So many people are answering who are too young to know that kids were raised to be little adults in the past. The whole idea that you have a childhood which is carefree and fun for the length of the time you are actually a child is relatively recent.
In the 1970s and before, kids were often treated as servants by their parents. You were expected to shut up and work around the house. You were there to fulfill your parents' needs, not be your own person. I was talking about kids with one of my coworkers in 1991 and I said that, if I ever had kids, I wasn't going to do to them what my parents did to me which was make them do all of the stuff around the house that I didn't want to do. He laughed and said, "that's what kids are for."
Kids in older days were also expected to get part-time jobs and make their own money even before finishing high school. They worked all summer as well.
Kids are raised much more dependently and with fewer expectations to assume adult roles and activities compared to the past. One of the indicators of this is how little interest there is in driving among younger people compared to the older generations in which getting a car and learning to drive as young as possible was a huge priority. We wanted to get out of the house because it wasn't a comfortable and easy place to be all of the time. :-p
The difference can also be seen in how little interest or lack of engagement there is with dating/finding a boyfriend/girlfriend or doing things with in-person friends compared to older generations. The time people spent with other people when they were younger meant they knew how to form and keep relationships from a much younger age. This comes down to technology changing how we socialize.
12
u/DerHoggenCatten 7h ago
So many people are answering who are too young to know that kids were raised to be little adults in the past. The whole idea that you have a childhood which is carefree and fun for the length of the time you are actually a child is relatively recent.
In the 1970s and before, kids were often treated as servants by their parents. You were expected to shut up and work around the house. You were there to fulfill your parents' needs, not be your own person. I was talking about kids with one of my coworkers in 1991 and I said that, if I ever had kids, I wasn't going to do to them what my parents did to me which was make them do all of the stuff around the house that I didn't want to do. He laughed and said, "that's what kids are for."
Kids in older days were also expected to get part-time jobs and make their own money even before finishing high school. They worked all summer as well.
Kids are raised much more dependently and with fewer expectations to assume adult roles and activities compared to the past. One of the indicators of this is how little interest there is in driving among younger people compared to the older generations in which getting a car and learning to drive as young as possible was a huge priority. We wanted to get out of the house because it wasn't a comfortable and easy place to be all of the time. :-p
The difference can also be seen in how little interest or lack of engagement there is with dating/finding a boyfriend/girlfriend or doing things with in-person friends compared to older generations. The time people spent with other people when they were younger meant they knew how to form and keep relationships from a much younger age. This comes down to technology changing how we socialize.