was 13 in 1970. I grew up in East Hampton. My family has been there since the 1700s. Spent summer at the ocean and bay. Mom dropped us a the ocean at 9am and picked us up at 5pm. My younger sister and I were never home. I had a purple glitter stingray bike. That decade was phenominal music. There is a 2 column very long list of albums released in 1976. Life was simpler then. People actually talked to each other. We had a very high metal slide at the school. We rubbed wax paper on it, makes it slippery and fast. 😊
Saying we did things in person has to be included because young people see things so different. I once invited my nephew to go out back and play basketball. He responded with confusion because he didn't know where we were going to plug in the computer and screen. He lived in a complex with a basketball court and yet the idea of actually using a physical ball and throwing it in a physical basket was foreign to him. That was 15 years ago. It must be even more foreign now.
Sunscreen? I think not. We slathered on the baby oil and baked away in the sun. Yep... had to leave the house for the day... told to "go out and play"! No sitting in your room or around the house all day. Still rollarskating all these years later.
This is all true and yet we did not have to be told "Do not do this at home" . An example is the manual for cars use to tell how to fix stuff on the cars now it says stuff like not drinking the battery acid and pizza boxes saying open box before opening. okay stopping now before I get on my soap box.
10:12 ... the public pool, the roller skating rink, the video arcade, and the park w/playground, were the social meeting places for kids looking for something to do, and girls to show off to!
the only rule when i grew up in the UK 70's was stay out of trouble. as soon as i learned to ride without stabilisers i was off exploring. roads were much quieter though
A lot of your videos are US based and the UK experience was a little different. However, bikes were king, we got chucked out of the house frequently (or chucked in the garden: "I've got stuff to do indoors, go outside; it's raining? Sit in the greenhouse!"). Also, you live in London (as do I, best city EVER), but outside of the city, bikes remain a big thing even today.
A bike landing on you would crack a rib at worst. Usually it would just be like a punch in the gut with no lasting damage. The kid on the bike would be most likely to get hurt if they failed the jump. He would end up with a scrape on an elbow or knee, or on rare occasions a broken arm.
I grew up in Australia 🇦🇺 in the 70’s. I used to get paid to watch neighbourhood kid’s babysitting I was 12!, 🤣🤣 grew up with disco nights (Saturday night fever music), going to local hall for dancing and music, met first boyfriend there. I would cook and clean as I was eldest daughter , my mum worked nights, my dad pool plastere in Aussie scorching sun ☀️ at 13 I was allowed to date an 18 year old and he had a panel van and we would go to the drive inns
I loved roller skating and ice skating! I'm 65 now and smiling at the funn I had, From marching in the scool band to summer camps. Yes even spraying my ankle riding my brother banana bike trying to make a jump while skipping school lol No I didn't get into skipping because I had to use cruhesfor two weeks too get around lol. Thank you for the trip down memory lane! Oh by the way the water out of a hose tated nasty.
I'm very late Gen X. By modern standards, we were very much neglected. We never really felt that way. I really miss going somewhere, quite close, and nobody you know being able to contact you.
We were not neglected. We were given autonomy and allowed to explore and make our own decisions based on the lessons taught by our parents. Sometimes we did something that got us into trouble, but we learned from it and, usually, didn't do it again... LOL! As a generation, it seems we had a lot of common sense. No, we wouldn't slide down a metal slide that was 140 degrees... on our bare skin. We'd put our shirt down and slide on it or hose it down to cool it off first or.... the point is, we used our heads to figure out a way to do things without getting hurt. Again, learning through exploration.
I was a teen in the 70s. The younger kids did run the neighborhood. The older kids were in the basement of the cool parents house watching movies or listening to music or getting high. If you had a job you were the one being mooched of of to finance the shit.
Kids built things inside back then, too. The video glossed over indoor things like Lego. Sure, we didn't really have pre-designed sets, just blocks of various sizes, so it's a lot more like Minecraft than you'd think.
We had legos for sure. And etch a sketch. I was shaking the etch a sketch and my big sis walked too close and I smacked her in the eye with it. And light brights and twister.
@@johnw8578 We invented so many things to entertain ourselves. Heres one for ya : Lg carboard boxes in the basement made into a spacecraft with control boards . A hole cut out for viewing outer space and different drawn pictures of planets and aliens we could switch out. The control panels were lit by twinkle Christmas tree lights poked through the cardboard from the backside. Beam me up Scotty ! Mom wasnt happy that the lights werent working for the tree that next Christmas though. These are things we did in the winter when it was to cold outside ( rare ) as we even built igloos when the snow was enough no matter how cold it was. Neighborhood snowball fights and sledding.
lol! 😂Don’t be a hater 😂 It was an awesome time! We weren’t neglected we were just free to learn and grow independently. It was a much safer time and everybody knew each other!
