Do You Think Children Of Yesteryear Had More Fun?

Discussion in Off Topic Discussion & General Questions started by sunnyside • May 8, 2016.

  1. sunnyside

    sunnysideActive Member

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    Nowadays with all the technology like cellphones, IPads, IPods, Tablets and the like, I wonder how many kids still play with dolls and doll houses, toy cars and toy trucks. How about games like hide and seek, indoor games and puzzles, or outdoor ball games or kite flying?

    Years ago when there was not so much technology, children seemed to have more fun. At least, that is my opinion. These days everyone, including children, have all kinds of gadgets which tend to keep them more isolated as they are more taken up with these gadgets. Instead of running around outside or playing with the kids next door, children can now be seen focusing on an IPad, Tablet or fancy cellphone.

    Would you say that kids or yesteryear had more fun, or do you think what the kids do today is just as much fun, only in a different way?
     
  2. gmckee1985

    gmckee1985Active Member

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    Yes, I honestly think children in previous generations had more fun. I like technology as much as the next person. It's a good tool and it's fun. But nothing beats being outside with your friends playing sports or swimming, climbing trees. I had a lot of fun as a kid. And I didn't grow up in the olden days. This was the 80's and 90's. So it's not like I'm talking about ancient history here. It's just that society as changed so much in recent years. Kids are pretty much addicted to these technological devices.
     
  3. atlmom5

    atlmom5Active Member

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    Children in the previous generations had more fun. I grew up in the 80's and 90's and there was nothing like playing outside until the street lights came on. The adventures of just exploring your neighborhood/city. One of my fondest memories was being 12 years old and doing all the usual fun stuff like bike riding, playing kickball and swimming during the summer, but this particular summer my friends and I decided we were going to ride the train and explore the city by ourselves. We wanted to know where certain buses would take us, we decided that we wouldn't get off at any stops, we just wanted to see where the number 36 or whatever would take us, and we would repeat this pattern throughout our summer. We also explored different cultural markets, we lived in an area that had many ethnic markets and shops. So we would explore different ethnic supermarkets and many of the managers would give us samples of food and fruits. Oh it was such a wonderful experience for me, so much so that I've always encouraged my children to explore and have their own little adventures while growing up. They watch TV and play video games too, however, they aren't addicted to the stuff and that's because I made sure that was limited(no TV or video games during the week, only weekends when they were younger), I made sure they read books and worked on hobbies. We even had a night called spotlight nights that was devoted to showcasing anything they were working from playing their musical instrument, sharing artwork or anything they were working on. My kids loved "spotlight nights" so much that they didn't have time to waste watching a screen for hours, they wanted to share their new found interests with their family.

    I just find it really sad to see kids addicted to their phones and other tech devices at such young ages. Well, any age is sad, but in my opinion no child should love a device more than being outdoors playing.
     
  4. obliviousme

    obliviousmeActive Member

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    Yes, no doubt bout that. Children in the past generation are more active, social and creative with their games but nowadays, they are so engrossed in their gadgets, not to mention the very addicting online games, and they seem totally fine with that. Technology i feel is making us all antisocial and narcissistic with the constant promotion of your selfies in social media.
     
  5. rz3300

    rz3300Active Member

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    That is a tough one. Certainly technology is much better these days and we know it makes for better toys and more options and all of that, but you have to factor in expectations and just general context, and I think that kids back in the day did have more fun. For one thing they probably got out more, which itself just naturally makes you happier, and then I think they probably had simpler lives, which often leads to more fun.
     
  6. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    No way. I think kids nowadays have way more fun. They have way more entertainment and they can choose whatever is more specific to their taste whereas back in the day you were pretty much left to just follow the crowd or else feel left out. That means if you didn't enjoy what the whole local community enjoyed you were out of luck and most of the time you'd probably even get chastised for it. Now children receive a lot more encouragement and options and society in general is a lot more understanding that not everyone has to be just one certain way.
     
  7. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    Every generation complains about the next. As far as I can tell, that's been going on since the beginning of time lmao. Fun is subjective. What I find fun, you wouldn't and vice versa. Same with fun then and fun now. Whyyyy do all adults assume that kids have it all wrong and they couldn't possibly be learning, having fun, entertaining themselves etc, unless it's done exactly as they did back in the day? I had fun growing up, but if I were thrown back in time now, I'd be bored to tears! lol. They're having fun or they wouldn't be doing it. You can't go back in time and expect to adjust to the new ways of life.. technology is the future. The now! They need it, they love it, they ARE growing because of it. If they don't spend enough time outdoors and we think that's important.. guess whose fault it is they're cooped up?
     
  8. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    @JosieP@JosieP....you took the words right out of my mouth hehe I totally agree with you, it's all relative. We may have had fun in our time, but today's kids would probably be bored to tears. I mean, they now have a whole lot more options than we did, including what some of us had growing up. I guess the only thing I'll say is we probably had more 'wholesome' type fun; playing outside, playing games, climbing trees, riding bicycles, swimming etc whereas today's kids are more about gadgets and all that. But because fun's subjective, even while we think our fun was more fun, today's kids will probably tell you we grew up in boring times.
     
  9. PennyPincher

    PennyPincherMember

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    Absolutely! At least, I know I did. When I was growing up, I spent the days I was not in school outside from daylight to dark. I would go out in the morning and roam all over our farm, I played with my cats and dogs, climbed trees, went to the barn and petted the livestock and just had fun all day long. I just do not think my kids would enjoy that like I did.
     
  10. artyarson

    artyarsonActive Member

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    I don't think, to be honest. We tend to exaggerate. We all had our e-games, too. And the older generation were telling us that we are kind of zombies.

    Current children just have more advanced technologies. Nothing more.