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

[rosediamond]

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.

Does anyone remember that horrible video shown in schools of the boys playing with a kite and retrieving it from a pylon? I can still see the boy exploding with flames now that shit the life out of me. But made sure we never went near them

Dark Water was a public information ad , showing the Grim Reaper/Death on a riverbank whilst children played in it .
Dark Waters was a horror film , originally Japanese and remade by the Americans, set on the fascinating (to me) Roosevelt Island NewYork .

Both were pretty terrifying for their time.

How were they dark times?! I had so many great adventures playing outside without my parents breathing down my neck.

The public information ads were scary - but they were supposed to be!

None of the "now little Araminta. Let's express in contemporary mime all the reasons why playing on the railway isn't a great idea and how you could make better choices, like drawing a picture of a slug".

It was straightfroward and to the point. Swim in a quarry and you'll drown. Play on the railway and a train will hit you. Climb a pylon and you'll be electrocuted.

Back in the 70s, hoards of roaming fridges used to consume the hapless children they encountered on their travels. The children would become trapped inside and suffocate apparently.

They used to show us public information films in school warning us about them. I was lucky enough never to succumb to this grisly fate.

So maybe a lot of people just put that down as an occupational hazard of a free range childhood? Not so much an occupational hazard of a free range childhood, but an occupational hazard of growing up in a society that regarded it as solely the woman's/girl's responsibility to ward off unwanted attention. If flashing/assault had been taken as seriously then as it is now, I doubt whether it would have been so widespread.

I never had unwanted attention when out and about with my friends, only (rarely) on a train, and (far too many times) at work.

Far better times in my opinion than current generations with smart phones and social media! They are darker.

It was pretty much the norm for us girls in the 80s/90s to be flashed at/wanked at/felt up by opportunists
This^^ doesn’t happen much now as the pervs have social media to groom young girls. I think now is a more dangerous time to be a child; exposed to everything on SM, kids far too old before their time.
Kids out playing learn life skills and are away from screens.
OPs outlook is tainted by a few incidents in her childhood.

Did you join a gang, OP? Or did you feel threatened by one? There is a huge difference.

A rougue S sorry i didn't see Japanese horror as a child i was talking about the PIF which was still horrifying

My father grew up in a very violently abusive household.
Every good bit of his childhood, every treasured memory, every happy thing happened when he was playing out away from home.

I grew up allowed to roam free in a stiflingly religious household (but not really abusive).
I learned to be more resilient, more independent, to be responsible, not to touch things like nettles, to climb trees, roll down hills, wade in creeks, so many things that made me a better adult.
We used to scour the hedgerows for empty corona bottles because back then if you took them into the corner shop they would give you enough to buy a few penny sweets for them so we even learned to recycle.
I was never flashed or harassed whilst out playing.
The only issue I ever had was someone on my route to school as I had to get a train there so they lived in a city an hour away from my home.

They were not dark times, playing out from dawn to dusk were the golden times.

I often feel I am failing as a parent because I live in an area now where I cannot give my son even a taste of that sort of childhood.
I believe he is losing out by not having that chance to grow.

I’m a bit confused by you OP because of course no children go missing, doe in train tracks or make foolish decisions around water in 2019???

The worse thing I think I ever spotted in my childhood was two drunk men taking a piss on the back of the bus as we walked upstairs to sit down I don't know why but that frightened me the most can still see it now ffs

Dark times for the kids who didn’t make it.

Good job child abuse stopped after the late 90's then isn't it.

Lord of the flies?
Really?

I totally accept that lots of us have rose tinted glasses on, particularly about how we grew up.

But are kids safer now? I thought not. What are the statistics?

I used to roam the hills for hours. More chance of meeting a perplexed deer than a car.

We recently moved house to give our kids the freedom to play out from dawn till dusk. I felt we were robbing them of their childhood as we lived in an area with no kids and on a busy road, the difference in my kids the past few months is amazing.
Its an old cliche but these days really are the best days of their lives they should be encouraged to play out make friends and run free!

no one is telling me that child abuse is like it once was. We talk about it, we address it

Of course. It's all lovely now.

I think for the majority of children growing up prior to the late 90s (maybe?) they were pretty dark times
I grew up in the 50's and 60's and I can't remember a single 'dark time' other than a friend's brother drowning in the river when fishing in the early 70's. My dcs were lucky enough to be brought up in the countryside with ample opportunities to explore and play. I'm very thankful it was pre the digit/social media age, they had little in the way of materialistic things but endless ways of having fun. Both say it was a great time.

Struggling to understand this. I had a wonderful childhood out and roaming during 60s and 70s. Of course crimes against children happened then - they happen now !
Exponential rise of home based crime (not just sexual offences but online grooming leading to furthe crimes against children) make me very glad I grew up in earlier times.
At the criminal bar partner at the family bar. Still say this. Still struggling to understand how it’s better now.

My childhood was in the sixties. My family didn’t have any money and we didn’t go on holidays but I had a fantastic time regardless. Played outside all day long at the weekend and after school during the week. I can only remember a few occasions being inside - and then we would whip out the board games - fabulous!
Dark times for you maybe, but not for everyone.

I feel sorry for children today who don't have the freedom that I had growing up.