I was a kid in NZ in the 1970s, learned to swim in the river, walked with my cousins for miles exploring, biked a long way to school with the other neighbourhood kids. My siblings and I couldn't wait to get out of the house. If we stayed at home, mum would make us do extra horrible jobs like weeding the garden (with bare hands, no tools). Felt free and grew confidence, even though I was terribly shy. never felt neglected
So much truth in these clips. Thanks for taking us down memory lane. Life presented different kinds of danger and excitement. If you grew up in the 70's you are a Boomer. Our parent's generation is called the Silent Generation. #Flexer
Actually, it was the opposite, kids when I grew (not the 70's, the 80's) loved their freedom and being out with friends and goofing around. Especially the summer, there wasn't all this tech to tie you down. You found ways to have fun. Also, the parents didn't neglect they want you out running around and have fun. Geesh, you were locked up in a school for 9 months. Plus, we always took summer trips as a family.
I know you arewatching the American version of back in the day. But from a UK point of view, it's excatly the same. And yeah, Your bike was the most treasured possession!
We were not neglected. Our parents would show up to all of our events and cheer us on. We ate dinner as a family every night and spent our evenings together on school nights. We watched TV or played board games together until they went to bed. Our parents never really treated us like babies. We were treated like little adults and were expected us to act like one, especially when we were out in public. We had very strict parents when it came to behavior and rules but we had the freedom to make our own choices and had to deal with the consequences. Literally the opposite of how kids are raised today.
Yes, so true.
Perfectly said!
100%! We learned confidence by doing things ourselves and figuring stuff out. We didn't need someone to babysit our every move. That is what is wrong with these generations, they don't know how to do anything for themselves. had a 26 year old male last winter who didn't know how to boost the battery in his car! He didn't even know which end was positive or negative and what to do with the cables! When you live in a country where it's 3 feet of snow six months of the year, that is completely unacceptable.
This!
Yessss well said 💯
Summertime was the best when I was a kid in the 1970s. I would hang out and play with my friends and siblings. There was always something to do-riding bikes, swimming, roller skating, playing games, etc. We would run after the ice cream truck for a treat. I never felt neglected. My family would eat together at dinner and watch TV afterward.
Definitely not neglected, so much more freedom and independence, would never change it for today’s generation…….
And our parents were able to trust that we were actually able to learn how to behave respectably & responsibly in the real world. Not acting like an entitled snowflake with *NO* patience and non-existent attention span, who have become accustomed to the expectation of immediate gratification because some "influencer" tells you that you "deserve" this or that, while having done absolutely _nothing_ to actually *_earn_* it(i.e. = participation trophies).🙄🤦♂️
No, we were not neglected. We were free to do whatever we wanted, basically 😃
Not neglected, we had a whole community of people looking out for us... We just got to do whatever we wanted outside, then chores or whatever inside, it was better outside😊😊😊
We were free to do a lot of things. But if got caught doing something wrong there was punishment as well.
@@jice7074 I got punishment for all kinds of things I didn't understand 😂
Until the street light came on. Then dinner and a bit of tv
But we did have rules and expectations though.
OMG The Roller Rink was THE Best place in the world! course we all had different named ones man they truly should bring those back! ❤
Born in 71 from two teenage hippies...life was a blast!❤
I was a 70s kid. I honestly miss it.
Its not abt caring more or less. We had the freedom to grow, learn, and explore. Our parents cared abt us in the 70s and 80s but they expected us to be independent and learn about the world around us and develop interpersonal skills. Its why, in my opinion, Generation X has such fortitude. We had to do all these things because we didn't have a choice. Both my parents worked. My dad was raised poor. We lived in a RV when I was in kindergarten. 6 of us. By the time I reached 3rd grade we were living in a 2500 sq foot house on 3 acres of land. I had to watch my sister during the summers starting when i was 10 and she was 6. My older brother and sister had to work in the summers to help support the family. So i was left alone as babysitter for 3 months a year till my little sister was old enough to be left alone. Around 10-11. What my older siblings made paid for our vacations at the end of summer. You learned alot. Like how to make mistakes and how to be responsible. Looking at the reality of the internet and social media, I would give anything for my son to have been raised in the era I grew up in. Hes 27 now but I wish he could have experienced living thru the 70s as a child and the 80s as a teenager. And the 90s as a young adult.
I say the kids of the 60s through the 80s were raised to be well rounded through a mix of experiences. Neglect ? No, I think not.
@neverettebrakensiek8771 100% We had to survive and cope on our own for most of everyday. Our parents were there if something was really wrong but for the most part we became savvy enough to do most things on our own. And nothing could ever replace that sense of adventure we experienced in those years.
Jay, we were not neglected, we were FREE!!
I grew up in the '60s and back then, the world wasn't so dangerous. My mother didn't have to worry about me because every other mother in the neighborhood looked after us. We also learned a lot of lessons about how to bear pain from all the playground equipment we had that we don't have now. Big swings, metal sliding boards, metal merry-go-rounds that we got slung off of, and metal seesaws with splintery wooden seats. Mom was always their with the methylate and band aids, so we were in good hands. It was awesome being free range kids.
I grew up in the '80s and there were no mothers to look after us - they were all working.
As a boomer, I think by the late 80s and 90s, society decided kids couldn’t be left alone.
Gen X, had to be Mid to late 90's. Same time that spanking was starting to be viewed as bad, and magically there was a drug to help overactive children.
