Parents who had kids in the 70s/80s, can you answer this for me?

[LittleSnakes]

There’s always loads of comments on threads about how in the 80s or whenever, kids had much more freedom. Eg walking to school younger, playing out all day or suchlike. And now parents are too worried to let their kids do that and they do independent things much older than before. Back then, did you genuinely not feel the same worry as I would now, for example. Did you think that a 6 year old would be fine playing out all day and not think about bad things? I am so far away from that in my thinking that I can’t imagine what it would be like to be so relaxed about safety! So I’m curious about it. Was there less anxiety in general back then? Tell me more!

Thank you OP for starting the thread asking the opinions of people who were actually bringing up children in the 70s and 80s and for listening to our answers. It is a frustration on these threads that sometimes there is a tendancy for people to generalise from their own personal experience as children and project that onto the wider population. The truth is, of course, that though everything has changed, nothing has changed.
There are still caring parents, neglectful parents and the whole range in between. Overall I think our children did play outside more, but I wouldn't go further than that.

@LittleSnakes

It just seems that it was very varied then. Not as universal as I thought it was.

I think it was already dying out by the 80s and 90s. I grew up in the 50s and it seemed very normal then. Women tended to have more kids, housework was hard, not having kids under your feet for a few hours was probably very tempting. I clearly remember at 7 taking my younger brother to the park in his pushchair, no such thing as buggies then, and spending hours there so mum could get on with housework.

64, on MN a lot! With kids born in 82, 83, and 85.
I was hyper vigilant, yes the were out yes they were home alone but I knew if they sneezed!
They were very much loved and protected but expected to behave.
Loads of wilderness even bears, once the 4&5 yr old went with a pack of kids to the playground 25 houses away, the 2 yr old awake with me when I get a call there’s a bear at the park (telephone tree alert when people phone out alerts) massive panic.
Can’t leave toddler alone, can’t run fast enough with. So I impatiently waited, figured I’d have been too late anyway and would hear of any accidents.
5 minutes later I proudly heard, the children spotted the bear, knew to enter the first home and start the phone tree. They also helped themselves to apples from the fridge while waiting.
Once all three were in school I retuned to work the 3:30 to 7;30 shift at the hospital, they were “alone” till dh retuned at 4:30 from work. Both neighbors knew, kids would just watch TV.
As a nurse I have always been able to find shifts with no need for babysitters, short afternoon, full evening, weekend or nights.
Day shift would be harder as I was expected to manage the house.

I was born late 1960s in a London suburb. My Mum let me ride alone round the block on my bike from pretty young but I didn't roam freely until 10/11 when I used to cycle quite far afield with my friends. I did walk to and from school on my own from about 7/8. I would ask my parents how they felt about it but sadly they are no longer here. My Mum was really quite protective so it must have been the norm in general to go out alone from a younger age. She was still very annoyed if I came home later than agreed!

ancientgran what’s the difference between a buggy and a pushchair?

It’s been interesting, hilary. I know lots of people have their own experiences of playing out back then. But I’ve always wondered what the parents felt like. I know the love for their children wouldn’t be any less but there must have been less anxiety about some sorts of dangers. Or maybe more of a feeling of community. On my road, there would be some parents who knew my kid, but not loads. So if he played out and got into trouble, most people wouldn’t know who he was.

fall the idea of letting my 4 year old going out with a pack of kids to a park 25 houses away seems incomprehensible these days. I think someone would phone the police!

Think a lot depends on area - I'm a child of late 70s/early 80s (my Mum is in her mid-70s and can barely turn a computer on, let alone find Mumsnet!) and we were never allowed out to play or to walk to school unsupervised. Possibly because we were the only kids on our road - neighbours all the original owners and quite elderly - and getting to school involved crossing some busy roads and the other kids lived elsewhere? I think I was allowed to walk home from school alone occasionally towards the end of year 6? School hols were mostly spent visiting elderly relatives or in large garden.

DH is a child of 60s/70s and grew up on an estate with a lot of young families nearby. He did walk to school on his own from age 5 (with a group of other children) and spent whole days playing outside with local kids. When he was a little older he'd get the bus into the city centre to go to the library etc.

Blimey @fallfallfall. A bear is definitely something I never came across in the 80s!

@ancientgran a pushchair and a buggy is the same thing, isn’t it? I always call strollers a buggy / pushchair.

A “proper” pram, ie carrycot is a pram.

@HilaryThorpe

Love the idea we are too old to use the internet. DH was a programmer in 1971, I was an IT in schools adviser in the 80s. Bloody good job you had us to invent it for you, really. 😂😂😂

first time I met our head of IT, we were chatting and I realised I had a computer before he was actually born!

Born in the 60's.

