4 ms·

Not even that long ago. The so called "latch key generation", or Gen X, lasted into the 80s.

• Aloisius 2y ago
  I suspect today's helicopter parenting culture is partly a reaction to all the 80s media sensationalizing the "horrors" of being a latchkey kid.
  • theGnuMe 2y ago
    Well the parents were more likely latch key kids themselves so that hypothesis does not make sense to me... Helicopter parenting is, I suspect, a fear driven phenomena to get kids into elite colleges. There is also a sports version of helicopter parents as well.
• bluefirebrand 2y ago
  I suspect that more Millennials grew up a similar way than people realize too I was routinely left to my own devices even as young as 8, me and my friends would be out roaming through empty lots and along beaches and stuff for hours in the late 90s Stuff really seemed to accelerate past that. Partly because the empty lots filled in, the park with a rope swing got replaced with a playground with seating for parents... Density does limit kids options too
  • eigenspace 2y ago
    Same situation for me in the early 00s, though I suspect that was more because my parents didn't have the bandwidth to helicopter parent me due to one sister being disabled, and the other being a psycho. I think the amount of independance I got would probably have been described as neglect if I had turned out poorly, and in my teenage years I really did flirt with a pretty bad path, but it turned out good so I remember it rather fondly.
  • wil421 2y ago
    Millennial here and I was outside everywhere. Walked to middle schools because it was close and biked to high school. My kids elementary school it’s about a mile away and I’ll bike with them a day or so a week.
  • freeone3000 2y ago
    Density should expand kids’ options. If everything is closer, it’s an easier walk! But the concept of having a park near your house is so foreign…