Actually Jay
Unless you were a wierd kid 🤪
YOU WANTED TO BE OUTSIDE SUN UP TO SUN DOWN 🤗
Ha yepyep!
Yup, we had video games but that was 2nd choice or when the weather was bad. Being outside was the best!
My parents wanted me to be safe and be a good kid. That being said, they didn't want me hanging around the house doing nothing (i.e. watching TV or reading) and they didn't want to hover over me at organized activities. To be honest, what 30 year old wants to hang around an 8 year old. Even if they're your kids, kids are kids. What interests a kid doesn't interest an adult, and vice-versa. Hanging all day together is a drag for both adult and child.
"Go out and play" was "get fresh air and exercise" as well as "get out of my hair".
One final point, my parents knew that "don't get into trouble", "if you're in trouble, get yourself out of trouble" and "don't get caught" are three different skills. And valued all of them, in varying situations.
As a kid, I love reading, but my mother didn’t want me to read because she was not very good at reading and didn’t understand the importance of reading.
I don’t think my mother has ever read a single book from covered to cover. She dropped out of high school and To her reading A book was not something you did. I remember her complaining about her sister because she read the newspaper every day.
@@mildredpierce4506 Your mom probably felt very self conscious about the fact that she couldn't read. Someone most likely made her feel stupid because she couldn't and then she felt anger towards the whole concept of reading in general. Hurts and traumas manifest in different ways. Sorry you both had to go through that.
it has been pretty cool to live from the late 50s with almost no technology to today. childhood was a blast-we weren't hovered over. we got to discover things.
I'm the last of the boomers, graduated HS in 1982. When I was a kid and I went outside...I was free, I did what I wanted and went wherever I wanted. I remember being 4 years old and riding my bike (yes and I never had training wheels or a miniature bicycle) about a mile from home out on the main road to the local playground, which also had woods that we explored. Totally free lifestyle as a kid then. Thank God I was young then, not now.
I lived in Miami, as a kid we were out running around finding fun things to do, we loved climbing & hanging out in trees. As a teen I spent every day not in school at the beach, 50 plus years later a large group from those days still gets together & have a yearly beach reunion. Many have moved away, I sadly haven’t made it for one yet. They were the best days of my life, including lots of concerts.
OG GenXer here. (1966)
& we will still be bad-asses with our walkers & flapping our dentures 🤘😁
The 60's & 70's were great decades to grow up in. We rode our bikes everywhere. Spent time in the pool, or played in the sprinklers at home. Sometimes we would play softball. We didn't spend a lot of time inside. We ate dinner together and watched TV or listened to records. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
4:39 parents didn't have 24/7 media telling them we were in danger. We had a lot of kidnappings but the mid 80's was the real understanding of kidnappings. Then everyone over reacted and never let it go.
Never felt neglected, I feel we were encouraged to live life, explore, and enjoy the world the way kids should. Our parents still parented, had rules, chores, and expectations. But our parents didn’t hover like a micromanager at a terrible job.
What you call "neglect" we called freedom. Yes it is a fine line. It may qualify as neglect... but we didn't "expect" supervision... so I don't feel like it was neglect. It was just playing outside, or out of the way at least.
Oh and that 140° was probably °F so only 60°C - still stung.
Why do so many commentators have an "undertone of snarkiness" ... um... have you met Gen X English is our second language... maybe third, after snark and sarcasm.
We... were probably in our teens or nearly, before we saw a game "console" (Atari 2600 anyone?) in our home or anybodies home. Computers... older still. So yeah we invented games and built stuff to amuse ourselves.
Yes, I met my ex-husband at the skating rink when I was just 15. I started skating there in 1972 when I was in second grade.
Back, then we were very streetsmart and looked out for each other. The older kids also looked out for the younger ones, which was cool. We were far from neglected. There weren't counselors or psychiatrists or therapists, or diagnosed with conditions that required medication. We handled things with the support of each other. Growing up doesn't come with directions. Life is tough, get a helmet!
Not snarkiness. But our gentle way of saying yall really needed to touch grass. Lol j/k
His complaining about snarking this is actually being snarky
I was not neglected. The year I was born, my mother quit teaching and became a stay-at-home mom. Mom was always home until we started getting into high school, and then she started taking classes to be recertified. Our summers were spent doing match and reading workbooks for an hour, then running around the woods the rest of the day.
I would not call it neglect. Our parents still taught us how to behave(right and wrong) & respect others when we were out and about. We were expected to sit down for family dinners and played lots of board games as a family.We were not locked out of house, just heavily encouraged to go outside to explore and hang out with people. When we did stay home, chores were assigned and then you were free to read a book, building a tent in your bedroom, or going outside. Treehouses, bikes, go carts, rivers, burns from slides: all true! Hands on education in the world taught us how be resourceful, think critically, work hard(building stuff), how to address conflicts diplomatically or sometimes not so diplomatically, and use our imaginations. Gen x contributed a lot to the modern world. We gave you STAR WARS.