Walked to school on why own picked up my younger sister from the nursery school and took her home at the age of 10 (honest I'm not kidding). Peeled the spuds for tea. Mum was working so the house was empty.
Weekends/holidays - out in the morning and did not return till tea time most days. We used to take a pee behind a tree.
Dogs wandered freely and I remember playing out and going to the park/rec and seeing our dog shouting him over, then he'd go off on his merry way.
Played knock and run and one woman caught me while we were playing and gave me a right good couple of slaps. Too scared tell mum and dad 'cos I would have got the same off them.

[quote FAQs]@GrandmasCat surely it would be 60+ not 80+?[/quote]
I was going to say the same, I grew up in the 80's and my mum is 65!

Child of the early 80’s. Grew up on a tough London housing estate.

Mums did know what happened to you - we played on the estate and always had someone shouting out the window at us or threatening to “get us done”.

I remember once walking around Edmonton green market alone with my mum said “meet you in an hour”. I’ve since asked her and she said “you weren’t alone, you were with your cousin!!!” He was also 8

Also if you walked up the chippy or whatever, there was a big group of you so someone’s mum would have known what happened to you. Or at least that was the plan!

Born early 50’s I was cycling several miles around lanes to nearby village with my younger sisters and a friend when I was 8 or 9? We would be told to be home at a certain time and that was that.
Dc1 was born 1979, dc2 1981, we lived Ona far and from a fairly early age they were out playing in the fields with friends but I always knew where they were. Dc1 would go off on her pony with a friend from about 9, dc2 was driving tractors on the fields at 12. They had lots of freedom and plenty of things to do with friends.
So long as I knew where they were then I didn’t worry.
I guess living in the countryside if they went anywhere I took them until they could safely ride their bikes to friends’ houses at 8 or 9?
They would often walk home 2 miles (lanes and fields if dry weather) from 8 or so.

YanTan were you worried about the kids being out? You’ve just jogged a memory of mine that I used to go out with my friend on her horse when we were about 8. She rode and I ran alongside. Went for miles.

I worried yes but they had quite strict instructions as to where they could or couldn’t go etc and they knew that if I found out they’d gone elsewhere then I would have a rethink.
It was well off the beaten track, our fields surrounded the farm and we knew everyone within a 3 mile radius anyway. Everyone kept an eye out for all the children. It’s a calculated risk I guess, and luckily they were able to have a pretty good childhood I think, little money but plenty of opportunities to have fun.

The first buggy was the Maclaren and was brilliant for hopping on and off buses. Pushchairs were much heavier and upholstered, like a pram with upright seat. Prams were big and heavy to push. You could put your shopping in the basket underneath. We walked a lot. 😊

Generally they always had friends coming to us because of the big house and garden and plenty of places to make dens, climb trees etc. No rivers or ponds to worry about thank goodness!

I grew up in the 80s, playing out for most of the day, and my DDs did the same when they were little.

@HilaryThorpe

The first buggy was the Maclaren and was brilliant for hopping on and off buses. Pushchairs were much heavier and upholstered, like a pram with upright seat. Prams were big and heavy to push. You could put your shopping in the basket underneath. We walked a lot. 😊

I had a Mothercare pushchair in 1972, it was £4 but it wasn't upholstered, it was the easiest one before the McLaren but didn't fold into an "umbrella" like the McLaren.

@RussiasGreatestLoveMachine

OP, I love how your thread title literally says - ‘parents who had kids in the 70s/80s, can you answer this for me?’

And you get a load of people proclaiming - ‘I was a child of the 80s….’

How many parents will there realistically be on a forum who raised kids in the 70s and 80s, wouldnt they be >> 70+ years old?

FWIW I was a child then and looking back I was left to it most of the time. Both my parents worked so I had a house key ( that I lost many many times) I'd say from 5ish I was allowed to roam the street, from 7 or 8 I had a bike and could go on the estate, over 10 I was independent mostly. Could go anywhere I wanted, trains, buses, cycling whatever. So long as I was home for tea/before dark/ called to say I'd be out all night I was gold.

This was my first pushchair in 1972. www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/183693241999_/Vintage-Mothercare-pushchair.jpg

I also remember a ton of public information films about kids climbing pylons, playing on railway lines, throwing fireworks, drowning in rivers or grain silos, going off with strangers or getting run over on the way to buy an ice cream.

Parenting was often lax and bordering on/actually negligent. Not all kids actually wanted to be out all day. My parents were largely great, but I remember being told off for wanting to come inside when I'd been playing out for ages. My DDs were always allowed to come in when they wanted to.

@Rosehugger

I also remember a ton of public information films about kids climbing pylons, playing on railway lines, throwing fireworks, drowning in rivers or grain silos, going off with strangers or getting run over on the way to buy an ice cream.

Parenting was often lax and bordering on/actually negligent. Not all kids actually wanted to be out all day. My parents were largely great, but I remember being told off for wanting to come inside when I'd been playing out for ages. My DDs were always allowed to come in when they wanted to.

I remember those films, they scared me witless as a child! Even now I keep my distance from pylons.