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Would you prefer to be a child today than the era you grew up in?

SharpshooterTom

Seems a lot of people I know around my age generally disliked their childhood growing up in the 80's and 90's how much they hated it and how horrible it was.

Children look back and think how did kids back as late as the 90's survive without the internet, phones, social media, its looks like a life of complete misery to them.

Would you have much preferred to grow up as a child today instead rather than in your era?

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[Deleted User]

I was born in 1989 and thought the 90’s/00’s was a great time to grow up. My childhood wasn’t exactly idyllic but nothing to do with the era. Would hate to be a teenager now.

[Deleted User]

riffmongous wrote: »

We're not talking about the western world though are we, we're talking about last gasp Catholic Ireland in the 90s. I don't know what your younger years were like but there was nothing openly discussed about sex or masturbation in the Ireland I remember

True enough, although I can't say that we were worse off for it... and while it wasn't talked about openly, there are avenues to learn about it if you so wished. I was born in 1977, and by the time, I was a teenager the internet had made it's presence known. Not to the extent of today, but you could find pretty much whatever you wanted on IRC. And considering the way the internet has evolved, I don't think I'd want to have been exposed to it at that age. It was confusing enough as a teenager without all the rubbish encouraged these days.

riffmongous wrote: »

If you forgot about all the actual sexual abuse that was occurring of course, which seems to be the way in this thread, some sort of self selection bias maybe

As opposed to the bias, that suggests the sexual abuse was commonplace? Since it wasn't.

I went through religious primary and secondary schools. Attended a seminary for over a year as part of my studies. Was prepped by my family to possibly become a priest, but that didn't work out. I was never abused by anyone. Never molested. Nor did I see any indication of it happening, nor any gossip from other boys that it was happening. We knew that some priests were "creepy", but we could avoid them.. since they were an extreme minority.

That it happened isn't denied... it did happen. I know people who later came out with stories of abuse, but I also know many people who went through religious upbringing without any negative experiences.

riffmongous wrote: »

I think I'd prefer nowadays.. as a poorer family we'd be better off, less chance of corporal punishment, having access to the internet would have helped a lot academically, less Catholic Church influence on our lives

Ahh well, I'm one of those people who actually value the backbone in terms of morals and values that being brought up in the RCC provided. And I'm not remotely religious now, and went through the experience of being Bisexual as a teenager. There is so little structure provided in society these days. The mad rush to remove the influence of the RC but replace it with what?

As for corporal punishment... my dad told me stories of getting a belt, the strap, or a stick as punishment when he was a kid. Not once did I see anything even remotely similar in my whole time in education, that didn't involve the teacher being fired or severely punished. A few slaps across the back of the head, and maybe a painful knuckle on the head, but little else.

Nope. I'd prefer the 80s/90s to today. There are definitely some advantages for an upbringing in a modern setting, but honestly, I feel the negatives outweigh the advantages (except in terms of educational opportunities). Children should be allowed to continue being children. My nieces at the age of 10 have access to Instagram, and other social media. It's impossible to completely police their internet usage, and they find out about crap that no child should know at that age.. I got my first mobile phone at 19. My other niece at the age of 13 is on her third phone. There is such a thing as exposing children too early to technology and the internet. Or even movies/TV where we see adult themes creeping into younger age brackets.

castletownman

I can guarantee there is no such thing as hand-me downs from one sibling to the next these days.

Anyone else find that children today have a lot weirder taste in things? Glued to ipads and what-have-you watching nonsensical youtube mash-ups and stuff like that. They seem to be able to operate technology from an increasingly younger age too.

They say there is more anxiety among children today- well mollycoddling and peer pressure contributes to that. "But mammy, Johnny has a tablet AND a smartphone and he is six months younger than me". Saying no seems to be discouraged, while the whole "offended" culture can't be good for children growing up either. Part of childhood is learning from your mistakes and experiencing disappointment which ultimately makes you stronger.

You don't see kids going around with bruises and plasters and hurt limbs as much anymore because the outside world apparently is unsafe and you can be just as imaginative on your tablet sure. I can't speak for towns, but out in the country we used to flit between houses on our own accord and play football together. Again, I don't see the current generation mingling together as much outside (although I don't make it a habit of observing kids play either

)

So to answer the question, I would much prefer to be a child in my era thank you very much. More innocence yet more life experiences too. Although I am fully aware that technology has become all-consuming to the point that it is an everyday part of life in the twenty years since I was a 12-year old (christ I feel ancient)

Darksoul

I'm glad i was born mid 80s ,was lucky enough to be raised in the countryside,basically the outside world was your play area,kids these days from what I see they can't entertain themselves really thier lives depends on technology so much it's unbelievable.