All of this brought me back. Yes, yes, and yes, we did all of this. Neglected? Never. We would go and "call for" our friends by knocking on the door. We would often take our bikes and ride...everywhere. Sometimes we would see kids playing that we didn't know and join their game of kickball, whiffle ball or street hockey. We were in the house when the street lights went on. We sat at the dinner table as a family. We watched television together as a family. My parents were very involved in my schooling and extra curricular activities, but I loved my time home alone as a "Latch Key" kid, which meant I came home from school and used my personal house key to let myself in. I had about two hours before anyone came home.
As for the roller rink, yes we had one. Ours was a little different in that we had open skate for anyone, couples only songs for two people who held hands, and lady's choice songs for the girls to have to ask the boys to skate a couples skate. All the music was popular music, and we met so many kids from other neighborhoods making new friends, and yes some young romances.
I am so glad to have grown up in this era. Oh, and yes, I did get a burn or two from a hot slide. lol.
Not neglected. All the neighbors watched us kids from afar, and when I would get home, my mom knew everything I had been up to. She called it, having eyes in the back of her head.
My mum called it the same. We weren't allowed to tell tails, but obviously all of the adults in the neighbourhood were. We were well behaved to people, so it was nice when my mum said that someone had told her that we'd helped them carry their shopping or something like that.
we drank out of the hose, but you had to let it run for a few minutes to get the hot water out.
I remember those days very well living in Fresno, California where it will get blazing hot in the summer
Guess I was the lucky one as I could just go for it growing up in SF fog lol
I was a child in the 60's and a teen in the 70's. I was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Summers as a child were spent climbing hills and playing in the Bow River as well as going up to Banff and Jasper. Being in the house as a child was boring! No good TV during most days and if you're caught sitting around inside you'd get put to work. As a teen we still had a lot of freedom. Roller skating, dances, just hanging around or hitchhiking with friends to the next town. I understand though why parents are so much more watchful now. We didn't have as many people or cars around when I was a kid. Not as many traffic accidents or iffy people about.
Jay I think you’d have loved it. The music the films cartoons the the fun, then came the 80’s even more so. It wasn’t perfect but what an adventure.
Was looking for Halloween cartoons the other day, VERY disappointing compared to when we were growing up
The 80s had the absolute best cartoons, TV and movies for kids. There was so much fantasy, and kids' media had a bit of an edge to it, like The Dark Crystal and The Secret of Nimh. My son loved Coraline; same slightly scary spirit to it. Kids love to have adventures outdoors and in their imagination if they are allowed to explore.
Coddling them too much makes them weak, like when scientists tried to grow trees in a biodome and they fell over. They needed the wind and weather to push them and allow them to grow strong.
I think we need to be challenged to grow. In 2003, the whole East Coast from Canada to New York state lost power for two days. No TV, no internet, no bank machines. If you had batteries for your radio, you were good to go. But the power outage was a challenge that brought out our survival instincts. We had to cook all our meat on the barbecue so it wouldn't spoil, because the fridge runs on electricity. This generation would freak out if they had to go without their smartphones or tablets for even 20 minutes. But we grew up without all that stuff and turned out just fine.
I never felt neglected. We'd have a home-cooked breakfast or cereal, maybe watch a little morning TV on Saturdays, then go outside unless it was pouring rain or freezing. Our parents thought it was good for us to be outside, independent, and hanging out playing with our friends. It was home or to a friend's house for lunch if we were invited, then back outside until dinner when there was no school. We ran or road bikes all over, pretended to be our favorite characters on popular TV shows, or played seasonal pickup sports. Everybody's neighbors watched out for the kids. Grandma lived three blocks away, so we'd go there to play with cousins. You settled your own arguments and if you were bullied, your friends backed you up or we had permission to defend ourselves. My brother stood up to a friend bullying a younger kid and told him to stop. The bully slugged my brother and broke his wrist on my brother's head. lol! When the bully's mom called my mother to complain, she told her she couldn't help it that her son had a hard head and that HER kid threw the first punch. Those two ended up being best friends and college roommates.
As to long car rides, we read books, played games, or entertained ourselves. That took a lot of imagination. It was great. No AC in cars when I was a kid in the South. If we were lucky, we got to ride in the backyard-facing seat of a station wagon and pretend we were on a spaceship.
After dinner, it was homework and be home before dark! Those pocket knives came in handy for making things out of sticks and all kinds of things. I still have mine.
I became a teacher after college. When video games came along, I noticed that some students slowly started forgetting how to pretend or make a toy out of stuff outside.
(Bee stings? My dad would wet some of his pipe tobacco and put in on the sting. That worked to pull out the sting. Coolness was getting a bandaid!)
My grandpa had a general store and was the butcher in the back. People knew how to tell if meat or other foods were good or spoiled by look, texture, smell, etc. We cousins had free rein in that store and best of all, access to anything on the comic book rack. That's how I got hooked on Marvel and DC heroes. I passed that on to my millennial daughter. She became a professional artist and makes costumes and props seen on shows like The Mandolorian.
PS - if the weather was bad, we'd go on the bus, by ourselves, to the YMCA to play or go to the library. Wilt Chamberlain came to our YMCA to play a summer league tournament game. Talk about 😎.
