Stuff My 8 Year Old Has That I Didn't In 1979

ash28

StevieJ wrote: »

I thought electronic goods were cheap these days :eek:

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk_catalog/cos_1,cos_1.1,cos_1.1.1/142976

Some rooms aren't as long as that tv is wide.........is that why they need a site survey?

I'd probably have to sit at the bottom of the garden to watch it.

michaels

I think we used to have a soda stream, not many people have them these days...

We have 6 PCs, 2 laptops, a netbook and a tablet in the house plus umpteen smartphones, 2 wireless lans and cat 6 cabling.

olly300

michaels wrote: »

I think we used to have a soda stream, not many people have them these days...

They were back in fashion as Xmas presents about 2 years ago.

This time people actually used them for about 6 months before chucking in the back of the gadget cupboard - mainly because carbonated water is in fashion.

mum2one

It was a blast from the past -

1979 - I was 8 and I think I was 10 before I had a TV in my room, then it was a black and white one,
I always remember my parents were one of the 1st in our town to have a radio/tape player/record player in 1 as the company had just brought them in from a trade show.

My daughter is 10 now
Own mobile phone (had one since she was 6 - that was personal reasons for her safety incase she needed to dial 999) her last one she saved her pocket money for

E-reader - xmas prezzie

Tablet - xmas from grandparents

Laptop - joint bday/xmas 2 yrs ago

---

But the main difference is they can't have the freedom we did back in the 70s, early 80s, so I guess technology creeps into the equation xx

zagubov

dryhat wrote: »

It's weird how people measure progress/quality of life in terms of how much "stuff" you have or haven't got.

Standard of living and quality of life are two different things.

But consumerism and the dream of perpetual growth have merged the two over the years and people now assess their lives in terms of possessions and call it progress.

The American dream?
Yeah, you have to be asleep to believe it.

It's what you scatter not what you gather that measures your life.;)

Nenen

Stuff My 8 Year Old (or in my case the 8 year olds I teach) Has That I Didn't In 1979 (1967):

1. A much faster pace of life with greater pressure and stress (for themselves, their parents, carers and teachers);
2. Constant bombardment with advertising and unrealistic images, leading to disappointment and dissatisfaction with their own lives and bodies;
3. Higher expectations of owning material 'stuff' but gaining less pleasure from doing so;
4. Less freedom and time for unstructured play and/or daydreaming;
5. Greater fear of nuclear war, global warming etc;
6. Increasing levels of child poverty
7. Education that is more politically driven and less child-centred;
8. A much higher chance of being a guinea pig in an educational experiment based upon the whims of an [STRIKE]self-serving, pompous idiot[/STRIKE]Education Minister rather than research evidence;
9. Far less opportunities to take risks, e.g. climb trees, go off on picnics with friends;
10. Far less opportunities to play out and about in the community with friends (see above);
11. A much higher chance of family breakdown;
12. A much lower chance of having extended family living nearby;
13. A much higher chance of seeing less of Mum and Dad as they are both working due to the relatively high cost of housing:wage ratio today compared to 40 years ago;
14. A much lower chance of regularly attending church or other place of worship (linked to increased long-term happiness);
15. A higher chance of being exposed to adult material and concerns;
16. A much higher chance of being unemployed when they leave school or graduate;
17. A much higher chance of being diagnosed with a mental health difficulty e.g. depression, stress, anorexia;

As you can probably tell, I wouldn't swap all the technology in the world for a more carefree childhood!

zagubov

Nenen wrote: »

Stuff My 8 Year Old (or in my case the 8 year olds I teach) Has That I Didn't In 1979 (1967):

1. A much faster pace of life with greater pressure and stress (for themselves, their parents, carers and teachers);
2. Constant bombardment with advertising and unrealistic images, leading to disappointment and dissatisfaction with their own lives and bodies;
3. Higher expectations of owning material 'stuff' but gaining less pleasure from doing so;
4. Less freedom and time for unstructured play and/or daydreaming;
5. Greater fear of nuclear war, global warming etc;
6. Increasing levels of child poverty
7. Education that is more politically driven and less child-centred;
8. A much higher chance of being a guinea pig in an educational experiment based upon the whims of an [STRIKE]self-serving, pompous idiot[/STRIKE]Education Minister rather than research evidence;
9. Far less opportunities to take risks, e.g. climb trees, go off on picnics with friends;
10. Far less opportunities to play out and about in the community with friends (see above);
11. A much higher chance of family breakdown;
12. A much lower chance of having extended family living nearby;
13. A much higher chance of seeing less of Mum and Dad as they are both working due to the relatively high cost of housing:wage ratio today compared to 40 years ago;
14. A much lower chance of regularly attending church or other place of worship (linked to increased long-term happiness);
15. A higher chance of being exposed to adult material and concerns;
16. A much higher chance of being unemployed when they leave school or graduate;
17. A much higher chance of being diagnosed with a mental health difficulty e.g. depression, stress, anorexia;

As you can probably tell, I wouldn't swap all the technology in the world for a more carefree childhood!

You're spot on! Strangely enough we're not encouraged to discuss this decline openly.
We're probably meant to see it as an unfortunate side-effect oif generally positive progress.
But it isn't
The world's not just different now, it's worse. It's just we're encouraged to discuss it non-judgementally as if in 1984's Newspeak; the chocolate ration's being changed to (not lowered to) zero.

