Did children in the 50s and 60s have more freedom?

[Hildegard25]

Hello everyone, this is my first post so I hope I've got things right.

I just wanted to compare my childhood to what you all might be experiencing today with your children, or indeed with your own childhood if you grew up in a different era to mine.

Or maybe your view of the 50's and 60's if you grew up then, concurs with mine, or not.

Us children in the 50's and '60s roamed freely — riding bikes across town, playing in parks, and staying out well past dark without parents tracking our every move.

There were no cell phones to check in with, and intense parenting had not been invented yet. We were expected to figure things out on our own.

That sense of community trust and outdoor freedom shaped our entire generation, or at least it did mine.

Many of us who grew up in the 50's and 60's describe those unstructured hours outside as the best part of our childhood.

Is that something today's kids rarely experience in quite the same way, or am I being nostalgic over my seemingly idyll childhood?.

I was born in 1957 so my childhood was effectively the 1960's. Yes, of course we had more freedom. There was nothing much of any interest to keep us in the house. It was boring. Besides, parents heavily discouraged it. There was one television in the sitting room which was very much for "family" viewing. Although I did watch children's TV such as Blue Peter, Dr Who and Jackanory. Radio was more important then and my Mum had it on all the time whilst she did her housework, washing and ironing etc. Kids only really came in to eat tea and were straight back out again. We'd go and call on each other to play from around the age of 6 and we'd make dens in the fields or ride our bikes in the street. Your parents didn't try to "understand" you. You just got on with it. I don't think any of us even thought about it.

Mums didn't go to work. If you did something like graze your knee or shit your pants mum was always there to either clean you up or cuff you round the lughole and your freedom curtailed for a while if you'd been naughty. I remember a policeman being murdered and it seemed as though the whole country was in shock.

60’s London childhood. Hardly any cars so we could roam safely. Cycled, played out all the time. There were always other children to play with on the street: hopscotch, French skipping, 2 balls, tag. It was wonderful. I would hate to be a child today with all the adult supervision.

I can't quite believe that this is a genuine post.

Did children have more freedom in the past, compared to today's children?

That's surely not a genuine question for anyone is it? It's extremely well documented.

I was born in late 70s and had freedom to play out when I wanted.

It is completely untrue that mothers didn't work!

The introduction of women's and children's rights, and huge advances in medical science have greatly improved modern life

Yes we did, I was a child in the 60s and could play out all day at the park or up the fields

I grew up in the 80s and 90s. I would leave the house at age 6 and be off for the day roaming about with other kids. I could go down to the river and build a raft, make a dam, climb trees. It was brilliant and I hate the fact my DC are so hedged in. Yes I could let them do those things but there aren't many other parents who would do so so they'd be on their own.

Born '47, grew up in North Yorkshire, had a pony, I used to go out for hours at a time, so much freedom then. My children spent some of their chain York, then we moved to SW London. When DS was about 12 or 13 he would go into central London with friends, I think because I'd had so much freedom as a child, I didn't worry. They were both young before mobile phones.

Born early 60s lived semi-rurally. Out dawn til dusk, on bikes, den building, off to the river. There was nothing much to do in doors and no space. Traffic was very light and there were never cars parked on the street so visibility was good crossing the roads. I notice kids/teens take over the living area of houses now in a way we would never have dreamed of. It was outside or crammed into your bedroom. I miss those pre-smart phone/device days. I don't miss all the smacking though.

Then 80s-90s, I miss travel and living overseas as it was Before. When you couldn't get so much info ahead of time, couldn't just call home, couldn't just look everything up. 'The ancient travel accounts will some day be as precious as the greatest works of art; for the earth was holy when unknown, and it will never be that again.' Elia Canetti.

I remember travelling late 60's. The only communication I had with home was by air mail and that took weeks

It will have depended on the parents as well, and possibly if you were a girl/boy! Even as a teenager in the 60s my DM was only allowed to go the local playing field, the local row of shops, and school volleyball training/matches. Her dad was a policemen and over protective/assumed the worst a lot - I think my uncle got more freedom because he was a boy.

Very much so.

i was a kid in the 80s and roamed very wide. My parents grew up in London and ditto - my dad wrote a short thing on his time as a kid and he walked so many places!

I did try with my kids - we walked to infants across the fields (a mile) and when they went to juniors (different school) we cycled together and then in year 5 they cycled together but with no adults and a brick phone.

they tell me now that cycling back home and stopping to get an ice cream/play at the playground for a bit was wonderful. I cycled to work the other way and was home in time to meet them by about 4.

their friends often lived in different villages so that was usually a car ride. For secondary they went by train and I dropped them at the station and they’d text me when on their way home and I’d leave work then (teacher) to pick them up and finish marking/prep at home.

lots of kids at their school got the train so it was a very friendly experience. Probably not so much for the poor adults!

In the summer we went out of the door in the morning and just came back when we were hungry. We would round up a gang of mates and go to the rec, or play in one of our gardens.

Grew up in the 60s.
Yes we roamed. My parents had no idea where we were.I walked alone to primary school and was accosted more than once.
We were left home alone when parents were at work and expected to do most of the cooking and cleaning from age 10.
They even left us to go on holiday when I was 15.