No, we were NOT neglected. Our parents raised us to be trusted to know how to act at home, at school, and at play. Most of us were raised with the same do's and don'ts. If we were underfoot for too long, my father would tease us and say, 'Go play on such and such road', and we would laugh and say 'oh Daddy' . . .❤
Speaking for myself never really felt neglected. The times when adults weren’t around supervising and protecting were by far the most fun times. No lie. We didn’t feel afraid or in danger and when we did we felt confident we were capable of handling ourselves most of the time.
children were to be seen and not heard.. lol as long as we didnt get into trouble and we were home by dark we could go anywhere and do anything. We also played a lot of games and stuff together because remember we only had a couple channels on tv so if we didnt like it we (including my parents) played games (scrabble, checkers, chess, dominos, and a bunch of board games like Life and monopoly).. so I dont know that I felt neglected but I would say it was just better to be out having fun with no one to watch to make sure you followed the strict home rules. It was pure freedom. That community pool is just like the ones that I spent growing up (the high dive) and the rocket ship park was the exact design we had at our local park - good memories
Being seen and not heard is why so many people as children suffered silently because they were too afraid to speak up when they should have. And when they did, the adults didn’t believe them or helped them
I believe not in all situations, but in some situations kids being treated as if they were a burden is why some people have mistreated their parents when their parents were older and couldn’t do things for themselves. There is no love between the child and the parent because of what the parent has established from childhood
You don’t show your child love when they need it, don’t expect them to show you love when you need it.
@@mildredpierce4506 I see people treating their elder parents that way with or without those circumstances. Ive seen it from kids that were doted over and given everything. Regardless there is this thing called forgiveness and there is no such thing as the perfect parent, kids dont come with manuals and every generation makes mistakes, 2 wrongs dont make a right. Also it should be noted that you show your kids how to treat you in your twilight yrs. by the way you treat your own parents in their twilight.
7:26 No, there was not a lot of rust in those metal lunchboxes. A lot of kids got a new one each year. Even if there was rust, the food was always wrapped in a sandwich bag, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil. The best part was the little insulated thermos which kept hot chocolate, cold milk, soup, eggnog, or whatever was wanted. The cap became a little cup to pour into. There were also cheaper plastic lunchboxes, but they cracked easily and didn't last long.
For Christmas one year (I was 6 or 7, my brother was 8 or 9) we got our first bikes. I had spent the entire previous summer learning to ride on an adult bike. When we got them, my brother, who had never ridden a bike in his life, jumped on and was immediately riding. Pissed me off.
I appreciated being outside with less supervision. It was preferable to chores, being yelled at nonstop, or beatings in the house. My favorite thing was spending time at my Silent Generation grandparents’ house; that’s where I got “spoiled” according to my Boomer parents. They doted on me, listened to me, taught me life skills, & made great meals.
Otherwise, I loved swimming at local pools & lakes all day into the night. I climbed trees, roller skated around the neighborhood, caught fireflies (lightning bugs), jumped off the neighbors’ roof, had water balloon fights, & even carried my art supplies outside to draw all day. We even got a trampoline by the mid ‘80’s.
Nope, never felt neglected or lest loved!! Those were the best times of my life!
As a baby boomer and someone who grew up in the 60s and 70s it wasn't that our parents didn't want us around, they just wanted us to go outside and play rather than sit around inside the house where we'd probably just get bored anyway. we DID not feel neglected, it's just the way it was back then.
No Water parks, we just went to one of the nearby lakes/ponds; not really any playgrounds, we went into the woods
Lol -- My friends and I swam in the run-off ditch after a big rain.
I have to say that I did not feel neglected by going out and hanging with my friends. We got to develop differently. There are some things for sure that needed improving upon, and newer gens try to do that. Problem is that some gens were over protected (helicopter parents) from life exploring and growing to be self sufficient. Over coddled perhaps. It's about balance really. Many now use their phones to avoid talking to someone passing in the corridors or in the elevator. We had to say hello and smile.
Not neglect, a mixture of freedom and trust from your parents that you could be out there on your own and come back home whole and healthy.
Not neglected, the news remembered us every night then reminded our parents.
It's ten o'clock, do you know where your kids are?
I was a late boomer teen in the mid 70s, so my parents were the Silent Generation. My mom didn't work, but I was in and out of the house all day and she knew where I was or where I was going, so I didn't feel neglected at all. But we did have a lot more freedom to come and go as we pleased and do what we wanted without parental supervision.
It was considered unhealthy to sit around inside all day; go outside, run around, burn off all your energy, get some vitamin D. My mother would definitely say “go outside before I find something for you to do” so I literally laughed out loud at that part 😂. (But that’s because we kids would be complaining about boredom.. remember, no smart phones nor X boxes).
No internet (though its early form did exist), no cell phones, no social media and in the UK, only three terrestrial TV channels....heaven!!!. Long summer holidays, UK summer of '76 was a scorcher, 6 weeks school holidays, a lot of fun outside on our bikes, climbing trees, swimming in a local river (with our parents), seaside visits although swimming in the sea post 1975 was scary thanks to Mr Spielberg.... Tom Baker was Dr Who & some little sci fi movie called Star Wars opened....Childhood soundtrack by Queen, Abba. I miss those days.
