Aibu to think that actually, children haven't changed at all?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

I was having a conversation with some women the other day about games we used to play at school. Skipping etc. and they all started saying how kids today aren't interested in proper games, only mobile phones, iPads and computer games.

I was also having a conversation the other day with a childcare worker regarding an incident where a child had deliberately hurt another child. She was saying how 'kids today', aren't the same and how they aren't like 5 and 6 year olds anymore.

I find these opinions really sad as I actually don't think that children have changed at all.

From my experience of my 6 year old, he's always been just as happy to play traditional games as I ever was. Yes ok, there are more gadgets, more tv channels, but ultimately I don't provide him with lots of gadgets, and he's quite happy to draw, plays shops, read a book, play in the park, he makes things, digs for treasure, and I'm sure that he's no exception.

It seems that some people are almost putting children down as mini unsociable teenagers whereas I believe most children would still opt for a picnic in the park or an afternoon making cakes than a day with the iPad.

Do you reckon sex should be kept entirely secret and away from children then Dilligaf? And if so, until what age?

Children stay the same. Culture changes.

The flip side of being more sexually aware and rude is that children are less sheltered and more able to speak up for themselves. Sexism, racism, classism and abuse were the dark side of unquestioning obedience.

Thinking about it I live very near a large sixth form college and all the teenagers I come across (e.g. in local Tescos at lunchtime) are very, very polite, so I am not convinced that there has been an outbreak of youthful rudeness.

I think some people just see what they want to see and use the excuse of "kids today" to complain about children when actually the kids of today are not much different! yes they are more tech savvy than i was as a child, but then i was better with new tech as a child than my parents were. but the same things that amused me as a child will amuse my little boy.

My almost 6 yr ds is quite happy to play on the ipad/iphone, watch tv, play on the laptop etc!! But i can guarantee that if i said lets go for a walk to the park and you can take your bike all tech will be forgotten as he runs to put his boots on!! He loves playing games with people - especially random games that he has made up himself (including a weird game of tig that meant you couldn't get tagged if you were spinning in a circle - i was almost sick!) Just yesterday he was sat in his room playing with lego creating weird objects and building a very "unique" looking town!! but it's great to see him use his imgaination in that way!!

monster - part of it is a change in perspective I think. When you're a teen yourself you don't really notice rudeness in other teens, in fact much of the behaviour of your peers that adults deem "rude" seems ok to a teen. Then, as you get older you have different standards and expectations so behaviour that once would have barely registered starts to bother you and rather than thinking "I've changed, I'm getting older and more crabby " people automatically think "the world's changed."

I work and volunteer with age groups from 7 to 18, and don't think there's been a core shift in what children are like. I don't think any generation is better or worse than another.

There are some shifts like a loss of independence, not just about playing out, but learning life skills like helping in the house. Childhood is more managed and less spontaneous. The average age of puberty has shifted a little earlier so there is an earlier startto the teenage phase. I don't think that leads to a great difference in outcome by age 25 though.

Dillliga It wasn't normal to have the open conversations about sex and sexual behaviour

It was when I was a child- the boys in my very mc primary school in the 70s were absolutely sex obsessed. Constant talk of moing, dryhumping each other, games of wank biscuit, the girls were less physical, but it was a big, probably one of the main topics of conversation.

I dread to think what we would have got up to with snapchat etc, but as far as I can see it's a question of the technology facilitating the interest rather than creating it iyswim.

I agree that children aren't nearly as independent now as a generation or two ago, which means they also aren't as responsible in some ways. When I was a kid in the 70s it wasn't unusual, from the age of about 9, to be sent up to the shops on your own to get some messages. I used to go to school 4 miles away by public transport without an adult from the age of 7. I was helping with the ironing from the age of about 10. By the age of 14 I was regularly babysitting for neighbours' children and several of my friends had jobs in shops and cafes (which would be against the law now).

As a result we knew a bit more about taking care of ourselves than children today.

I think children are less respectful towards adults and more sophisticated s.d mollycoddled than they were when i was growing up in the 70s

I think writtenGuarentee has the answer. Every generation thinks the younger one is lazy and spoiled and "different" to how they were. There's even a quote by Plato (I think) about how the youth of his time were a rude and useless bunch.

It's true that each successive generation is influenced by technological advances, a rise in the standard of living (I'm speaking very generally here) and changes in society but the essential nature of children hasn't altered.

Not convinced that children are really less independent once they get to 16/18. They are more likely to study than work but also more likely to travel abroad alone and study away from home. Cars mean children are less likely to play on streets but access to cars makes people more independent. The world has changed, not children.