We had a portable black and white tv, with an aerial on top you had to move about to get a signal, and then every so often the picture would go and you would give the tv a good thump to get the picture back.
Was very excited when we got our first colour tv, especially as we didn't have to hit it!
Also remember Pong the first game you could play on the tv.
I remember the green cross code man, not tufty the squirrel. He came to our school, think we were more excited that he played Darth Vader. I also remember at least 3 children in my class over the years getting knocked down by cars and getting broken bones. A boy in a different class but same year to me, got knocked down and killed 
. There were also those horrible public service warning films eg playing on the railway tracks, the dangers on playing in a farmyard. They gave me nightmares.
I lived in a village with no shops and only one bus a week. If I wanted to get sweets from the post office in the next village I had to walk across a dual carriageway (a main A road). There was no pedestrian crossing, just a staggered junction, with no lights.
Children may have had more freedom, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was safer.