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Original poster

To be pleased children are no longer out from dawn until dusk unsupervised

190 replies

rosediamond · 21/07/2019 09:58

I know some people claim they had a brilliant childhood roaming free but I think for the majority of children growing up prior to the late 90s (maybe?) they were pretty dark times.

I’m pleased that children playing without supervision is rare now.

OP posts:
scott2609 · 21/07/2019 10:11

Not even remotely dark times for me either. The worst thing I can remember happening is falling off my bike and getting a bad cut on my knee.

Living somewhere safe enough to play out for hours on end until I could run home for tea and then back out again until the sun set was one of the single greatest things about my childhood. I have endless memories of cycling, climbing, running, building and of making up games with my friends. I’m certain that hours of playing outdoors no matter the weather made me a much happier and healthier child and also a happier and healthier adult.

I was born in the early 90s and it was pretty unusual for most of my peers even at school to be allowed to play out. It was only really the kids who lived where I did- in a very safe and secure village which was a few miles or so outside of a very busy area, but there was acres of countryside separating the two.

SD1978 · 21/07/2019 10:11

Statistically- stranger abduction have remained the same for the last 50 years- so the increased security hasn't changed these figures. It wasn't any darker in earlier decades....

RubberTreePlant · 21/07/2019 10:13

The DC 'who didn't make it weren't the 'majority' OP.

NinjaInFluffyPJs · 21/07/2019 10:13

Dark times...
Literally no kid in our whole town of 10k people disappeared or died while playing out unsupervised. Even now if something happens there, it's family members...
Used to love freely roaming in nearby forests.

echt · 21/07/2019 10:13

they were pretty dark times

What do you mean, OP?

BookBookBook · 21/07/2019 10:13

I think for the majority of children growing up prior to the late 90s (maybe?) they were pretty dark times.

Was there some huge but curiously unknown plague of child deaths related to unsupervised outdoor play in the Dark Times prior to the 1990s? Hmm

Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 21/07/2019 10:13

I wish I felt confident In allowing my children to roam as free as me and my siblings did. I loved going out on my bike to explore, never knowing what the day might bring or whom you’d meet up with. Only coming back for dinner when the street lights came on. Best times, riding your bike to the nearest friend and moving on to the next if they weren’t in, climbing trees, building dens and massive street game of hide and seek.

NinjaInFluffyPJs · 21/07/2019 10:14

Though I was growing up in 90s. However my mum growing up few decades earlier had the same. If anything happened to the child it was usually family members who did it...

exLtEveDallas · 21/07/2019 10:14

No dark times for me, and thankfully I've been able to give DD a pretty similar upbringing. Now she's 14 she's in the house more than she ever was, and actually is a loss less happy than she was.

BazaarMum · 21/07/2019 10:15

This is a polarising subject on Mumsnet. Many people will defend free-roaming childhood in the most rose-tinted way. Others have completely different recollections.

Of the people I know who had this kind of childhood, one was permanently disabled after being run over, one very seriously sexually assaulted, one raped as a child by a teenager in a play-park in broad daylight.

I’m sure many others were totally unscathed and never had a single moment that wasn’t Swallows and Amazons, and good for them.

I was flashed at a lot by grown men, had my arse grabbed by grown men, and had other adults (male and female) be really horrible to me with no other adult to witness. I actually hated ranging much further than my own road and always felt worried something would happen.

I’m glad this isn’t the norm any more.

echt · 21/07/2019 10:18

I’m glad this isn’t the norm any more

Which bit isn't the norm?

Do you think all of the things you describe don't happen any more?

Conkeee · 21/07/2019 10:18

I had a fantastic childhood because I was out dusk until dawn. Social media is far worse for kids these days

BazaarMum · 21/07/2019 10:19

Don’t be obtuse echt, I mean it’s not the norm for kids to roam unsupervised from dawn until dusk.

LittleAndOften · 21/07/2019 10:19

What dark times, OP? none of the kids I grew up playing with had bad things happen. None died, none were abducted and the only accidents I know of were falling off bikes and swings, both of which can happen now.

We had a wonderful time, exploring our local lanes, fields, ditches, rivers and woods. We skateboarded and rode down stupidly steep hills. We wandered round the village and called for each other. It was awesome.

Children are much more at risk now, with online grooming, trafficking and widespread Internet pornography.

PortiaCastis · 21/07/2019 10:19

Oh dearie me what bollocks, we had a great time playing out on our bikes and skateboards and getting annoyed when we we're called in for a meal or to get to bed. A childhood I remember with happiness and will not have happy memories spoilt by a killjoy. A child stuck on a screen all day and not allowed to have the wind blow on her/him will not grow up to be a sociable adult able to interact with their peers and the internet can be very dangerous.
I hope you're on a wind up!

Dustybun · 21/07/2019 10:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mrsjayy · 21/07/2019 10:19

Children are still being killed do you honestly think we live in lighter times kids still play out and that is a good thing.

I grew up in the 70s and early80s there was high profile cases of children being murdered do you think parents didn't care of course they cared and supervised us

my2bundles · 21/07/2019 10:20

I was a child in 70s and 80s. No dark times just local children having fun. No children disapeared or where murdered. Back then everybody's parents looked out for everybody's children, we where actually safer in that sense as we played in packs with every adult in the neighbourhood watching out for us, we enjoyed the freedom. I would say sitting alone on phones chatting to god knows who is more of a risk.

Passthecherrycoke · 21/07/2019 10:26

I was a free range 90s kid. I certainly survived but I was wanked at and flashed by dirty old men numerous times

CrispbuttyNo1 · 21/07/2019 10:26

I think we are living in dark times now for children. Social media bullying and numerous suicidal children because of it is a fast growing problem.

There were no dark times for me as a kid growing up in the 80s, we spent as much time as possible outdoors, cycling, building dens, playing games.

pikapikachu · 21/07/2019 10:28

When I was a kid I never saw kids openly smoking cannabis. These days it's easily bought at a local park. (My kids have been offered it ) Drugs are a major worry for kids of teens in 2019. Happy to be told that it was just as serious in the 70s but that wasn't my experience at all.

What do you mean by dark times OP? Kids and adults still go missing in 2019. There's homeless teens and I darent think about the dangers that they face.

WorraLiberty · 21/07/2019 10:29

No dark times for us.

We had to be home when the street lights came on.

AtSea1979 · 21/07/2019 10:30

No dark times for me growing up.
My DC play out now unsupervised. My DD only comes home to be fed!
I’m much more worried about teenage DS who has taken to sitting behind a screen, especially things like suicide rates etc.

echt · 21/07/2019 10:30

Don’t be obtuse echt, I mean it’s not the norm for kids to roam unsupervised from dawn until dusk

I wasn't being obtuse, BazaarMum I really didn't get what you meant, and if you look at your post closely, you'll see that what you say is ambiguous.

WorraLiberty · 21/07/2019 10:32

When I was a kid I never saw kids openly smoking cannabis.

Nor me.

They openly smoked tobacco and drank strong cider in the park though.

Smoking tobacco is no longer 'cool' today and the price means it's much much cheaper to buy weed.

There are still lots of teenagers drinking alcohol in parks today.

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