Mary
I did most of those things and then some. Childhood is about discovering and pushing boundaries whilst retaining the essence of innocence that seperates children from adults.
Society itself and the media are as much to blame for the way we treat our children- Is the world less safe? I certainly dont believe it’s as friendly as 30 years ago as the constant media coverage of any incident involving the death of a child perpetuates the belief that we must protect our children. The thought of my 13 year old being out until 10 pm (as I used to be) would chill me to the bone and I live in a small village.
Having said that, my kids still fall over, jump off the tramoline n break their ankle, eat worms, go over their cycles handle bars (everyone must have done that at some point), break my windows with a ball, laugh at each others misfortunes, etc etc. The difference is they do it in their own back yard and not in a field somewhere. Their friends come here or my kids go there (always the parents doing the running around!).
The world is a different place to when I was young (and it isn’t that long ago) and I think my kids miss out on a lot of personal freedom.
Thats life isn’t it- they have the technology to go anywhere in the world they want on the net, yet are afraid to step out of their garden?!