Definitely left some skin on slides. I live a bit more rural, no pools but plenty of lakes! Owned a schwinn as well! 😂
My first date was at a rollar rink. We were allowed to hold hands during slow songs, played team foosball, and our gourmet meal was nachos and a coke. Saturday nights in middle school.😊
I was born in 1969... so, I had a 100% 70's childhood. This was an incredidly ACCURATE picture of life for my siblings, friends and I growing up in San Diego (and a cpl yrs in Indiana). I had a pink Freespirit Banana Seat Bike from Sears with a white seat, handlebar grips, and pink grip tassles. I don't feel our parents "negleted" us... they raised us very similar to how they were raised. Parents rightly didn't feel it was their job to have to entertain us, and just sitting around the house doing nothing wasn't acceptable. You either went out and played or you helped do chores if you wanted to stay home... Playing was obviously the preferred option. And it's not like "having to play" was torture... we had a flippin blast. It kept us healthy and strong, childhood obesity was practically non-existant. And being out in the world, playing with other kids, doing things for ourselves without parents hovering over us 24/7... it's what made us who we are and gave us the traits that define our generation... We learned diplomacy, independence, self reliance, etc. It made us tuff and resilient physically and mentally. We weren't left to run completely wild without guidelines, there were rules and expectations about our actions and behavior that we were very aware society and our parents had for us... I think the HUGE difference between then and now is accountability and consequences... Our parents gave us their trust, and the ability to prove that we were worthy of that trust, but if we broke it there would 100% be consequences and we knew it... Most often that was something like a wooden paddle, or dads leather belt on our rears and getting grounded... followed by a period of having to EARN their trust back. KNOWING there would be consequences helped to keep us in line. Of course the majority of us still did things we knew we shouldn't, that's just part of being a kid and the learning process, but we also knew and accepted that there would be consequences if we got caught... It at least made us stop and think... would it still be worth it even if mom and dad found out? Anyway, I don't feel we were neglected. We were simply allowed to be kids, to create our own triumps, make mistakes, test our limits, get hurt and learn invaluable life lessons while we did . Parents didn't schedule, direct, and dictate every moment of their childs lives or let us sit around in front of a TV for hours playing games or watching shows (except Saturday morning cartoons). Childhood obesity and depression/mental health have become epidemics. Those words weren't even part of our vocabulary growing up... so rare as to be virtually non-existent. The way children grow up today is so terribly sad and having such a detrimental effect on their physical and mental health. The way we grew up may seem shocking to younger people because it's so foriegn, but the freedom simply to play, make choices and mistakes, build relationships with our peers (our friends were everything, literal blood brothers and sisters...ride or die) without parental interference or meddling... All experience and experiences necessary for growing into a capable, accountable, functioning adult.
@@misslora3896 well written
💞
💯
Our parents wanted us to get out and get some fresh air and exercise, socialise and get some independence. If we did stay home we had to help cook and clean, or go out and do yard work!
My son says I suffered child abuse lol I say it’s what made me who I am…strong, fearless, and capable just to name a few… times have changed, we were told not to go to the man in the van offering candy…now we are full of human traffickers stalking kids to abduct…
My parents let me off at the roller rink on Friday evenings for 4 hours with $2 and I had the time of my life!
I always wanted to dance on a disco floor. The kind that lit up under your feet.. in different designs? But once I grew old enough.. they were all gone. So young lad.. imagine everything you're growing up with now is gone by the time you're 50.. nothing looks the same or is familiar to you, even though it's the same place. It's a surreal experience, I assure you.. you too will experience it. :)
OH yea most definitely it is a pretty horrible thing **Sigh**
Drank from water fountains in public parks, lead rusty pipes.refreshing
Yes, my sister and I were definitely neglected. being tough and self-sufficient came at a price
I am a 70's kid, and was raised by Silent Generation parents, so their scarcity trauma had them prioritizing work and understanding that kids have a bit of resiliency. Parenting "skills" wasn't really a thing. Are your kids alive? Great! Even though I didn't get that soft parenting and my emotional needs weren't met, I knew I wasn't neglected and that I was cared for because my parents worked hard to keep up taken care of. Plus I was raised in a neighborhood where all the kids played outside and all the adults served as second parents. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't that totally neglected vibe some gen x'ers experienced.
i live in Serbia...kids here still go out to play with friends unsupervised. it is safe
My parents were not from the boomer generation they were from the silent generation. We played together with our neighbours and got into mischief that is tame by today’s standards. I did stuff with my mum and one day during the summer she took me and my neighbours kids on the train to the museum in Toronto.
My friends and I used to play in those half built new built houses when I was a kid after the workmen left for the day.
My local roller rink is a bingo hall now.
