70s & 80s Kids Didn’t Ask Their Parents Before Doing 6 Basic Things Young People Ask Permission For Today
melissamn / Shutterstock As someone in Gen Z, I can say the way my parents grew up looks very different from the way I did. The other kids in my generation and I usually had more restrictions than our parents did. That's because the world looked differently than it did in the 70s and 80s.
There were fewer worries over safety or technology, and parents tended to give Gen X kids a bit more freedom than kids have today. Their children usually have to ask for permission for things that they could do whenever they wanted while growing up.
Kids raised in the 70s & 80s didn’t ask their parents before they did these basic things young people want permission for today
1. Going to a friend’s house
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The way kids interact with their friends has changed over the years. Today's parents don’t always feel comfortable letting their kids go over to someone’s house unannounced, thinking it’s rude and possibly unsafe.
When Gen X was growing up, they could just show up at a neighbor’s house or on their best friend's front doorstep. Closer-knit communities that existed back when they were kids meant Gen Xers and their parents didn’t have that worry. Their neighborhoods were used to kids running around and cruising by on bikes and skateboards. Because they had more freedom, their parents were less stressed about looking after someone else’s child or who would be looking after theirs.
2. Riding their bikes
Riding bikes around was a popular activity for Gen X kids. They’d frequently meet up with their friends and explore their neighborhood or go to an arcade. Because it was so common, many people didn’t feel the need to ask their parents for permission to ride around.
A lot of them grew up to become more nervous than their parents were about kids on bikes. Gen X kids who grew up biking without permission often think bike riding in today's world is too dangerous. They have their kids ask permission so they can make sure to tell them the best routes or safest areas to go. They’d be too worried for their child's safety if their kid went out without talking to them first.
3. Spending some time alone
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When Gen X was growing up, they didn't spend as much time with their parents as they do with their own kids now. Their parents weren't necessarily neglectful, but parents nowadays emphasize spending quality time with their kids specifically because they want to have that themselves when they were younger.
Gen X's parents gave them time to explore or even just think on their own. They rarely had to ask their parents for space because they probably already had enough of it. Their kids are more likely to feel the opposite, though. They spend a ton of time with their parents, and sometimes they get sick of it. If they want to go off by themselves for a bit, they have to ask their parents to give them space and alone time.
5. Connecting with long-distance friends
The way people communicate with friends who don’t live near them has changed since Gen X was growing up. While they might have sent their friends letters, kids today communicate digitally. Gen X kids didn’t have to ask their parents before writing and mailing off a letter, but now kids have to get permission if they want to go online and communicate with people who live far away from them.
Social media is one of the most common ways for kids to communicate with each other. Many apps give them access to other kids all over the world, but they often have to ask their parents for permission before creating an account or communicating with someone new because their parents are understandably worried about the potential negative effects those platforms can have on them.
5. Scheduling activities
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On top of all the other things parents have to do, they’ve now become hyper-involved in their kids' extracurriculars. Many parents end up feeling drained because they’re constantly having to sign their kids up for activities and buy the required equipment, including uniforms. That’s not even mentioning all the time they have to spend driving them to and from practice.
This wasn’t the case for Gen X kids because many extracurricular activities were less structured when they were growing up. Kids didn't only play sports through an organization. They also played with their friends in the park, which isn't an activity parents have to schedule.
Those kinds of spontaneous games don't typically mean buying uniforms either. Because they don't happen as frequently with kids today, children have to ask permission to do an extracurricular activity rather than just planning them and doing them by themselves.
Lily Bell is a college student studying English and Publications who covers relationships, mental health, and personal narratives surrounding the human experience.
