To ask if anyone has given their DCs an “old fashioned childhood”?

[1sttimemum0]

And by old fashioned I pretty much mean without screens (small screens - phones tablets, I don’t mean TV) and where kids could play out unsupervised with other kids when they reach a reasonable age.

If you did, how did you do it?

😂😂😂 you had me going til I reached the names of their friends! My favourite book as a child

@SarahAndQuack Sorry, yes, I phrased that really badly. What I meant was you were talking about your one experience of feeling left out because you didn’t have the cultural capital that other kids had. I was also a child of the 80s who wasn’t allowed TV, I didn’t have that experience, but neither of those experiences are really relevant to the conversation about being able to access the curriculum. Of course fitting in at school is an important conversation too, but it’s a different one.

I don’t think any of the parents on this thread would want their child to be in the position of some of the people you work with and leave school unable to use technology. But not letting a young child have access to a tablet or
phone is absolutely not synonymous with that.

I think you'd have to be fairly privileged to be able to let your children play out alone from a young age. I live on a main road and my town is one of the highest for crime in the county. Wouldn't have dared.

Yes, basically no tech growing up not even on 8 hour car journeys up to Scotland. Live rurally so playing out in the village all the time. Some TV but not loads. No tablets. No phones until secondary and then they are restricted, go off at 9 and not allowed upstairs. We specifically moved for this kind of life, we’re living in a big city but wanted kids to grow up outdoors. They are beginning to hate it now though! 😂

Kind of.
DD was very outdoorsy from toddlerhood, because DH was the SAHP and he's rubbish about being inside and was terrible at playing with her. So they were always outside exploring or building or gardening etc. Plus we were in Cyprus for a while and the TV was shite. She played in the street wherever we lived as we knew and worked with all the neighbours and strangers stood out (military accommodation).

She had an iPad from 7 but only for car journeys (long distances to relatives) and holidays.

We moved to a village when she was 9 and she was always out playing, coming in for meals and drinks only. She had a lovely crowd of mates of all ages. They had nerf wars and built bike ramps etc, and rarely got into trouble.

She was one of the last in her Year 6 class to have a phone, and that was only really because I succumbed to pressure and she didn't want to feel different. It wasn't too bad but there was certainly the odd online incident that we all could have done without.

She's an adult now and rarely without her phone/laptop but is still quite outdoorsy and sporty. She hardly watches any tv, but I don't think that is unusual these days, it's all online now isn't it?

I'd argue that giving your child a fully old-fashioned childhood will be doing them more harm than good in the future.

It doesn't have to be extremes. Mine have limited screen time (1.5h/ day, the older one a bit more because they use it to communicate with their friends, much like I was on the phone with friends for hours in the early 90s). They re reasonably tech-savvy and I have parental controls for those that need it due to age.

At the same time, we play board games, they are made to help out at home, play in woods, play in play parks, go roller skating (yes, that's a thing), skateboarding, riding bicycles.

I won't let them play outside unsupervised (dodgy area), but once they're in the big play park in my town I read a book while they run off and come back as needed.

People in the 1950s could only have picnics because they were profiting from racism/elitism? That doesn’t make any sense. If anything it was the kind of thing poor people did.

My kids were always outside. It was their choice. We couldn’t afford iPads or phones for them. I’d set up inflatables and paddling pools (we had a few) in the garden. In the winter it was sandpit or the park with me and DH playing footy or basketball. We’d roam around the fields and woods over the back of our house (I always went with them) and we played in puddles (huge flooded ones over the fields). Inside played games,made things.
When they got older DC1 would meet friends at a big park for basket ball or table tennis.
We’ve always had a TV. They’d watch it a fair bit the same as I did when I was young. (as much as you could with 3 channels and one being BB2 which no one watched) No one is outside ALL day in the winter.
I wouldn’t say it was old fashioned. It’s just what we did and we couldn’t afford electronics.
Now they are older they have to have iPads and laptops for school work and uni

Not so much the going outside alone, but I am surprised by the apparent rise in constant supervision and planned activities. I remember being allowed to be left to my own devices most of the time (I understand this would be more challenging now there are screens) from a pretty young age and had loads of time to think, read, write, play, draw, etc. I wouldn't have wanted to be supervised and to have done specific "activities" all the time. I think it's good for people to have a lot of time to let their minds wander. The other day I saw a post calling someone unreasonable for letting their DC have "access" to drawing materials unsupervised and was shocked. How can creativity and independent thought flourish under constant supervision?

Why? London flats often have such restrictions, they are essential for community life.

Mine don't spend much time on tablets (well DD doesn't, DS didn't until he turned 12, now it's all he does 🙄). They've always done a lot of crafting and spend a lot of time exploring outdoors. They would play out with the other local children, but they're all bullying little chavs so tend to travel to meet up with school friends instead 😂

I don't see it that way, I think you can provide that, whilst having some technology aswell.

We've done well with screens. No TV during the week, they only use our phones to look through the photos. Eldest is 6 and so uses our tablets a couple of times a week for homework and sometimes the literacy/numeracy apps recommended by school. Youngest is 3 and has only used a tablet on the plane for a holiday last year. They don't get screens when we're out for a meal, for example.

Less enthusiasm for getting them out and about unsupervised. They do spend plenty of time at playgrounds with nursery and out of school club, which is obviously less hands on than when we're there.

Another factor is that eldest has epipens for a moderately severe allergy, so she'll need an adult with her until she's mature enough to handle that herself, which obviously won't happen for a while. I'm more than happy not to take the old fashioned approach in that sense!

Everyone's doing their best within the parameters of their own family and their own pressures. If I were a SAHM there's no way the TV wouldn't be on midweek

Our child is a toddler so still plenty of time for things to get more difficult but she has never watched tv or had screens. There is a school near us that we are considering for primary that doesnt use screens until the latter years, it focuses on outdoors.

I did. There was a playhouse, climbing frame, trampoline in the garden plus a pool in the summer so being in the garden was always interesting for them. Plus they were friends with the neighbours kids and had access to a strip of land out the back of our gardens which was safe.

I never restricted tv etc just made the outdoors more appealing.

We‘ve managed this. Small German village. DC 7. His friends call for him and will either play at ours or go to one of the many playgrounds/ the football pitch. Families know each other and we all watch out for the kids. Kids know the parents and tend to ask a passing parent if there’s an issue.

He doesn’t have a tablet. He uses an ancient phone for his audiobooks (a huge things for kids here, he must have 100) but doesn’t have internet access on it and has never requested it. He watches TV through British and German media libraries on our TV. We often watch with him.

German life has a focus on sport and work. When another family looked after him for a day last year they got him and their daughters chopping and piling up firewood. They loved it.

We have. Our kids watch Tv but don't have phones or tablets etc. They play outside unsupervised as we live about 20 yards from a park that I can see from my kitchen window. The kids show absolutely no interest in electronics...yet!

Kind of I guess. We just have TV on a weekend night. No "small screens". Spend a lot of time outside as a family. Both kids do sport and play piano. Have a dog that gets walked a lot. A park on our housing estate that is quiet and safe. Lucky to have a garden. A lot of leading by example re screens and being purposeful with our time I guess. Kids are 10 and 7.