I miss the old currency and picking what sweets and snacks you wanted for one pound,growing up buying Beano magazines,playing a hand me down commodore console on a black and white TV,getting a barrel and rolling down inside it down the hills near the home place, everything was just more fun,I even remember getting this guy every Friday after school calling over to us in a van that you rented videos for the week and it would make your day renting thunder cats or he-man cartoons even dungeon & dragons.

I think my era things were more appreciated,kids expect too much these days and they want the expensive stuff and I think social media is a bad influence,makes me think everyone back then had thier own identity,nowadays kids want to be a Kardashian or some other Machine Gun Kelly these days it's a joke!

I also think kids get away with murder these days and if I was a right little prick I would have gotten a good kick up the hole or the dreaded wooden spoon,in fairness I deserved those at times,these days ya can't even do that and ya wonder why kids are allowed to be all hysterical in public or whatever.

JupiterKid

riffmongous wrote: »

We're not talking about the western world though are we, we're talking about last gasp Catholic Ireland in the 90s. I don't know what your younger years were like but there was nothing openly discussed about sex or masturbation in the Ireland I remember

Oh come on! My school in Dublin had sex ed in the late 1980s when we were 12/13 - granted it was ahead of the curve, but not unique. You could get bootleg porn videotapes in secondary school from certain students. The 90s was a decade of tremendous and very rapid social change in Ireland, changes which began back in the late 1960s and early 70s but which snowballed in the 90s.

In hindsight, I’m glad that I grew up when I did, but I know that we all look back at out younger years with the bias rose-tinted specs to a large degree.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

JupiterKid wrote: »

Oh come on! My school in Dublin had sex ed in the late 1980s when we were 12/13 - granted it was ahead of the curve, but not unique. You could get bootleg porn videotapes in secondary school from certain students. The 90s was a decade of tremendous and very rapid social change in Ireland, changes which began back in the late 1960s and early 70s but which snowballed in the 90s.

I went to a nominally multi-denominational (though still basically Catholic ethos) community school from 1996 - 2001. We received sex education.

My husband went to a Catholic boy’s school from 1995 - 2000. No sex ed. None. Seriously. I was shocked. I really thought that by the late ‘90s, sex ed had arrived in all schools. I think my husband’s school was a more commonplace school experience than mine so I reckon a lot of people never received in sex ed in schools in even the late ‘90s.

CrankyHaus

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I went to a nominally multi-denominational (though still basically Catholic ethos) community school from 1996 - 2001. We received sex education.

My husband went to a Catholic boy’s school from 1995 - 2000. No sex ed. None. Seriously. I was shocked. I really thought that by the late ‘90s, sex ed had arrived in all schools. I think my husband’s school was a more commonplace school experience than mine so I reckon a lot of people never received in sex ed in schools in even the late ‘90s.

Even the nature of Sex Ed could be at the discretion of the school. I knew girls in the early 2000s who got Sex Ed from their all girls school that emphasised that condoms will break and abstinence is the only way to be sure.

silverharp

its a difficult one, kids today have the planet's knowledge at their finger tips , so I envy that but back in my day we werent bamboozled by choice and expectations were more reasonable

Rodin

silverharp wrote: »

its a difficult one, kids today have the planet's knowledge at their finger tips , so I envy that but back in my day we werent bamboozled by choice and expectations were more reasonable

But we could add up figures without reaching for our phones....

Exiled1

I was born in the fifties and feel we got the worst at the start....grinding poverty everywhere which did not ease to a large extent until the early seventies.
We were dominated by the Catholic Church to an unimaginable degree in every aspect of our lives. Sex education?? I was lucky and had enlightened parents.
Casual violence was endemic in society...you could be belted by a policeman or any adult in the area where there was even the mildest misbehaviour and that was replicated in most homes.
Women suffered abominably. There were few positive expectations for young girls except marriage and perhaps nursing or the nuns. More than anything the problem was the societal attitude that was appalling.
The casual violence was endemic in sport, enshrined in a GAA rule of 'third man tackle', in other words you were more likely to be assaulted off the ball than when it was nearby. Similarly the rules of soccer allowed leg-breaking tackles and the hard men of the sports were lionised, rather than being called out for being nasty bullies with little skill.
The levels of bullying throughout all aspects of society were extraordinary. From the bank manager who routinely intimidated his staff to uneducated workplace managers who were ignorant and routinely bullied staff or threatened them with the sack as begin the only method of getting work performance.
School yard bullying was only successfully dealt with by the victim hitting out hard (if s/he could bring him/herself to do this).
An earlier poster referred to single sex schools..... they were breeding grounds for many of the ills we are now trying to manage in society.
While aspects of the above remain, what has thankfully receded is the physical abuse at every level.
Would love to have been born in the late seventies-early nineties.

