To wonder when everything changed to be in favour of children.

[Pipbin]

Stands back and prepares for a flaming.

When I was little, in the 70s, children were seen as being a pain. Children weren't allowed in pubs and rarely seen in restaurants. If there were 4 seats and 5 people a child was expected to stand up and let the adults sit down. There was no such thing as soft play. If you were bored then tough shit, deal with it. You could be hit at school and be smacked by your parents. A birthday party was 10 friends a cake and some jelly and ice cream at your house. Children's television was 3 hours a day and Saturday mornings.

Now it seems to be quite the opposite, the needs of a child seem to trump all adult needs. Children are treated with kid gloves at all times. Birthday parties are bigger and better every year.

I'm not saying that the 70s was better, far from it, but has is swung too far? Is this why we now have some people who act so entitled? I'm not saying that either is right, I'm just interested to hear the opinions of others.

Lights blue touch paper and retires to a safe distance.

the 70's were a bit shit though

Eh? Time marches forward. Imagine that. And apparently, people are still bored.

Are these observations from recent threads op?

I've noticed this and do agree with you. But what was wrong with the 70's?

They were shit. As I said, I'm not holding up 70s parenting and society as the bastion of how life should be.

The way children were treated then clearly made it easy for child molesters.

I much prefer children from those days to ones these days.

"If there were 4 seats and 5 people a child was expected to stand up and let the adults sit down. "

Is this not the case any more then? I thought it was and don't recall seeing children sitting anywhere while adults stand. Are we talking about buses and trains and things?

My dad was very much a seventies parent in attitudes. I'm fairly certain my DS is happier, feels more loved though than I felt and still not an "entitled little brat".

There's a balance to being treated as less important than everyone else and being treated as the most important person in the world.

Treat children as people.

The seventies were fabulous. That is all I have to say.

God, weren't they, gordy? I remember how smoky everything was. And how backwards. So glad that's in the past, as well as it's being acceptable to be so sexist, to drive drunk, to have outdoor toilets and no showers, etc etc

Depends on the parents, and as a 70's child I can honestly say I'm pleased I was a kid then rather than now but that could be because of the changes in the area I've lived in & around since then.

It depends where/who you are.

I don't take my children to pubs.
I'd expect them to give up their seat for an adult and sit in the floor.
Our lives are obviously organised to incorporate our lovely children but not any more than my DPs' lives were in the 70s
They have birthday parties very like mine were growing up.

On the other hand they have more toys that I did because toys are cheaper and both their parents and GPs have more disposable income than my DPs had.
They watch more TV but then there wasn't children's TV on all the time when we were small.

BTW soft play isn't compulsory. Ours only go if they've been invited to a party. I like parks when it is dry and museums when it is wet.

I agree with the previous poster who has said that those attitudes certainly made things easier for the (systematic) abuse of children to take place.
The increase in awareness of the rights of children (to not be abused by adults) has taken place alongside the increased recognition of the injustices of sexism and racism - that is, the chipping away of the privileges of one group to hold unjust power over a number of groups if others.
OP, I think your nostalgia for a time Shen people could abuse others (even if only a little but) because those others weren't seen as fully human ( like children - not quite "big " enough to be proper humans) is a little misplaced.

I don't take my kids to pubs, either. But then, I don't go to pubs except maybe once or twice a year and certainly wouldn't put up with a partner who spent loads of time in them.

Its called progress. People seek to improve their lives and bit by bit conditions, facilities, opportunities improve. With each generation life (in general) should be easier/more comfortable based on what we've learned from the past.

It isnt right that children were hit in school. It is right that this has stopped. This is an improvement. Completely and entirely.

Yes, and the Edwardians had much better ideas about child-rearing too, didn't they?

I was born in 1973 and I was treated pretty much the same way I treat my children. I've tried to teach them that manners and being polite are more important than having everything handed to them on a plate (which I can't afford anyway) but my parents also believed in actually listening to me and my siblings and taking our thoughts and feelings on board because we were people too, albeit smaller ones.

I'm getting really tired of all this 'kids are such entitled brats these days' crap. Erm, no they're really not. Many parents on the other hand don't seem to notice what's going on around them. Yesterday a woman got on the bus with too small children and a pushchair. The youngest child (about 3) proceeded to climb all over the luggage area at the front of the bus, while the bus travelled at speed, and looked like he was going to fall on his head at any minute. It took his Mum bloody ages to realised that just telling him to sit down wasn't doing any good and she eventually put him in his pushchair.

Who was at fault there for letting him climb like that? Was it the little boy's fault? Of course not. It was his Mum's responsibility to ensure he was safe. It's not fair to bang on about children not giving up seats, etc, when they've obviously not been taught about these things.

If people have problem, take it up with the parents - or is it just easier to pick on those who are smaller and weaker and less likely to put up a fight?

I agree with thecat

And I missed the legislation saying parents couldn't have a birthday party with 20 kids and jelly. Or that you are not allowed to teach your child what you consider to be your code of morality and socially acceptable behaviour.

I'm not saying that the 70s were better. Nor am I nostalgic for them. I'm just observing the change.

I'm quite aware of progress thank you, but not all change is progress.

I was 6 in 1970 and had already been in hospital loads of times for surgeries and would have many more during the 70's. The most appalling thing about that time is that parents were completely discouraged from being with their children at any point apart from strict visiting hours. Certainly my mum was never ever allowed to accompany me to the operating theatre or be waiting afterwards/ It was bloody horrific. I cry every time I see programmes about kids hospital s and watch their mummy's carrying them in and being with them overnight etc.

I also suspect that A LOT of the rise of the "visibility" of children has to do with the increase of women's status, and thus the status of mothers.
My suspicion is that things such as pubs becoming "family friendly" has a lot to do with the welcoming of women's earnings and the decline of women-excluding "public" spaces (how can a space be public if it excluded females? And yet many did).

sovery

That's just nonsense. I grew up in a very poor area and so everyone was in the same boat but when I got to secondary school I encountered some very spoilt children who were given things just for the sake of it.

Otherwise you're saying that all children lived the same life in the 1970s and that simply isn't the case.

People really need to take their rose-tinted glasses off - plenty of adults in the 70s also thought it was ok to wallop someone else's child - should we bring that back too?

You just didn't get bought stuff for the sake of it and I can't think of anyone who had the amount of stuff that kids have now. And clothes - we just wore clothes. We never gave a second thought about what type of clothes we wore till we were teens.

Youve just described my children aged 9 and 5. Nothing to do with when they were brought up and everything to do with how they were brought up.

Kids were less likely to be obese 'back then'

Look at how progress is causing a massive problem health wise. A mixture of fast food and inactivity. Can't see it improving anytime soon either

We are still a long way from the family friendly society we could be. I don't think a child sitting or having an opinion is necessarily bad. Teaching children that they are someone of worth is far better than my mums parenting of polite, passive, obedient, non opinionated girls.