What decade is it best to grow up in?

[splott parker]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

Now that’s being pedantic

It’s right though, it’s breakfast, dinner & tea. That’s what it was in the 60s when I was a kid and still is in our house to this day. My old man would have looked at my mam (not mum) daft if she told him not to hang about in the pub on Sunday lunch time as Sunday lunch would already be cooked and his would be in the oven. We always, and still do, have Sunday dinner in our house.

[Tuerto]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I'm in my mid-thirties now, and would say that if anything, I'd probably have preferred to have been born slightly earlier, maybe only by 5-10 years. Social media came along when I was in my late teens and I think if I'd been a little bit older, I may not have been caught up in it and wasted so much time on it in the years since. Outside of that though I think the late nineties/early 00's were as good a time as any to grow up in.

Having spent the last ten years teaching teenagers I have to disagree with some who have highlighted the positives of having more to do and more technology in recent decades. More TV certainly isn't a good thing and I see first hand how addiction to consoles and mobile phones has a negative zombie-like effect on some (and I stress it is only some) teenagers. I think that boredom can often spark creativity and help develop the use of initiative. Boredom sometimes actually allows us to think a little more deeply instead of flitting from one stimulus to the next. I think the current generation of teenagers have it a lot harder than ever before in many ways; greater social expectations/pressures which destroy confidence and self-esteem, a more tolerant society yes, but a less diverse and very dull range of sub-cultures and fashions to choose from and too much constant stimulation that helps to breed anxiety and other mental health issues.

What ab excellent post, it rings true with me as i have three kids between the ages of 15-24

[goats]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I'm in my mid-thirties now, and would say that if anything, I'd probably have preferred to have been born slightly earlier, maybe only by 5-10 years. Social media came along when I was in my late teens and I think if I'd been a little bit older, I may not have been caught up in it and wasted so much time on it in the years since. Outside of that though I think the late nineties/early 00's were as good a time as any to grow up in.

Having spent the last ten years teaching teenagers I have to disagree with some who have highlighted the positives of having more to do and more technology in recent decades. More TV certainly isn't a good thing and I see first hand how addiction to consoles and mobile phones has a negative zombie-like effect on some (and I stress it is only some) teenagers. I think that boredom can often spark creativity and help develop the use of initiative. Boredom sometimes actually allows us to think a little more deeply instead of flitting from one stimulus to the next. I think the current generation of teenagers have it a lot harder than ever before in many ways; greater social expectations/pressures which destroy confidence and self-esteem, a more tolerant society yes, but a less diverse and very dull range of sub-cultures and fashions to choose from and too much constant stimulation that helps to breed anxiety and other mental health issues.

You are so right about boredom, I met a child psychologist a few years ago and she gave me some great advice when my kids were very young. Don’t give them too much stimulation, let them get bored and see if any magic happens. She was so right, might not work for all but endless fussing over kids to keep them entertained isn’t good at all.

[The Bloop]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

Being a kid in the 70s was great. Freedom to play, little peer pressure and contentment in what you had, without too many aspirations of having the latest gadgets. You made do with what you had.
Doesn't hide the fact though it was possibly one of the harder decades to be a parent, with high inflation, strikes, power cuts, fuel shortages and the winter of discontent. Can't have been easy.

[Des Parrot]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I’ll go 60s/70s as well. Everything was more innocent & naive and pleasures came from much simpler things in live. We were rarely indoors.

[Rjk]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

so everyone is just going to go for the decade that they grew up in?

[the other bob wilson]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

The question was about being children/teenagers, I'm not best placed to judge and I say this while noting worsening child poverty figures, but I'd say if it wasn't for Covid, this would be a good time to be young, far from the best to be a young adult though. There were plenty of problems in the late seventies when I entered that stage of my life, but I think I had it easy compared to someone in their early twenties now.

[bobh]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

so everyone is just going to go for the decade that they grew up in?

Like wot I sed in post #2

[Des Parrot]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

so everyone is just going to go for the decade that they grew up in?

Based on my observations of my own family across 8 decades, then I’ll stick with my answer, so yes. My reasoning is yes, primarily because of the practicality of those times, if something needed doing you had to learn how to do it. Today you have a pay society, when everything is geared to pay someone else to do it, the reliance on others is a damaging direction in my opinion.

[PontBlue]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I'm just glad I grew up in a time before social media and smart phones.

[bigjoe]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

Yeah I agree with Bob but 90s for me.

One thing I swear I wouldn’t / won’t do is moan to my kids that things were “better in my day”.

See people moaning on social media about todays youngsters filming and documenting everything - football, gigs, nightclubs.etc so fecking what.

We’ve had our time, let them have theirs.

Social media? And who is Bob Springsteen?

[Rjk]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I'm just glad I grew up in a time before social media and smart phones.

why? social media and smart phones are great

[Tuerto]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

why? social media and smart phones are great

I'm very pleased that my youth wasn't documented. Very pleased indeed.

[goats]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

I'm very pleased that my youth wasn't documented. Very pleased indeed.

Kin right there….

[MOZZER2]

Re: What decade is it best to grow up in?

just to change the title slightly would like to have grown up in the 1950's . watching cardiff city pre semi robotic times in front of big crowds , watching and playing baseball in front of big crowds in Cardiff and of course dressed up in teddy boy gear listening to Johnny Burnette , Chuck Berry and Buddy holly coming out of your speakers . bliss !

who knows it was the best but would love to go back to that time as a teenager .................