Did children once have more freedom?

Yes, in the holidays we’d head off to the local rec with sandwiches first thing and be out all day. I feel sorry for today’s kids they are very restricted compared to my childhood.

I was allowed out on my own - well we took ourselves to and from school from the age of six anyway, but the first time my Mum went into town shopping and left me at home on my own I was about 9. I can remember waiting anxiously for her to come home and asking "Did you bring me anything?"
Yes, she'd brought me a book

In the 1950s we didnt have much materially but did but have a lot more freedom, than children today. My grandchildren can’t believe we went out to play with friends and parents were not watching nearby. They have done nothing on their own, not even posted a letter in the box on the corner of their road.
We played in the street, the woods, the park. Walked to school on our own from the age of 6 which included crossing busy roads, and were much more independent.

When I was 11, I cycled two miles across our local golf links to go to the swimming pool. Alone. Summer evenings after school.
Looking back, I’m amazed my mum let me, as she was quite a fussy, worrying type of mother.
The thoughts of paedophiles lurking in the bracken never occurred to anyone back then.
I think because I could swim well by then, Mum was happy for me to go, and enjoy meeting up with friends.
Of course, now parents would drive their children there and either go to the pool with them, if not would certainly be on their mobiles to them to say when they would collect them.

Depended where we lived (DF was in the army, so we moved constantly). At 7, with my 5 year old sister, we had freedom to go wherever we wanted, unsupervised, living in a small rural village in Yorkshire.

Even living in Hong Kong, aged 10 and 8, my sister and I caught a bus, ferry and another bus to get to school on our own.

For DGC, living in a town close to a busy arterial road, they started walking to school alone at 9, not far but with the main road to cross and 3 busy side roads. At 10 they started to go elsewhere by themselves preparatory for 'big' school. DGS is currently meeting with a friend once a week and walking a mile to the local shops to do some shopping, preparatory for a 2 mile journey to secondary school this autumn.

I think the biggest problem nowadays is traffic. There was hardly any when I was small, now DGCs road is lined with parked cars with traffic constantly passing up and down and a very busy road at the bottom, as I said.

I don’t envy children today at all and I’m so grateful for my own childhood in the 50s60’s where we lived by the beach and after my brother and I had helped in our guesthouse were allowed to jump over the wall run down the fields and spend all day on the beach with a bottle of squash, we went swimming and spent hours there and we were about eight and 10, definitely would be frowned upon now but it was an idyllic childhood...?

Never left alone in the house until I was 16 but did go out exploring a lot. We went out as a family a huge amount including evenings. I went out on my bike with friends and took a picnic. Lucky enough to live in very rural part of Derbyshire.

You don't say how old the children were on the summer beach holiday by themselves.

I lived in norbury, south London, in the fifties, and as a child from about the age of 7 would take myself the mile to school with a group of friends from our street. I remember being sent home early one day because there was a very thick smog. There was no way of contacting parents then, we just set off into the yellow swirly fog and found our way home!

We used to walk to nearby countryside and spend the day there, only going home as it was getting dark. As someone said there was no thoughts about perverts, although we all looked out for each other and we did have it drummed into us that we shouldn't speak to strangers.

Walking to school alone was commonplace. I do recall walking to school one day and a car stopped and the driver offered me a lift - it was a friend of my father. I refused and worried all day that my father would think I had been rude to his friend for refusing the lift. (In fact he praised me and said I had done the right thing.)

I think we grew up to be much more independent than children are today - although I appreciate we do hear more about perverts than we used to so it is unsurprising parents want to keep their children safe.

I was never left alone in the house but was allowed out to play all day. I'd disappear for hours, only going home when I was hungry

I went to Primary School on the bus on my own

Without a doubt we had more freedom.
I'd say from 10 onwards a handful of us would walk the local country lanes to a fishing pond and we'd be gone all day until teatime though we didn't have a clue of the time until one kid would ask a passer-by. This was the 50's. There was no fear of anything or anybody in those days and we had real fun and adventures. Idyllic is the only way to describe it. So happy. If only those times came back

A bottle of melted jelly cubes with cold water added and meat paste sandwiches----which I did the carrying of .

Me and my sister did exactly the same tanith.
We had a great time and never were afraid.
I feel sad for youngsters today,they wouldn`t feel as safe as we did.

Yes far more freedom. I walked to school from age 5 with my big sister and other children joined us but there were more people on the pavements weren't there because there were fewer cars. So it's catch 22.
Nowadays most DC get driven to school so the roads are busier and more dangerous and there are fewer families walking so you have stranger danger.

I must have had danger instilled in me though because I can remember being offered a lift, in the pouring rain by a woman with DC in her car but I refused to get in.. I will have been about 8 or 9.
I called the police once when my DS said he had been offered a lift by a stranger on his way home from football practice. He will have been 11 or 12 but small

My experiences were similar to yours EllenVannin and I too have precious memories and so did my two friends who sadly have both now passed away. Definitely we had more freedom but I was never left alone until I was 16 and then I had two friends staying with me in the house. From the age of ten, so from 1953, in the school holidays and at weekends I was allowed to spend all day with my two friends and we share some fabulous memories of simple pleasures such as bike rides, picnics, going to the record store and asking to listen to records in a booth, playing lots of different games, fetching shopping for our parents and taking neighbours’ babies for a walk. I never remember saying ‘I’m bored’. My two sons, who are now 54 and 52 also had more freedom than today’s children. They were allowed to play outside with neighbours’ children and make their own way to and from school from the age of 10 and 8 although there was a school bus when they were at middle school. They also enjoyed bike rides with friends, playing tennis at the local tennis courts and generally spending time with friends. I also never heard ‘I’m bored’ from either of them.