The Tetrarch

I was born in 1950.
There was no television, computers, few cars, and few telephones.
Entertainment was in short supply so you wandered around looking for things to do.

You might go in a group on bicycles exploring. Once we cycled from Blackrock to Greystones, all of us about ten years old.
Other favourites on the weekend were small carnivals, gymkanas, or bring and buy sales.
Following the stream at the end of our garden as far as possible in either direction seemed like a good idea, walking in the front garden and out the back garden of houses on the way. Going anywhere it wasn't unusual to go in a straight line, through fields and houses, climbing over walls and fences.
I remember climbing to the very top of a chestnut tree.
In the summer we cycled to Seapoint for swimming. Parents never accompanied us on any activity.

There was a lot of street soccer. Cars might pass once or twice an hour.
Down the country on holiday with our grandparents we would walk through three or four fields, examining the weeds, grass, flowers, streams, trees.

[Deleted User]

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I went to a nominally multi-denominational (though still basically Catholic ethos) community school from 1996 - 2001. We received sex education.

My husband went to a Catholic boy’s school from 1995 - 2000. No sex ed. None. Seriously. I was shocked. I really thought that by the late ‘90s, sex ed had arrived in all schools. I think my husband’s school was a more commonplace school experience than mine so I reckon a lot of people never received in sex ed in schools in even the late ‘90s.

In my religious school, the nuns handled the sex ed starting just after the inter/junior cert. The brothers/priests weren't involved. The sex ed was primarily related to morals and avoiding pregnancy with strong suggestion of abstinence. Still, the nuns were all trained nurses, and taught us quite well about the dangers of STDs. In addition, the biology class also dealt with reproduction and the preventative techniques to avoid pregnancy.

I've no idea what Sex Ed is like these days, but what I received was pretty comprehensive. It wasn't as if most students paid much attention to the classes, laughing in embarrassment, or trying to insult the teachers.

[Deleted User]

JupiterKid wrote: »

Oh come on! My school in Dublin had sex ed in the late 1980s when we were 12/13 - granted it was ahead of the curve, but not unique. You could get bootleg porn videotapes in secondary school from certain students. The 90s was a decade of tremendous and very rapid social change in Ireland, changes which began back in the late 1960s and early 70s but which snowballed in the 90s.

In hindsight, I’m glad that I grew up when I did, but I know that we all look back at out younger years with the bias rose-tinted specs to a large degree.

And our school got a 30 min SPHE class focused on STIs and a bit about condoms in the year 2000 and that was it. And it wasn't some sort of super religious school either, it was a CBS in name only, otherwise a normal mid-sized-town school. And I know from these sort of threads that this was much more common than some people realise, look at the follow up posts even.

And anyway the suggestion that getting a bootleg porno from a student is a rebuttal to 'nothing openly discussed about sex or masturbation' is a bit stupid

[Deleted User]

riffmongous wrote: »

And anyway the suggestion that getting a bootleg porno from a student is a rebuttal to 'nothing openly discussed about sex or masturbation' is a bit stupid

First off, I said IRC, not any kind of bootleg from a student. And secondly, file transfers through the various channels were damn good in terms of quality, far better than the newsgroups. I can remember getting the first lovers guide (early 90s) series of vids, which were something of a revelation. Third, a bit stupid?

I'm curious... how many people here actually know, for sure, just how open people are in discussing masturbation or sex in school or the home? Nowadays, that is. Is it all so wonderfully positive, and liberating? (in Ireland)

LuasSimon

When I grew up with your neighbours there was very little crime and no drugs , far more innocent days compared to 12 year olds watching porn these days .

We had more genuine friendships not on social media either , people now have 2000 friends in Facebook but hardly leave their house , when something goes wrong they don’t have 2 proper friends to talk to .