❤
Everything that you enjoy today is what we created for your generation
We were not neglected, but we weren't coddled and we had freedom to make choices and learn from experience. Safety standards were different, true, but we didn't need to be told not to stick a fork into an electrical socket (we either learned not to do that after the first time OR we learned from one of our siblings or friends, lol).
roller rinks and bowling alleys were favorite places for birthday parties when I was a kid and for my kids through the 80s and early 90s
That was kind of a sweet video. I'm so glad that I grew up when I did. My Dad once said that his goal was to get my sister and me to be independent ie able to take of ourselves and support ourselves. There were lots of expectations regarding behavior, chores, and schoolwork but also tremdous freedom. No one worried about kids. They expected them to play hard and get scraped knees, not be watched every minute and roam around the neighborhood in a pack. Later generations wanted their kids to be "Happy" and then "Fulfilled". I think independent was a better goal. I was born at the end of the Baby Boom. 🙂 Kool Aid contained two scoops of sugar BTW. No one worried about kids being amped up on sugar.
No neglect.. we were loved .. but we were raised DIFFERENT! as, for skating rinks, there are still a few around... my now 40-year-old son @ 16 met a15-year-old girl at the staking rink, and I have a 24-year-old grandson as proof
back then obesity was rare and drinking out of the hose was just like drinking out of the tap.
It was hard to be obese because we were always running around, riding bikes, doing sports.
I was going to mention how much healthier the kids in this video look. No hover craft parents back in those days thank goodness. Definitely grew up self reliant.
@@judithermer7969 very self reliant, the days when we were taught something by parents and schools.
@@yms1974 you are 💯 correct we were also taught respect.
Very few overweight people in the videos
The drinking out of the hose was real, but like he said it wasn’t first choice. If we were playing on our block we’d go inside our homes a grab something from the fridge. If we were near a park, school, store, we’d using the drinking fountains. The water hose was for when there wasn’t anything else nearby 🚿
Certainly not neglected. Our parents gave us a lot of personal agency. They didn't hover, but they still had an important presence in our lives, it was usually just in the evenings. They wanted us to go outside because 1. They needed time for themselves, 2. There really wasn't much to do indoors (That's what made getting grounded such a dreaded punishment...one I knew all too well since I screwed up at school a lot), and 3. Going outside was good for us. Exercise, social skills, and vitamin D. If we stayed inside all the time we'd be sickly, antisocial and just plain weird...Kinda explains a lot these days huh?
God I miss playing Ghost in the Graveyard... 😞
Yes we met boys at the rink, we used our local rink mostly in the winter when it was too cold to be outside. I still have a set of lawn Jarts that get used once a yr at at family picnics. Wish I could live those years again, kids today are missing out on so many fun learning experiences, it makes me sad to see that.
It was not neglect. My parents ALWAYS knew where I was, and if they did not, I was in trouble. Freedom does not make neglect. We did not have to have our parents up our ass 24 hrs. a day. We did stuff together, but we also were allowed to live and make choices. That is why we have "safe spaces" now. We learned to win and lose. We learned about real life, and how to deal with other people. We grew strong relationships with our friends. We learned that life was not always fair. Pampering a child and keeping them from all hurt and pain will not prepare them for real adult life. I think Gen Z could learn a lot from Boom/GenZ'ers.
I was 13 in 1970. I grew up in East Hampton. My family has been there since the 1700s. Spent summer at the ocean and bay. Mom dropped us a the ocean at 9am and picked us up at 5pm. My younger sister and I were never home. I had a purple glitter stingray bike. That decade was phenominal music. There is a 2 column very long list of albums released in 1976. Life was simpler then. People actually talked to each other. We had a very high metal slide at the school. We rubbed wax paper on it, makes it slippery and fast. 😊
Saying we did things in person has to be included because young people see things so different. I once invited my nephew to go out back and play basketball. He responded with confusion because he didn't know where we were going to plug in the computer and screen.
He lived in a complex with a basketball court and yet the idea of actually using a physical ball and throwing it in a physical basket was foreign to him. That was 15 years ago. It must be even more foreign now.
Sunscreen? I think not. We slathered on the baby oil and baked away in the sun. Yep... had to leave the house for the day... told to "go out and play"! No sitting in your room or around the house all day. Still rollarskating all these years later.
This is all true and yet we did not have to be told "Do not do this at home" . An example is the manual for cars use to tell how to fix stuff on the cars now it says stuff like not drinking the battery acid and pizza boxes saying open box before opening. okay stopping now before I get on my soap box.
Sliding on your sweater or jacket could equal some serious mph😂
Our parents didn't hover but, all the moms in the neighborhood watched and called our parents if necessary.
10:12 ... the public pool, the roller skating rink, the video arcade, and the park w/playground, were the social meeting places for kids looking for something to do, and girls to show off to!
the only rule when i grew up in the UK 70's was stay out of trouble. as soon as i learned to ride without stabilisers i was off exploring. roads were much quieter though
A lot of your videos are US based and the UK experience was a little different. However, bikes were king, we got chucked out of the house frequently (or chucked in the garden: "I've got stuff to do indoors, go outside; it's raining? Sit in the greenhouse!").
Also, you live in London (as do I, best city EVER), but outside of the city, bikes remain a big thing even today.