Out early in the morning with my friends- I am not sure what was done about lunch but I returned home in the evening when I was hungry. We lived in the country- a few houses- my parents both worked full time.

The dog and I were sometimes left on our own in the evenings- no TV in those days. I used to amuse myself by playing with the coal fire! My parents would have had a fit if they had known. I also went to school on the bus at a very early age.

During daylight hours we would go to the local woods and have a picnic there.

We also picked raspberries for cash but my mother said it cost her more in supplying food and drink than whatever I ever earned.

The only thing I was not allowed to do was ride my bike to the local town 2 miles away because I had no idea of the Highway Code. I rode locally only.

None of this would be allowed to happen now.

I think we were less fearful of the bad stuff. We were left alone in the house sometimes with warnings not to play with matches and the like.
When we went out to play at the rec we were told not to accept lifts or sweeties from strangers and to come back before tea time. I couldn't say whether Mum ever worried about us in our absence - we simply didn't think to ask. Simpler times, perhaps.

I don't remember being left alone at home until I was around 12/13 but did have a lot more freedom out of doors. In the summer holidays we could be out all day with a packed lunch.
I lived on the coast and we spent a lot of time in the amusements and on the beach. I was not supposed to hang around the amusements as my mother thought the people working there were unsavoury.

Grammaretto

Yes far more freedom. I walked to school from age 5 with my big sister and other children joined us but there were more people on the pavements weren't there because there were fewer cars. So it's catch 22.
Nowadays most DC get driven to school so the roads are busier and more dangerous and there are fewer families walking so you have stranger danger.

I must have had danger instilled in me though because I can remember being offered a lift, in the pouring rain by a woman with DC in her car but I refused to get in.. I will have been about 8 or 9.
I called the police once when my DS said he had been offered a lift by a stranger on his way home from football practice. He will have been 11 or 12 but small

I also have a vivid memory of being offered a lift by a man who told me he knew my father. I was about 8 and used to call for a friend who lived a short distance away and we would walk to school together. One day she was ill so I walked to school on my own, it was at dinner time because we went home for dinner and I was walking back to school when the car drew up. I got in the car but almost immediately I began to feel scared. He stopped at the school gates and asked if I wanted to go a ride with him. I said no and thankfully was able to open the car door and get out. My father was a policeman and when I told him he said I must never do that again. He managed to instill the danger in me and I never forgot the incident and realise I was very fortunate that it wasn’t worse.

I remember being told never to accept sweets from strangers, but I had no idea why. I thought maybe strangers’ sweets were not very good ones!

No, not here, I live in a rural area and my children and their friends had very similar childhoods to my own. They both went on picnics, bike rides, swimming in the river (very shallow), sledging, tree climbing etc. with their friends from the age of about 10. They had mobile phones, but I didn’t worry about them as they were in groups. The worst thing that happened was when the local vicar called my son and his friends heathens when they knocked on his door at Halloween and gave them an impromptu sermon. I think you have to give them some responsibility, it helps them develop their coping skills.

We definately had more freedom.

I grew up in the 60's. We were one of the first families to move into a council estate still undergoing construction when I was 8. We played out all day on our own in the local park and during (light) evenings and weekends we had much fun building never ending 'dens' in the parts of the estate that were still being built.

From 10 years old I was at home all day while mum and dad were at work - mum started work at 7.30am. During school time I would get myself ready, make my own breakfast and then walk to and from school. During the school holidays our flat would be full of kids from the estate. I was always getting into trouble over this with mum threatening to lock me out of the flat after she left for work at 7am - fortunately that never happened.

From aged around 14 to 16 my best friend and I went on the bus to a different youth club in our town every night, walking several miles home in the dark on the many occasions we missed the last bus.

Oh we most certainly did, and even my children now in their thirties and forties had masses of freedom compared with children today.

Like all of us of our generation, my school holidays were spent outside playing or going for bike rides. Our mums didn’t have a clue where we were but that’s how things were - a wonderful childhood full of freedom.

My own children had a similar time but I did want to know roughly where they were going and they were always told what time to get home.

My son in particular got into some scrapes including falling in the river once but they survived and were happy healthy children who undoubtedly benefited from the freedom.

I find it quite sad that children today are the first generation to not have the chance of a proper childhood.

Jane43 , same with my two daughters and 2 stepchildren in the early 60's when they all played on the shore near to where we lived. They enjoyed themselves too and I never had to worry about the dangers of the sea as they were all sensible about it and kept together. Buckets and spades and they were off. The usual paste sandwiches and a few coppers for a bottle of pop from the local fancy goods shop.

I did drill into them not to talk to anyone and thankfully I didn't have any scares. I was like a record every day during their school holidays when more people would be around.

I think I spent most of my time hoovering up sand and washing it out of their clothes and emptying their shoes We had shells everywhere too of all shapes.

The freedom and independence was so good for them. I certainly can't imagine even sending a child to the corner shop now. Such a horrible world we live in, in comparison.

The youngest of mine is 57.

When we were children our family had a holiday house in Anglesey.We spent all time we weren’t in school there.

We would meet up with our friends in the morning and wouldn’t go home until we heard my mother blowing a whistle in the evening!We had a small boat and would go to see and row to the next bay?we would also clamber over the rocks to meet our friends when the tide was in!We were in and out of the sea all day.

I took my family there a couple of years ago and was shocked to realise how far we roamed.My girls couldn’t believe it.I used to collect them and take them everywhere.

At home in Liverpool, my friends and I would pack a picnic and take off on our bikes for hours.

Yes, I definitely think we had a lot more freedom.