AMKC

I grow up in the 80s and 90s and loved it. We got to climb tress nearly fall out of them, we got use our imagination with our toys inside and out. I done lots of stupid things when I was young but I learned from it and none of it was bad. I don't think I ever got bored. I don't envy any child or teenager having to grow up in these times especially with social media and bullying on that too. It must be very stressful at times. Maybe the time we are going through now has made them realise do how lucky they have been with some things and have more respect for how lucky they are, to not take everything for granted which to be fair I think we all have child, teen or adult.

Sarcozies

CPTM wrote: »

I think I'd like to have been a child in the 50s and young adult in the 60s. Seems like it was a good time back then, in America in particular. Wouldn't want to be a kid born today, too much technology starting to take them from the real world. They're all haunted as far as I can see, bewildered when looking up from whatever device they're glued to.

Great time back then -- separate drinking fountains based on race, separate schools based on race, separate public transportation based on race.

They really had it figured out back in the good ol' days.

[Deleted User]

How many of us would have liked our parents all over us the way parents are today and able to track our every move via an app on a phone, no chance to do stupid things as a teen without your parents knowing ( or worst it following you around for life ).

freshpopcorn

I was born in the early 1990's so I grew up in the 90's and 00's.
I liked it for the most part. Things were fairly positive and okay most of the time. Now not all the time was perfect.
We has phones in Primary school(Some camera), Bebo appeared at around 6th class or 1st year. Now social media has changed since then. However one thing I do find those who were dozy with it 15 years ago are still the same now. Now matter how much education they get.
I am happy I' not in school now tough. When I went to school. You went there did you work, messed around with friends and the odd thing here and there. Now they seem to filled with all these committees, active flags, kids checking other kids lunch boxes, etc. It would have done my head in.

SharpshooterTom

Sarcozies wrote: »

Great time back then -- separate drinking fountains based on race, separate schools based on race, separate public transportation based on race.

They really had it figured out back in the good ol' days.

Racism was clearly a major issue everywhere in the US during those times but the segregation you're describing to that extent only happened in a certain number of US states.

DanielODonnell

The only difference for me if I was born in 2012 rather than 1992 is that my mother would have thrown me out of the house if I was born in 2012 as young parents now would never let their adult children live with them no matter what mental illnesses or social diseases they have. The older generation of parents are usually ok with letting bachelor live with them. I probably would be homeless or dead in 30s if I was born in 2012. I wonder what will become of my 8 year old nephew, he is diagnosed with mental problems already and his mother is a real witch. Maybe he will get a wife and live with her, I never had that option as I am a boring loner type.

Portmanteau

DanielODonnell wrote: »

The only difference for me if I was born in 2012 rather than 1992 is that my mother would have thrown me out of the house if I was born in 2012 as young parents now would never let their adult children live with them no matter what mental illnesses or social diseases they have.

Usually it's not possible to know what people's views will be in the future. Not even some members of a particular demographic, let alone all of them.

JupiterKid

I was born in 1975, so my formative years were from the late 1970s to the early to mid 90s. Ireland was a much much poorer country back in the 1980s thanks to shockingly bad economic policy, third world infrastructure and golden circles/old boys’ clubs in the most senior levels of business, government and the professions. It was all about who you knew, not what you knew. Many people were simply completely excluded from real opportunities so emigration was the only game in town for many. It was also, in hindsight, a crucial social safety valve. As recently as 1986 45% - yes, 45% of Irish children lived in consistent poverty by OECD standards.

My father came from relatively little in Belfast and worked extremely hard to achieve the career in business he did and give my sisters and I the things he never had as a child. We moved to Dublin when I was 10 months old as Belfast was engulfed by violence in the 1970s. Growing up, I had a relatively privileged middle class upbringing and knew I was more fortunate than most - but still, we had to save up for the things we wanted, got hand me down clothes, had to use our imaginations a lot, played outdoors on our bikes etc. No internet, no social media. 6 channels on the telly.

It’s been mentioned quite a few times before on various threads on boards that back in the 70s and 80s there was much more of a difference between Dublin and the rest of the country in terms of exposure to the media, “foreign” influences and general attitudes.

My parent’s generation - born in the 1940s - were rather paranoid in many ways. They were raised in extremely religious, conservative households with no television, pop music, discos, etc and saw how things were changing - scarily for them - in the 1980s in terms of the things we (their offspring) were being exposed to. There were a lot of “moral panic” stories in the press back then about drugs, rock music, bad influences on the TV etc.

Randy Archer

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Seems a lot of people I know around my age generally disliked their childhood growing up in the 80's and 90's how much they hated it and how horrible it was.

