If Children Today Lived in the 1960s …
Found photos of my parents’ wedding in 1966!
Everyone looked so youthful then.
And it kinda made me wonder, emmm … what would Wilson and I look like if we were to get married in the 1960s?
Perhaps we would look something like this? Haha.
Anyway.
I’m sure life – close to 50 years ago – was so much simpler.
No mobile phones.
No internet.
No fancy gadgets.
And their day to day activities would most likely revolve around their rather big family.
(Like most other families, my parents each had more than 4 siblings and they themselves had four children)
Yes, things are so much different now.
And, raising children TODAY obviously has its pros and cons, when compared to how life would’ve been like for them if they’re to live in the 1960s.
…
If children today were to live in the 1960s, … they would have had less ‘knowledge’
Of course they could always read thousands of books and watch the news / other programmes on TV (a luxury good at the time).
But, in 1960s, they did NOT have access to real-time news updates that allow them to discover the happenings around the world.
Also, back then, they did NOT have the internet that would have allowed them to learn online, from experts around the world.
[Children today has access to ‘more’. Here’s our 9yo daughter, Anya, watching craft shows online]
…
If children today were to live in the 1960s, … they would have enjoyed more time with family and friends.
Back in the 1960s, I’m 100% sure that life in general was so much less competitive than how life is like today.
Most likely, parents then were not as stressed out about their children’s academic performance at school, and the children’s concern was more about playtime with friends.
Not quite about doing worksheets and attending enrichment classes.
[Courtesy of Humboldt Centennial Photo Collection]
And because there were no smart phones, no internet, and no gadgets, when children were not out playing with their friends, they would most likely be spending time at home, with the family.
ie. Opportunities for REAL interactions with friends and families were plenty at the time!
…
3. If children today were to live in the 1960s, … they would have had more opportunities to exercise better communication and social skills
This point is actually related to point no. 2 above.
It’s the direct result of spending more REAL TIME with friends and families.
If children today are more engrossed in playing with their gadgets and interacting with online friends than real ones, then how could they exercise values like, forgiveness, appreciation and toleration?
If children today are bogged down by worksheets and tuitions after tuitions every single day, then how could they go outdoors and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation that surrounds them?
Well, they couldn’t.
…
Yes, there ARE many lessons that we can learn from life in the 1960s, aren’t they?
Things like :
> Read books, don’t just be engaged in electronic media
> Knowing ‘more’ is good, but having communication/social skill is equally (if not more) important
> Spend more quality time (real interactions) with our family
> Develop REAL friendships
> Playtime is best when it’s done with real people
> Go outdoors more often
> Let children play and enjoy their childhood
Any more to add to the list?
Food for thought.
For me personally, and hopefully for you too.
…
What say you?
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Inspiring post. I was thinking about writing a blog post on the various generations as well. Agree that we all could use a little more outdoors, a little more live social interactions.
PeiShan recently posted..Becoming Toddler
love your blog as always………I too remember growing up in the early eighties in the island of lombok was so much different than it is today. No Ipad or ipod to play with, and television didn’t start until 5 in the afternoon. But yet the memory is staying strong with me until now. There was only two bookstore
Love this article. Today I was just reminiscing about my childhood at Greenfield Drive, Frankel Estate. I am a baby boomer and started Primary schooling in 1964.
Life was so different then. Everyone seemed happy regardless of their standing in life. It was basic and everybody knew everybody in the neighbourhood. There was no divide between the house owners and squatters, and everyone respected each other and would not bat an eyelid to help when required.
It was the age of innocence. The fathers went to work, the mothers stayed at home looking after the children and spent most of their time at the kitchen preparing square meals everyday.
At times, there would be a bevy of ladies at home with my mother spending some quality time in kitchen. That was the time I loved the most because my friends came too.
We played with the the toys we made. We ventured into the brushes collecting anything that caught our fancy and curiosity. We played hide and seek, goli-goli (marbles), kuti-kuti (small plastic figurine), catching and bola hantam.
In front of our home, there was a huge field. The ground was patchy and uneven but was reasonably safe to kick the football about. Every evening before dinner, almost every kids in the neighbourhood would come out to have a game of soccer. Could be 3 aside upto 11 aside.
There was no television then. It was only in the mid 60’s the government installed one at a community ground used mainly for chinese wayang and along that street there was pasar malam once every week.
Before the TV was install, sometimes this community ground doubled as an open air cinema where every family would make an effort to congregate. Although I was not interested in the movie, I looked forward to attend because there would be hawkers and stalls parked along the street where I can spend some of my pocket money. Thirty cents in the pocket is hell of a lot to spend with. A packet of chay kueh teow, an ice ball and some lollies and still have change.
Life was so simple then and I am glad to have experienced the world without technology.