Myth or Fact: Parents of the 70s and 80s allowed kids to roam free?

[85 East]

My parents used to send me to the store to buy them cigarettes. We'd come with a signed letter. They stopped that around 1990 though. Plus you'd have friends in like grade 5 or 6 who smoked.

 

[feelosofer]

Yea. 80s parents def gave more leeway but neighbors were like surveillance so they could always report back of you were cutting up.

 

[Jaguar93]

Times were the entire neighborhood knew each other lol.

 

[MacNCheese]

I was born in 93 and from like age 7 and up I didn't have any restrictions on where I could go or a curfew. In fact, a rule in my house was that if I missed the bus in the morning I had to walk to school. Only happened (in middle school) twice but it was a 3.5 mile walk. Had to print out directions on MapQuest to figure out a way to get there without walking across the highway. And me being a ADHD having little idiot I couldn't even read the maps right, so it took me like two and a half hours .

 

[Luke Cage]

I was born in 93 and from like age 7 and up I didn't have any restrictions on where I could go or a curfew. In fact, a rule in my house was that if I missed the bus in the morning I had to walk to school. Only happened (in middle school) twice but it was a 3.5 mile walk. Had to print out directions on MapQuest to figure out a way to get there without walking across the highway. And me being a ADHD having little idiot I couldn't even read the maps right, so it took me like two and a half hours .

Ah i almost forgot when you had to print out map quest directions for road trips. feel like we;ve been using gps/phones forever now.

 

[Gritsngravy]

Yessir.

Born in the 80s so yeah we roamed.

Back home by the street lights was the rule, but often times me n my friends would come back from whatever adventure we'd been on and people in the neighborhood would be like

"your parents were outside calling for you"

Me " ...."

It used to be easy to tell where all the kids were by the bikes piled up in the front yard but then big kids would steal the bikes so we started tucking them around the back of the house.

Parents did NOT like that.

I remember in summer playing in the yard with friends after the streetlights came on, chasing n catching fireflies.

Now I can't remember the last time I saw one within the past twenty years.

It's like a piece of childhood magic that was lost with time.

It’s crazy how I used to see fireflies consistently as a kid but I haven’t seen one in years

I just assumed they died off or something

 

[Luke Cage]

It’s crazy how I used to see fireflies consistently as a kid but I haven’t seen one in years

I just assumed they died off or something

They used to fill up my backyard at night. and now its literally just crickets.
Apparently its pesticides that did them in. shame, they seemed magical to me as a kid

 

[Double Burger With Cheese]

My parents used to send me to the store to buy them cigarettes. We'd come with a signed letter. They stopped that around 1990 though. Plus you'd have friends in like grade 5 or 6 who smoked.

My aunts and uncles would do this and the store would always call to confirm when we got there cause they knew we was bad as fukk lol. Used to be mobbing across the whole city on bikes and the train at like 11 years old

 

[SoSoSlick]

Yep. Was never home unless I was hungry or it was late (before Nintendo dropped the NES).

 

[Gritsngravy]

They used to fill up my backyard at night. and now its literally just crickets.
Apparently its pesticides that did them in. shame, they seemed magical to me as a kid

It makes sense, they say the same thing about stray bees

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Absolutely. Some people had “cant go past this block” rules (or maybe we all did) but eveyone just went wherever they wanted to as long as you were home before the streetlights.

Remember there were no cell phones or tracking or anything, and kids played outside so it was rare to go over your folks crib (no video games and too old to play with toys)

I was raised in 80s. By 90s we at least had video games

Yeah I imagine most friends lived in the same neighborhood too either walking or a bike ride away.

I never see kids out and about these days, but it could be my neighborhood.

 

[MR. SNIFLES]

YEP. WE RAN AROUND IN GROUPS OF 5-15 KIDS ON BIKES.

 

[P90]

Oh absolutely, we used to walk to different neighborhoods alone as young as 2nd grade.

 

[Givethanks]

Weren't kids getting snatched like hot cakes back then too, I remember seeing bare missing children posters like it was going out of style.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Yep, even as a kid in the 90’s, we used to link up outside (kids on the block) and be anywhere from right out front to 10-12 blocks away at the park by ourselves,


middle school, we might get a ride to a friends house to mobilize and all be on the bus to roam around the mall, theater, arcade, etc solo, parents knew what attraction we were going to but we were a bunch of 11/12/13/14 year olds out all day doing whatever,


Crazy how we had more freedom with fewer ways to get in touch