Children look back and think how did kids back as late as the 90's survive without the internet, phones, social media, its looks like a life of complete misery to them.

Would you have much preferred to grow up as a child today instead rather than in your era?

While the inter web ,and wap on mobiles were big by 1998 onwards , lack of internet was grand. Who remembers phone dial internet and the noise

For all your basic football /gaa news you had Aertel and BBCs version of it

Magazines were a big deal then. Your favourite football club had a monthly magazine that you could browse at in Easons on Saturdays when you were mopping around the town with no money lol. Music mags were big deal too , and Playboy, allegedly of course, was legal by 1993ish (loads of stuff band before that )

Knacker drinking /underage drinking was way more exciting, no mobiles so parents could hunt you down and no Judas betraying the pack with stupid selfies posted up on Facebook or twitter etc,

Updates about the next Training etc Were mobiles weren’t a thing ...you hear from it in school, maybe your coach would park outside the school to let ye know (he’d have kids in the school too )

Music was better , and there was even a sense of excitement to the album n single charts. None of that hip hop and r n b vomit either ,though some of the pop music was nonsense

Less whimps around too , you either hardened up or got slapped . Grrrr

Also, from 1991ish onwards, there was a big sense of positivity creeping into the country, the economy was starting to work and a lot of religious nuts were getting annoyed (divorce laws and new attitude towards single mothers ) by 1998 , things were fantastic in Ireland (oddly enough all my sports teams won stuff too lol )

People could say what they wanted and sod anyone who felt “insulted” - though I do recall the divorce and abortion referendums were nasty as was the fall out from Fr Brendan Smith

Watching UTV was a rather surreal event in that it was like watching bingo..How many Nordies were shot dead tonight and what street were they from. You knew revenge would be sought the next night .

Who remembers the channel 4 ads about the north . (Cat in the cradle ...)

Hindsight , the fashion ,bare element of Cool Britannia /Brit Pop we’re shockingly bad. Saying that, it was refreshing to see U2 (around Achtung Baby) ditch the cowboy Jesus act that they picked up from the 1980s ....leather trousers with leather waist coat and no shirt ..what was Bono doing ?

Randy Archer

JustAThought wrote: »

Defo prefer the era I was brought up in - much more freedom, no video/photo witnesses to everything, the bullying was in person and you could usually mostly avoid them, no overwhelming pressure from internet/FB/instagram, technology overload and Jesus- the points to get into college nowadays.

I was walking the dog in the park yesterday and this kid scooted up alongside me and started chatting about the dog. All I kept doing was checking to see where his parent was as I didn’t want to be accused of anything! Kid was dog mad so he scooted alongside us chatting for about 15 minutes until I stopped in the hope his parents would catch up or he would tire and scoot away. He was eight years old, and started to cry because his mother had said his dog had ‘run away at night and wasn’t coming back’ and he was scared that Freddy Kruger and the Slenderman would come and get him after midnight now that he didn’t have his dog to protect him and save him from the deamons.
He knew they were real because he had seen them on the over 18’s section on Netflix and had read lots about them on youtube. My heart nearly stopped listening to him and his fears. No 8 year old kid should be facing into that cos his mother leave him to watch tv and use the computer when she is at work - and did I have a father because he didn’t anymore and a lot of his friends did.

God Almighty. Give me my happy childhood anyday. He walked around the park with me and I let him hug the dog and his mother was at work and wasn’t there and he was going home to an empty house. My heart broke for him. Life shouldn’t be that hard or complicated or alone when you are 8 years old.

Wow ...

I don’t know, Some kids of the past also had to grow up earlier than normal for various reasons, but sweet Jesus ,an eight year old out on his own ...Christ ,dark .

Ya, the youth of today definitely have it harder in some respect. I was extremely glad to get out of college by mid 2000s , before the pc culture /sexualisation of everything etc but also financially. I got great grants and always had part time employment , by 2008 it was living hell for many students who weren’t for well off backgrounds. You really don’t need that hassle and worry at that point of your life

Ya couldn’t believe it when I went down to my uncles home (old grannies home ) and what did I see but his elderly mother in law (well, early 60’s) watching Love Hate and my four cousins under 15 (two of them still under 10) watching extremely graphically sex scenes from Love Hate. Total morto . You’d be kicked in the arse for being in the house with adults around back in our day. Lol

The scary tales remind me of granny tell us not to go near the water tank because there was a shark in it, or not to go near a big hole because sea dogs would drag us in . Scared the ****e out of us

