Does this type of childhood still exist

[Shushimwatchingemmerdale]

Sort of inspired by another thread.

I live abroad with toddler Dd, 3. We have a great lifestyle by the beach etc, but, it isn’t a British childhood, the way I remember it.
Growing up on a cul de sac, friends on tbe street or if not, very nearby. Walking to school and summers spent reading and playing on the street or going on bike rides.
Here it’s a drive to school, a drive to friends houses, play dates etc are organised around the cinema or shopping trips, all great, but just not the same.
Is this how childhood still is in the U.K.? Or am I not missing anything?

I think that children are not encouraged to play unsupervised and I don’t see that as a bad thing, I’m afraid.

We walk to school and by 10/11 they’re meeting up at the park/for bike rides etc.

I think it is for kids who live close by each other and their schools. For anyone who has to drive to school then it’s more organised. I think it’s a crying shame that kids aren’t encouraged to play unsupervised any more.

My daughter is 9 and quite often plays out on our estate after school and in holidays.
We live on the outskirts of a town, and our estate has lots of open green areas as it was built in the 60's.
There are a handful of children of different ages who all play out together. Most go to her school so quite often we all walk together

Depends where you live. I’m on a new build estate near a park in a village. So yes children walk to school from yr 4 ish (no main roads to cross) and all get bus to secondary school. In holidays they ride bikes on estate roads, play on park, sit on grass chatting. There’s a few shops so tweens and teens can walk and get a Starbucks or McDonald’s. It’s nice but a very safe family friendly/community minded area so probably not norm in busier areas.

My kids walked to and from by themselves from 7 we are urban but its a short walk with proper green man crossings (whatever they are called)

They play in the streets from
about the same age but to be honest it is more knocking about the back lanes rather than anything particularly wholesome.

I think the Scandinavian countries are where you would have to replicate the British childhoodsnkf the 70s/80s

3 year olds aren't playing out but it's normal from about age 9 for some of those things to happen here. It's not unusual to see kids on bikes and scooters heading to the skate park or local parks as well as teenagers sitting on the grass and chatting secretly drinking My kids walk to school with other kids and it's very normal to see ball games in fields. Unfortunately this is mainly only for the summer. It's cold, wet and windy a lot of the year

Yes I remember basically going out and just expected back by dark. I lived in suburban USA in the 70s. As I went to the local school we knew all our neighbours.
Here it seems kids do not always go to their closest school, or that school may be a car ride away. People don’t seem to know their neighbours. My kids went to a private school and didn’t know anyone locally. Whereas growing up we could walk to school, movie theatre, pizza place, ice cream store, public swimming pool - my kids had none of that. Also no tv during the summer - it was books or games. Try telling kids today no devices at all for a couple months!

No, it doesn't really exist in the UK either. And it makes me sad. I remember playing in a mixed age group , 6-10 ish in the street, playing kerby and riding our bikes etc. I can't see DS doing it at all. Kids are 10+ before they're allowed out unsupervised.

We're currently camping, and campsites are the only place I still see it happening - DS (5) is currently playing some game with a group of kids age 4-12 which involves running and chasing nothing in particular whilst yelling specific words. Parents sat outside there tents listening out, glass of wine in hand.

@endofjune

I think that children are not encouraged to play unsupervised and I don’t see that as a bad thing, I’m afraid.

Why not? I'm quite the opposite and have always encouraged it, I think it's important. Op - depends whereabouts you are really. Some areas don't lend themselves as well to that life style. Everyone has very different opinions on what is best for their child and the community you are in may or may not share your views.

My childhood was peppered with reports of traffic fatalities, kids messing about on railways and electricity pylons, drownings and other horrible mishaps. I’m glad we’ve moved on from that.

I think it depends on where you live and what your situation is like. We are also abroad but it's generally normal here for children to walk to school by themselves from year 1 onwards and to go round visiting friends or going to the playground by themselves from a young age.
Now, we unfortunately live in a very "old" area. Most of our neighbours are elderly and the only other children in our road are teenagers. Nobody DS could go and play with. We also moved here just before Covid hit, so we don't actually know anyone around the area. There have been no clubs or activities available where we could have met anyone. Our closest playground tends to be very empty (again, no young kids live around here) so it's hard to make contact with anyone.
DS also attends nursery where I work, about 40 minuted in the car from our house. He will attend school there, too (private, bilingual). He has friends at nursery and several of my colleague have children of a similar age, so it's not as if he doesn't have any other kids to play with. It's just not that easy around where we live, which is a bit of a shame.

@endofjune

I think that children are not encouraged to play unsupervised and I don’t see that as a bad thing, I’m afraid.

What are you afraid of?

Children round me play outside all the time. There are of course road accidents and at this time of year drownings but otherwise it's a pretty safe thing do with appropriate care.

@Shushimwatchingemmerdale

Sort of inspired by another thread.