A bike landing on you would crack a rib at worst. Usually it would just be like a punch in the gut with no lasting damage. The kid on the bike would be most likely to get hurt if they failed the jump. He would end up with a scrape on an elbow or knee, or on rare occasions a broken arm.
I grew up in Australia 🇦🇺 in the 70’s. I used to get paid to watch neighbourhood kid’s babysitting I was 12!, 🤣🤣 grew up with disco nights (Saturday night fever music), going to local hall for dancing and music, met first boyfriend there. I would cook and clean as I was eldest daughter , my mum worked nights, my dad pool plastere in Aussie scorching sun ☀️ at 13 I was allowed to date an 18 year old and he had a panel van and we would go to the drive inns
You asked about bike hierarchy, you see that one bike out of 20 with the metal basket, whoever owned that bike was ruler of all 😂
I loved roller skating and ice skating! I'm 65 now and smiling at the funn I had, From marching in the scool band to summer camps. Yes even spraying my ankle riding my brother banana bike trying to make a jump while skipping school lol No I didn't get into skipping because I had to use cruhesfor two weeks too get around lol. Thank you for the trip down memory lane! Oh by the way the water out of a hose tated nasty.
I'm very late Gen X. By modern standards, we were very much neglected. We never really felt that way. I really miss going somewhere, quite close, and nobody you know being able to contact you.
We were not neglected. We were given autonomy and allowed to explore and make our own decisions based on the lessons taught by our parents. Sometimes we did something that got us into trouble, but we learned from it and, usually, didn't do it again... LOL! As a generation, it seems we had a lot of common sense. No, we wouldn't slide down a metal slide that was 140 degrees... on our bare skin. We'd put our shirt down and slide on it or hose it down to cool it off first or.... the point is, we used our heads to figure out a way to do things without getting hurt. Again, learning through exploration.
I was a teen in the 70s. The younger kids did run the neighborhood. The older kids were in the basement of the cool parents house watching movies or listening to music or getting high. If you had a job you were the one being mooched of of to finance the shit.
Kids built things inside back then, too.
The video glossed over indoor things like Lego.
Sure, we didn't really have pre-designed sets, just blocks of various sizes, so it's a lot more like Minecraft than you'd think.
We had legos for sure. And etch a sketch. I was shaking the etch a sketch and my big sis walked too close and I smacked her in the eye with it. And light brights and twister.
@@Danceofmasks I spent alot of time with my light bright, colouring and painting, and listening to music always 😍
Indoor forts using the couch cushions!
Also, tons of Lego and playsets and Star Wars toys!
We also built our own periscopes, slingshots, etc.
@@johnw8578 We used my mom's clothes line and made forts too. Also did the indoor forts too. Rainy days I curled up with books.
@@johnw8578 We invented so many things to entertain ourselves. Heres one for ya : Lg carboard boxes in the basement made into a spacecraft with control boards . A hole cut out for viewing outer space and different drawn pictures of planets and aliens we could switch out. The control panels were lit by twinkle Christmas tree lights poked through the cardboard from the backside. Beam me up Scotty ! Mom wasnt happy that the lights werent working for the tree that next Christmas though. These are things we did in the winter when it was to cold outside ( rare ) as we even built igloos when the snow was enough no matter how cold it was. Neighborhood snowball fights and sledding.
lol! 😂Don’t be a hater 😂 It was an awesome time! We weren’t neglected we were just free to learn and grow independently. It was a much safer time and everybody knew each other!
We had slip and slides and the sprinklers to play in.
I was a kid in NZ in the 1970s, learned to swim in the river, walked with my cousins for miles exploring, biked a long way to school with the other neighbourhood kids. My siblings and I couldn't wait to get out of the house. If we stayed at home, mum would make us do extra horrible jobs like weeding the garden (with bare hands, no tools). Felt free and grew confidence, even though I was terribly shy. never felt neglected
Kids were NOT neglected . They were learning self reliance by using their brain.
5:44 I had a bike just like that, with a cool "motorcycle seat" and plastic fenders.
I love that you take the time to learn about different things!
Some of the boomers were kids in the seventies. I was 16-17 in 1970. My sister, still a boomer 10-11 at that time.
❤Sending support, love, and kindness from Lexington, MI, USA.
Pink Huffy bikes were the best! 💗
I was between 9 and 19 in the ‘70s so I had many different summers!
I had the Huffy when I was 8! 😂😂😂
So much truth in these clips. Thanks for taking us down memory lane. Life presented different kinds of danger and excitement. If you grew up in the 70's you are a Boomer. Our parent's generation is called the Silent Generation. #Flexer
Gen X grew up in the 70s too. My mum was a boomer. Her parents were the greatest generation.
Actually, it was the opposite, kids when I grew (not the 70's, the 80's) loved their freedom and being out with friends and goofing around. Especially the summer, there wasn't all this tech to tie you down. You found ways to have fun. Also, the parents didn't neglect they want you out running around and have fun. Geesh, you were locked up in a school for 9 months. Plus, we always took summer trips as a family.
I know you arewatching the American version of back in the day. But from a UK point of view, it's excatly the same. And yeah, Your bike was the most treasured possession!