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’ve answered that.

Switzerland, Germany, parts of China or Japan, too.

"No, it doesn't really exist in the UK either."
Nonsense.

Of course it exists in the uk, depending on where you live. If you live in a safe place a cul-de-sac where all the kids play out, like many posters here:

Dixiechickonhils.

My sil lives in that exact estate type place on the south coast, and her kids have always played out safely.

My son age 6 is often on the street playing with the other children of similar age "unsupervised" they know the rules, stay on the street and come home and ask to go in to others houses so we know where you are.

The older children 11+ walk down to the park about 3 streets away and play football or go on their bikes around the estate. You don't see them for hours.

The little ones all the neighbours on the street know each child and where they live. Even if it's not their child or they don't have any. Scooters and bikes are to be ridden up and down the pavement by the smaller children they adhere to this.

Can't really walk to school as they are all bused but 11+ tend to walk to the bus stop on their own, younger children a parent walks them down. More for road safety than anything heinous.

My dc are currently playing out in the green in fron of our house with the neighbourhood kids. I know it's late. They are 9 and 11. There's a mix of ages out there and the green is big and surrounded by houses like a cul de sac. We can see them, they other parents can see them and they will be in when the street lights go on.

@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 you are living a fantasy quite honestly, people are scared to let their kids play out and all they are interested in now are screens. Your life sounds much better. My happiest memory as a child was at the sea playing in rock pools.

We are in Northumberland in a small town with a lovely community spirit.

Parents take turns or we are all out, one loves bike rides so often takes the kids on a short bike ride to the beach. Pre pandemic, who ever house is closest for the loo is where you go. Even the ones that don't have kids around the green are out handing out ice pops and joining in with kite flying, badminton, football, tent building.. whatever. I love it! And yes If a child misbehaves they get told of by the adult that caught them and the parents. We are all on messenger to tattle🤣 as a result they play lovely.

My kids do in Saudi. We live in a very large walled compound of about 400 families, so it is somewhat surreal

Wow this sounds great!!

We live in a cul de sac and my kids have played out from about 3 years old. Obviously supervised at that age.
But from year 5/6 they’ve had a phone so are contactable and then they’ve been allowed to call for friends, play at the local parks etc. As long as they stick to the rules. I know where they are via call or text, they can play out. Walking to and from school from year 6.

My DC had that kind of childhood. We live in a cul de sac (all the streets round here are similar set ups), they all play outside in the street from an early age, they go to the park and local shop themselves, they go on bike rides, they walk to school on their own.

It’s a lovely area to grow up in, DH and I are very glad we’ve been able to replicate our childhoods.

Exactly as you describe for my DDs, yes.

I live in a rural village and there’s often children playing out here, making dens, rope swings, on their bikes around the fields etc, all unsupervised. Exactly how it was when I was young.

I agree, I think it depends where you live. In safe/r areas with low crime rate and low population, I’d say you’re more likely to get this. Having said that, we are as a society, risk adverse now and mollycoddle our children a lot more now than in the 80’s, parenting styles have changed. I’d imagine a lot of people, even if it was perfectly safe in their area, wouldn’t let their children play out on their own.

I have a primary aged child. I walk her to school. She walks home by herself. She plays out with a gang of kids and hangs out in the nearby fields with them. Lots of her friends live in outlying villages, so some play dates have to be arranged with them.

My parents let us play out out of sight from about 7. Except, most of the adults on the estate knew us, so there were eyes everywhere.

Dd,9, goes to call for her mates and they go to the park. But the park is quite hidden and at the wrong time, can have pretty dodgy people there. Not to mention slightly older kids who are keen on terrorising younger ones. I am slightly terrified every time she goes round the corner out of sight, but then, she's going to end up more streetwise than her older brother, who never wants to call for people.

I was born in the 90s and my childhood was more like your DC’s. My parents were quite protective and I wasn’t allowed to play out or go anywhere where they didn’t know where I was at all times. I got a mobile phone for my 11th birthday so that I could text my mum that I got to school safely when permitted to walk with friends!

Kids round here play out from around age 5 in the street, being given more freedom as they get older.
Today ds 11 and dd 13 have spent hours playing out with the neighbouring kids ranging from age 7 up.
My two are allowed to the local parks and the country park/woods. They have a time to be home, even the 13 year old doesn't take her phone to play out, I like them to have that time away from screens, going off exploring.

It's not as I usual as some posters are portraying, maybe in the city/ in their experience but it's absolutely not universal that kids don't play out Independently.

Totally depends on the street. We live in a terraced close, the kids play out in sunny weather after school til teatime, with one or two parents supervising. Then all pile in to one house for tea at least once a week. We take turns and all know each other, and take care of each other. It’s wonderful.
It took lockdown to get us to this stage, because it takes effort & time & being at home to create this kind of community.
I don’t think it’s easy to create unfortunately

We live in a cul de sac in a village and the kids play out here. Entirely my fault as our elder 3 were all encouraged to play out which, in turn, got other kids asking to play out.

Same with walking to school. I was absolutely slated by numerous people (including the school at first) when they wanted to walk to school alone (you can see the school from our upstairs windows - no roads). It's now very, very common for children to walk to the primary school alone and the school have stopped pretending that they have the right to make the choice on the age that children can walk to school.

They don't quite have as much freedom as I did as a child as I don't allow them anywhere near the river and sadly the BMX track is gone, but the younger ones are still out a lot. I didn't see DS2 for about 5 hours today. There's four of them and they have to go into one of the houses every hour or so, that parent then texts the other three to say they've seen them. The were building a den near a friends house so he stayed down there until dinner time.

My kids have that kind of childhood. We live in a large village on the outskirts of a Spanish city.

Most kids here play out quite young , watched by the older ones. Some kids aren’t allowed.

Theres an interesting book called “ Cotton wool kids “ by a child psychologist that discusses the pros and cons. I used to helicopter parent but am consciously trying not to, since reading this book.

We're fairly central London but live on an estate. Kids of all ages play out and Many are unsupervised. There are no roads so no traffic risk. We have gradually allowed DD to be less supervised and at 9 she is allowed anywhere on the estate but not allowed to leave it. She would always be with other kids if out of sight and if any of the kids get hurt another child will go and tell their parent. I think the kids being out is a natural consequence of living in small flats with no gardens.

@ClaireB29

My children are , 6 and 2. We live in a small village and walk to school. Their childhood is very much as you describe.

8, 6 and 2! (When will we get an edit option!)

We have a park, school field and village green all within minutes from our house, (also a river too, although only older teenagers unaccompanied there).
We are in England. My children play out with friends (unplanned) all the time, those childhoods definitely still exist.

It's like that where I am OP.

The culdesac I grew u in now has too many cars for kids to play. It was built when only about half of families had a car and mine had two. Now every house has at least two cars so the culdesac is basically a Tetris of cars.