Ger Roe

Randy Archer wrote: »

While the inter web ,and wap on mobiles were big by 1998 onwards , lack of internet was grand. Who remembers phone dial internet and the noise

For all your basic football /gaa news you had Aertel and BBCs version of it

Magazines were a big deal then. Your favourite football club had a monthly magazine that you could browse at in Easons on Saturdays when you were mopping around the town with no money lol. Music mags were big deal too , and Playboy, allegedly of course, was legal by 1993ish (loads of stuff band before that )

Knacker drinking /underage drinking was way more exciting, no mobiles so parents could hunt you down and no Judas betraying the pack with stupid selfies posted up on Facebook or twitter etc,

Updates about the next Training etc Were mobiles weren’t a thing ...you hear from it in school, maybe your coach would park outside the school to let ye know (he’d have kids in the school too )

Music was better , and there was even a sense of excitement to the album n single charts. None of that hip hop and r n b vomit either ,though some of the pop music was nonsense

Less whimps around too , you either hardened up or got slapped . Grrrr

Also, from 1991ish onwards, there was a big sense of positivity creeping into the country, the economy was starting to work and a lot of religious nuts were getting annoyed (divorce laws and new attitude towards single mothers ) by 1998 , things were fantastic in Ireland (oddly enough all my sports teams won stuff too lol )

People could say what they wanted and sod anyone who felt “insulted” - though I do recall the divorce and abortion referendums were nasty as was the fall out from Fr Brendan Smith

Watching UTV was a rather surreal event in that it was like watching bingo..How many Nordies were shot dead tonight and what street were they from. You knew revenge would be sought the next night .

Who remembers the channel 4 ads about the north . (Cat in the cradle ...)

Hindsight , the fashion ,bare element of Cool Britannia /Brit Pop we’re shockingly bad. Saying that, it was refreshing to see U2 (around Achtung Baby) ditch the cowboy Jesus act that they picked up from the 1980s ....leather trousers with leather waist coat and no shirt ..what was Bono doing ?

The issue of the North and watching UTV is a big memory of my growing up in the 70's. It was a different world (of war), and yet it was on this island and only 80 miles up the road from where we lived, in Dublin. I remember the horror I felt when I first realised that - I genuinely thought it was in another part of the world.

I remember UTV breaking into programmes regularly to tell shop owners on certain Belfast streets to return to their premises and check for 'devices'. The news spoke of so many people being shot in the Ardoyne, that I thought it was a part of your body. And yet, for the most part, life continued as normal down south while we watched the nightly news, hoping that it didn't come further down the road.

At least that's one aspect that young people today don't have to deal with, although it would do no harm for them to at least have an understanding of it. My teen and twenty kids watch it all on Reeling in the years now, and I can see the same horror as they realise that it happened on our little Island, within my living memory.

[Deleted User]

Just to cheer people up, we were walking behind 3 boys of about 10/11 when we were out for our walk yesterday, they were having a detailed discussion on whether Barcelona could be considered the greatest football team ever.

I loved the sheer normality of it.

Minime2.5

80s was the best time to be a kid because of this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7yeA7a0uS3A

[Deleted User]

Born in the late 80s, probably pretty much the ideal time. No more corporal punishment but no reliance on technology. Leave the house at 9, play football til 1, home for dinner, play football til the sun went down.
I think a large part of what I feel sorry for kids with now is how things seem regimented. Lifts to activities and play dates. Hour here, hour in another place. Over-parenting to some extent but also smaller families. Where I grew up there were maybe 20 kids within 10 years of each other on the one street. 30 years before that there were 10 kids in each of 20 houses. :P Making friends involved going being outside with your parents and by the time you were 4 you had a few friends.
As for technology I got to get the excitement of getting a computer and the internet before many Irish people were on it. I got to see games go from Mega Drive to the absolutely mental stuff we see now. If I'd grown up with HD touchscreens I probably wouldn't have gotten seen much novelty in the technology.
But yeah, wouldn't like to be a kid now. Constant dopamine hits from flashing lights causes me problems as an adult, wouldn't like to see how it'd be if I were a kid now.

andekwarhola

Pointless comparing them. You have a good childhood or bad childhood, whatever the era. Most of the stuff people eluogize about their childhood, my kids - and I'm sure lots of others - still do: playing out all day and evening in summer, games, football etc.

That said, the only thing I'd despise about this era for my kids is the ubiquity of social media amongst kids, where any lapse of judgement can have huge public consequences.