To ask if anyone has given their DCs an “old fashioned childhood”?

No tablets here. DC got phones the summer before secondary. I would have been happy to delay it further, but school uses lots apps. DS walked to and from primary himself in y4-6. DD moved to a primary further away so needed a lift. They played out but this dwindled away as their friends became more occupied with Xboxes and (bizarrely) tutoring. It’s really dependent on there being other likeminded families about. But DS started camping with a couple of friends during lockdown and they’ve kept that up which I am very happy about. I am sad that DD has had fewer such experiences.

Same. You need to live in a small town or village to achieve it nowadays I think.

No.

I don’t smack. They will go to school and not be ridiculed by teachers (I hope) if ND. If one or both are gay they can come out and not be scared to. They can have partners from a different cultural heritage than theirs. I’ll stick with 2024.

We moved to Northumberland to a village near Hexham. The kids still have screens but they are in and out of neighbours houses all the time and play on nearby farms in and local woods.
This afternoon they watched ghost busters on terrestrial tv - pretty retro in my book.

The helping out with parents is the bit I really value. I changed jobs a couple of years ago, to work in a plant nursery, and one of the nicest things is that I can bring my DD into work and get her helping out. She loves the responsibility of it, and I think it's good for her to have exposure to working life, and to practical skills that will stand her in good stead.

I think that sounds amazing . I would hsve loved that for my kids.

No but I love the idea of it a very great deal.

I rather fancy a sort of 50s Enid Blyton childhood really with picnics and adventures and meals of bread and ham and tinned fruit and building resilience.

I might need to think about how to incorporate that a bit more into current RL maybe.

We have in that our kids (12, 10 and 5) have tv at weekends only and no other screens (no tablets, gaming, phones). We also live in a close-knit rural community where they can walk to school at a young age, play with other kids in the woods and generally get plenty of outdoor time.

Tbh though, the limiting factor is other families - if you want your kids to be able to play out with others, you need other local families to be on board. I would say most parents where we are would allow it but if kids have access to screens they often don’t want to play outside.

Not really no, they have grown up consistent with the time they live in. That said screens and parks are not an either or.

Sure, I sent her up the chimney before she could walk.

I am a bit dubious about the romanticisation of 'old-fashioned' things. I am quite happy for DD to use screens, because it's a good thing to be computer literate, and often what's available is entertaining and interesting.

In lots of other ways I do value things that I think are becoming harder for children to access. We live in a village so DD has played out with other children unsupervised since she was 5 (I was very nearby!). Other children will also come knock and ask her if she wants to come out to play, so it feels quite doable. But we are hugely lucky that it is a tiny village.

When I was a child I did things that make my hair stand on end, in retrospect (like free-wheeling our bikes down the massive, hairpin-bend-filled, single-track road where the tractors came and went ... I don't know how we never ended up under their wheels, and more than once we landed in the ditch!). I want to give DD freedom, but mostly I work on teaching her to recognise dangers and deal with them.

Yes I think we managed this. Ds didn’t have any tech until he went to high school. We literally didn’t see any need for it before then. We live on a quiet and safe estate, so he played out with other kids from age of 7. The only rules were, no annoying anyone else, and no leaving the estate.

Hes 15 now and still loves being outdoors. Loves his phone too though!

Sort of I guess, no phones till secondary, no iPads other than on journeys, quite limited TV.

We let them roam about quite young - and saying no phones when they were late primary they could take one of a couple of old Nokias we have. Plus encouraging forest school days and some camping type holidays

Yes, we have this. Semi rural town in Scotland. Large park two minutes away, primary school a five minute walk away. Kids spend summers out for hours with their friends on bikes, scooters, playing football. It has been lovely and we know we are lucky.

Ours have limited screens (usually just in the car) and are allowed tv (DH will sit and watch with them) but our main focus is being outside where we can. We are lucky enough to be able to keep ponies for them so that's a massive focus/way of life and I think my eldest (7) is like me; a city girl with a country heart

My cousins have this. They live on a farm in the Dales. Minimal screen time. Always out helping their Dad. They’re lovely calm confident kids. Seems a very natural life.

Going out to play is a matter of where you live. It happens here as there are lots of families (suburbs) and green spaces so kids can do things like play football without being antisocial.

Screens is a difficult issue but being a good role model and making sure your child rarely sees you on yours will help.

No, we live in central London. I do wish screens weren't a thing, and they get shouted at if they play in the courtyard of our building, which makes me angry.

Ish. We didn't allow a tablet until reception. They used them at school and for practice, so we got one mid reception and limited it to about 4 hours a week. Half of that or more is school work. Mostly spelling and maths practice.

Our child plays out on the green in the culde sac. No cars drive past at all. The key has been living rurally in a small community where all the kids know each other from school, and having access to safe communal space within eyesight of our house.

Didn't find the no small screens thing an issue until school. We just didn't do it and it wasn't needed.