I grew up in the 60’s. I was walking to school with a friend at 5 years. We had road safety drilled into us but the roads weren’t as busy then. I was more wary of stray dogs than strange men. In the school holidays we’d call for friends and either play at their’s or wander about. You’d know all the kids of varying ages in the street. There was more open ground to explore then. Still lots of bombed out houses as we lived near steelworks. We’d go to the park by ourselves - might shout to our mums we were going.

Dinner was at 12, tea was at 5 so we knew when to go home.

Totally unsupervised we made dens, dared each other to jump off high walls, roller skated, played ball games or skipping, hide and seek etc. Didn’t cost a penny but mum would let us have a few pennies for sweets if we nipped to the corner shop for her

90s baby
but raised by Nan - very strict, did lots of chores daily, had a paper round and babysit lots of the children in the estate from year 7. Had three toys for Xmas, 1 for birthdays. Birthday party was my nans friend and I could have one friend over and she would do a buffet. Never chose anything on the tv, never spoke back as I would get the slipper BUT was allowed to roam the streets, play in parks, sleep at friends houses, disappear all day and come home once it was getting dark and is eat my dinner cold or from the microwave. She cooked fresh every day, made me practice piano an hour a day, I was literally never ill, the house was immaculate, she didn’t ground me but she physically disciplined me. I never felt depressed or not loved ever and despite her running a tight ship she gave me so much freedom. Maybe the punishments were a bit too physical but they worked. I have a PHD and I quite my ‘big job’ when I had children and now work from home teaching piano so I can be there for my children. So I’d say I had a free childhood and it suited me

Child of the 70s & 80s (I’m doing that annoying thing of extending the question to include me!)

We had so much freedom. All the local kids lived their lives outside, in the parks, visiting the local shops, hanging out in each others houses. My parents did make more attempts than most to vaguely know where we were (they rarely knew where we actually were) which I thought was outrageous.

Oddly my mother growing up in the 50s had much less freedom as she was expected to be the dutiful daughter helping with chores and younger siblings at home. She would have been in so much trouble if she’d wandered off for hours and left her mother to deal with everything.

Not sure what happened to Gen X (my Gen) and Millennials when we became parents. My DD often calls out the hypocrisy!

The big reason for the difference from now and the 60s/70s is cars.

I raised my kids in the Netherlands and they did have a lot more freedom there than British kids would. I don't want to overstate it or idealise it, the Netherlands isn't a paradise, but its far more normalised to let children walk/bike to school from a young age, go quite far with their friends etc. And because it's normal there are lots of kids out and people are aware of them. I wouldn't let my child play out by themselves regularly if no one else did. It would send signals they were less cared for and make them a target. When it's normalised it's safer.

The really big turning point was the 1970s. That's when cars became much more common and the deaths of children hit by cars shot up. If you look at the statistics it then stabilised in most places but for the UK/America that happened because children/parents changed their behaviour. Children learned road safety and parents trusted their children outside less. People wouldn't let their young child walk to school if it meant crossing several busy roads. That also happened to a degree in the Netherlands but there was also a massive "stop the child murder" campaign against cars that did lead to pedestrian and cyclists safety and free movement being prioritised over car drivers convenience.

There are lots of charts/statistics you can.find to support this. But basically as car driving increased children's freedom decreased.

I was born in 1964. My 70s childhood was fabulous. We roamed for miles, rode our bikes all over, went on the bus to the main town to Saturday morning pictures, built camps in wooded areas, all sorts of things. During the summer holidays we quite literally said bye to our parents and off we went for hours at a time. A lot of these activities took place when I was under 12. I walked to and from School (albeit with my younger sister) from aged 7. It was a 30 minute walk, involving several roads. However it was not traffic heavy and the busiest road nearest the school had a Lollypop lady. I was in the Brownies though and had a 2p in my pocket to use the public phone if needed (although I also knew how to reverse the charges). I grew up in one of the largest (and later somewhat infamous/notorious) Council Estates in Oxford.

Born in the 60s.
Aged 6 or 7, walked to school alone (along footpaths and playing fields) because mum went to work
By 10 or 11, roamed the countryside with friends for full days, building dens, climbing haystacks etc.
By 17, interrailing with a friend around Europe with no fixed plan or accommodation sleeping in stations and under bridges. My parents told me not to ring home because they'd think something was wrong

I was always well-cared for and loved enormously.

I was not allowed out after dark roaming around as a child. I was expected to be at a friends house! Overall we rode bikes, got the bus to swimming after age 11, and just played in fields. Others in towns went to see films and went to parks. We even were trusted to cross the road. My teen years had freedoms too. I think not trusting dc doesn’t set them up for life.

Yes but I never did. Born 1959 but quite happy to be at home playing libraries and post offices. Used to play in the garden with the girl next door. Walked to infant school alone.

I grew up in late 70's &80's . I lived on a main road so there was nowhere to play out or garden. I did live next door to a rec ground but didnt go there because a girl 8younger than me got molested there. At night there were gangs there. I don't recognise this childhood people speak of. My mum worked FT and we were left alone all day.

This brings back so many memories. Walking to school alone once in juniors (2 miles). Before I’d sometimes be driven or walk with my sister who finished juniors when I started.

Dens were a huge thing. Probably from children’s TV but we always had fanciful ideas about creating our dens and leaving secret messages - although usually they were just a large hole in the parks’ boundary bushes or a particularly well hidden willow tree, or for a while we had a large one within a huge clump of multiple pampas grass plants in the ornamental part of our park. Running from the park keeper was a common escapade.