I live abroad with toddler Dd, 3. We have a great lifestyle by the beach etc, but, it isn’t a British childhood, the way I remember it.
Growing up on a cul de sac, friends on tbe street or if not, very nearby. Walking to school and summers spent reading and playing on the street or going on bike rides.
Here it’s a drive to school, a drive to friends houses, play dates etc are organised around the cinema or shopping trips, all great, but just not the same.
Is this how childhood still is in the U.K.? Or am I not missing anything?

That's my kids. Ireland though, not UK. Play out all the time, swim at the beach and the lake, lots of hikes and bike rides (with adults and without), calling for their friends and going out alone...I don't do playdates and I don't play the taxi (much).

It depends on the area. I live on a main road so they don't play out and I don't see any other kids either. It's normally the closed in roads or cul de sac type roads where I see kids play out on scooters etc. We don't drive so we do a lot of walking and days out by train where they play for hours on the beach or park, just supervised. Or we'll go to local park or play in the back yard in the sand pit.

For my DCs all born in the 80s childhood was much as you're describing your DCs now.

We were in London and my DCs infant and primary school was a 4 mile drive away.

Most of the children they were friends with lived nearer to the school or in places even further away.

When they had play dates it was all arranged beforehand, no popping down the road to a friend's house, and after school activities were always a drive away.

Similar thing with their senior schools.

One child went to a school for which we had a coach to pick up and the others went to a school that meant a bus ride and then a journey on the underground.

I remember your type of childhood, OP
As PP says, I think the big difference now is the lack of unsupervised play. My primary-school aged DC are mostly driven to school, sometimes cycle or walk, but always with me (my senior-school aged DC walks independently). They don't "call for" local friends and play out the way I did, because their friends don't live sufficiently close by. However, there are quite a few groups of kids who live in my cul de sac who do play out in the way that you remember, aged about seven up.
Because my DC can't call for their friends, I arrange playdates for them, but at our house rather than at a cinema/shopping mall. My DC also spend quite a bit of time reading, drawing, playing with each other. They don't go for bike rides alone because I would be afraid of what might happen.

I had loads of freedom to roam as a child, and it was great. But, I also had quite a few unpleasant and unwanted encounters with older boys/men. My kids are really envious of the free-range kids of yesteryear, but I'm scared that they will have the experiences that I did - or worse. And yet, I know that dealing with a certain amount of difficult situations builds resilience, and that one day they will need to go out alone and be street-wise. It's very difficult.

We live in a London suburb and some parts of what you mention apply here. Most children walk to school and have friends either on their street or very nearby. They don't tend to play out on the street (too much traffic/pollution) but everyone congregates in the parks and playgrounds and there are "regulars" who are always there so families get to know each other. We have great access to bike trails, forest and common land and green space so lots of family bike rides for many kids.

The key difference is supervision. Yes, kids hang round on street corners and go for unsupervised bike rides with their friends but that tends to be teenagers not 8+. It's still an urban, high crime area with a fair amount of violent crime so it would be considered poor parenting and putting your kids at risk to let 8/9 year olds navigate that alone.

Plenty of dc walk to school and read and have bike rides in the holidays. Play dates are in each other’s gardens and local parks mostly. Teenagers ride bikes and hang out outside with friends.

That's exactly how my kids are growing up.
My 10 year old is out all day on his bike or scooter or playing football, we have a quiet road and loads of kids around.
It's nice.

My kids have had a mix of both. When they were younger and we had neighbours, they played out on the street with the neighbours kids, played on bikes, scooters, go carts etc as well as having play dates with friends and going to the cinema. I definitely kept a closer eye on them than my parents did me as a young child in the 80s but that’s a good thing. Kids are teens now and see friends and do most of the things I did as a teen but spend a lot of time on screens.

My kids do in Saudi. We live in a very large walled compound of about 400 families, so it is somewhat surreal . They play out or at other kids houses, go to the pools, walk dogs , skate, cycle ,play on the football pitch, in the parks , run errands to the minimart etc. The children hang out in multi-age groups but I'd say around 5 yr olds are out alone. There are also lots of classes on compound and the school is attached.
I over think it and say it's like the Truman show. They bloody love it.

I have 2 infant school age children. They don't play unsupervised but walk to school with parents, bumping into friends on the way. It's about a mile walk and most kids live locally.

Many parents walk their kids home through the local park and the kids play together in the ( very shallow) river, climbing trees or at the play area. Big groups of kids entertaining each other and parents chatting. It's idyllic on the two days I don't work that I can do this and I'm grateful for that. If I worked full time they would never get this opportunity.

In my area most children start playing out with friends from the age of about 8 or 9. They play in the park, ride their bikes and go round each other's houses.

'Playdate' isn't a term that's used around here. The usual way to get together is for one child to say to another "I'll knock for you after school" or whenever the preferred time is. If either child isn't allowed out then it's just leftt that until the next time.

My children are living the exact childhood you describe. Obviously wasn't that way when they were little though. Playing out with other kids, without adults, seemed to start at age 10, we are small town rural-ish