Are youngsters these days scared of having fun?

I didn't think it did.

jingl, mine was a very brief rebellious phase - it didn't lead to a life of debauchery, thank goodness!

I think young people have loads of fun these days and the difference between now and then (say, before the 60s) is there's so much more for them to do. The choices are mind-boggling compared to back then.

In post war Britain, life has been very different for every generation. The range of things to do with our disposable income just keeps getting longer.

I'm glad children nag adults not to smoke and I'm glad teenagers don't need alcohol to have a good time. Plenty of people my age never liked the taste of alcohol and only drank it to be considered cool and peer pressure.

Everybody's idea of fun is different.

Many, probably most, schools offer instrumental lessons.

Perhaps if less was spent on junk food, fags and drinks, more parents would be able to afford to spend more on their children.

Yes. For a while I missed some of the fun of the sixties. Mostly due to life events.

Never pined for cigs or booze though.

And I wasn't down for long. Thank you for expressing your sympathy.

I turned 17 in 1960, and like thousands of other teenagers in their first jobs I had a ball. What a shame you missed it all*jingle bells*. Mary Quant thigh-high skirts, Vidal Sasson bob , and impractical Courrege boots ....now I'm a clean living grandma wearing Hotter sandals (still got a Sasson style bob though). I feel so sorry for teenagers today with all the problems of student loans, drugs and image obsession. We really did have it all.

I think, on the whole, most activities require a certain level of disposable income. An instrumental lesson, or any one-on-one lesson, will cost at least £20 ph around here, and probably more in some parts of the country.

Many kids won't get a look in .

Anyone can afford to send their children to Cubs, or Boys' Brigade. It doesn't have to be middle class. Would be good if more dads would come forward to be Scout leaders though. There is a dire shortage.

When I read buildagran's post I agree with it. And I also agree that all the modern technology does take children away from some other temptations (except the porn.)
The various cultural activities though - it demands much more effort from parents. Our children spend much more time transporting the grandchildren to their various activities than we did. We did take them camping a lot though.
But all these cultural things are very "middle class". What proportion of the population can afford this? I wonder if those families on a lower income, with a less intellectual background, are coping? There still seems to be plenty of young people in trouble with the police in the big cities. And they use the internet to arrange meetings.
I'm not convinced - leaving this openended.

Well, it was the 60s...

Well, we thought so! Not earning, though, still at school.

Was it that really fun?

(I'm glad I wasn't going in pubs and smoking ciggies as soon as I started earning)

Many of today's children are amongst the best this country has ever produced. So it should be. Long may it continue.

Think each generation finds it difficult to understand the next.All our grandchildren are different and that's how it should be. We can learn from each other, my grandchildren teach me all about technology and I can give them different experiences that parents can't always. Thus it ever was.

jinglebells it was your comments on my auntie that I was responding to...Sigh...

Can we play nicely now, please?

For more exciting read less exciting.

It's true, minimo. We couldn't wait to get served (underage) in pubs and start smoking as soon as we could afford 5 Park Drive from the corner shop...

Thank goodness today's youngsters are making healthier choices.

"kids dont want to do anything but playing on their ipads..phones ...games consoles etc"

My grandchildren must be the exceptions, then. They play squash (rather well, competing at inter-regional standard)) violin (rather well, took it to graduate and now post-graduate level) sew, read, cook, cycle, garden, and when they are not doing these things they play Minecraft and chat to their friends online.

In the past they have played foorball, badminton and hockey (hockey not for long, proved more exciting) and done the Ten Tors challenge.

I may have missed out a few things.

My neigghbours children play the violin, cello, trumpet and cornet, and join their mother in band concerts and garden and cook.. They do judo and used to play hockey and football until school work became important with looming exams.

You can't generalise. What their parents do influences what the children do - if they watch TV all evening, they can hardly complain if the children are glued to a smaller screen. Their example is valuable.

Oh, let's get back on topic. Would rather do that than spat.

I tend to agree that youngsters are a lot more tame than previous generations. They're also far more health conscious than I think we ever were. There are no-alcohol bars (that aren't going out of business!), there's the whole-food movement, I think they're getting enjoyment from other things. It doesn't look as much 'fun' from our vantage point but it does make for less worried parents. I think back to some of my young adult misdemeanours with embarrassment

I've read through this thread twice and I can't see what you have to object to in jinglbellsfrocks posts Jenty61 - and it's not often I've said that! I have to say I agree with what she says [shock}

I could start a thread about my aunty.

Shall we have an aunty thread?

You could start a thread about your aunty.

But she wouldn't have been driving then, surely? I can't see what was wrong with your DD asking her politely not to smoke in the car when she was with her