There used to be a journalist in a Scottish paper who took a conservative view on many issues and I didn't see eye-to-eye with him. However he did write a gem when he responded to critics by saying "you're all telling me I'm a dinosaur and that it's a different world now,. Well it isn't. It's exactly the same world, but now run by scum!";)

lostinrates

Nenen wrote: »

Stuff My 8 Year Old (or in my case the 8 year olds I teach) Has That I Didn't In 1979 (1967):

1. A much faster pace of life with greater pressure and stress (for themselves, their parents, carers and teachers);i dunno. Yes it's faster, but it means communications are better. In the postings where I didn't see my dad for six months I'd now be able to talk to him more than once a week or email, and like wise, email my parents during term times,
2. Constant bombardment with advertising and unrealistic images, leading to disappointment and dissatisfaction with their own lives and bodies;female icons of pretty fantastic proportions existed when I was a child. Barbie was about, but also their have always been beautiful and not universally attainable figures, whether it was monroes voluptuous curves or twiggy's gamine looks....Esther Williams was someone I adored in old films when I was young...she also looked pretty healthy iirc.
3. Higher expectations of owning material 'stuff' but gaining less pleasure from doing so;agreed...in terms of amount of stuff certainly
4. Less freedom and time for unstructured play and/or daydreaming;i dunno. I think that's different in different types of family anyway, but lots of kids seem to do Fewer activities and more movie, tv and electronic play
5. Greater fear of nuclear war, global warming etc;wasn't there a big Russian fear sometime in the last century . When I was a child all our school trips within m25 were banned because of ira activity
6. Increasing levels of child povertyi don't know enough about this to comment
7. Education that is more politically driven and less child-centred;i agree, but also better monitored and arguably safer
8. A much higher chance of being a guinea pig in an educational experiment based upon the whims of an [STRIKE]self-serving, pompous idiot[/STRIKE]Education Minister rather than research evidence;
9. Far less opportunities to take risks, e.g. climb trees, go off on picnics with friends;certainly one of the hugest losses IMO
10. Far less opportunities to play out and about in the community with friends (see above);agreed, though it was fairly uncommon in uk when I was a child too, I felt quite stifled at friends homes in the eighties and early nineties.
11. A much higher chance of family breakdown; but a greater chance of parents leaving abusive relationships, and possibly more intervention for abuse against children too?
12. A much lower chance of having extended family living nearby;true. This was something I never had. It's been interesting because I know that extended family is often vital in the upbringing of happy, healthy people.
13. A much higher chance of seeing less of Mum and Dad as they are both working due to the relatively high cost of housing:wage ratio today compared to 40 years ago;there are work hours directives that suit many. By 1979 many 'mums' worked, and for those of us whose parents were the sort to get stationed it far flying places modern communication means even if both work where only one did you'd speak more to them now anyway!
14. A much lower chance of regularly attending church or other place of worship (linked to increased long-term happiness);I find this personally hard to gauge. A few of my places of education were faith based, and my family have different beliefs, so it was always a hot topic at home.
15. A higher chance of being exposed to adult material and concerns;very true, disturbingly so IMO.
16. A much higher chance of being unemployed when they leave school or graduate;
17. A much higher chance of being diagnosed with a mental health difficulty e.g. depression, stress, anorexia;but not necessarily a greater chance of suffering from those conditions

As you can probably tell, I wouldn't swap all the technology in the world for a more carefree childhood!

It's a really good and interesting thread. No reason I picked this one to base my reply on but for the fact its so well presented and all encompassing of the points raised so far.

olly300

Nenen wrote: »

Stuff My 8 Year Old (or in my case the 8 year olds I teach) Has That I Didn't In 1979 (1967):

1. A much faster pace of life with greater pressure and stress (for themselves, their parents, carers and teachers);
2. Constant bombardment with advertising and unrealistic images, leading to disappointment and dissatisfaction with their own lives and bodies;
3. Higher expectations of owning material 'stuff' but gaining less pleasure from doing so;
4. Less freedom and time for unstructured play and/or daydreaming;
5. Greater fear of nuclear war, global warming etc;
6. Increasing levels of child poverty
7. Education that is more politically driven and less child-centred;
8. A much higher chance of being a guinea pig in an educational experiment based upon the whims of an [STRIKE]self-serving, pompous idiot[/STRIKE]Education Minister rather than research evidence;
9. Far less opportunities to take risks, e.g. climb trees, go off on picnics with friends;
10. Far less opportunities to play out and about in the community with friends (see above);
11. A much higher chance of family breakdown;
12. A much lower chance of having extended family living nearby;
13. A much higher chance of seeing less of Mum and Dad as they are both working due to the relatively high cost of housing:wage ratio today compared to 40 years ago;
14. A much lower chance of regularly attending church or other place of worship (linked to increased long-term happiness);
15. A higher chance of being exposed to adult material and concerns;
16. A much higher chance of being unemployed when they leave school or graduate;
17. A much higher chance of being diagnosed with a mental health difficulty e.g. depression, stress, anorexia;

As you can probably tell, I wouldn't swap all the technology in the world for a more carefree childhood!

My older brothers (they are old enough to be my parents) left school or gradated in the early 1980s and were unemployed.

Friends' of mine elder siblings left school or graduated in the 1990s recession and were unemployed.

Every time there is a recession and just after young people really suffer in employment.

zagubov

What there is now is global security.

Growing up in the cold war felt precarious. Before the 90s everybody thought we'd need a colony on Mars simply because we could wipe ourselves out in a colossal global nuclear exchange.

My students back then all wondered if they had as much as five years future.

Now, a terrorist with a suitcase nuke could take out a city block.

Cold-blooded though that may sound that would be a fleabite to a modern country.