Thank you everyone for commenting on my question “what was it like growing up in the 90s”. I got lots of fun insights. I have one follow-up question since most comments I read are about their experiences being a teenager.
So is there much difference between growing up as a small child in the 90s vs today? Before one reaches the age of playing video games?
2 comments
As a 90s kid raising an 2010s kid there’s quite a few differences I’ve personally noticed. Even before they’re old enough for video and phone games, there’s a lot more safety requirements and medical stuff checked, but even then, there’s more TV access and even as toddlers tablet access. There’s more activities for kids now then there were when I was growing up, and it seems to have become more normalized to have special kid-only foods for kids instead of eating what the adults eat. A lot more kid targeted items both food and non-food. Pretend play seems less common, especially more fantasy/fictional play. It seems like the kids who lean towards that are looked at oddly now as opposed to embraced in the 90s.
There’s also a lot more personal parenting sensitivity when it comes to kids doing something wrong. Say if another kid hits my kid, me presenting that issue to the parent at all now risks that parent wanting to throw hands with me, and taking it as me going “hey you’re a shit parent” as opposed to “hey your kid did a basic human behavior that needs corrected because it’s not safe or healthy.” Where when I was a kid if I hit someone or someone hit me my parent and their parent were on the same team of *not* being okay with that.”
The abandonment of more traditional stereotypes of gender stuff is different too. I was pushed into dolls and dresses and pink as a kid and immediately assumed I liked my little pony when I was actually a TMNT kid and got hell for it because it wasn’t “ladylike.” Now my kid basically has almost no gender stereotype stuff and no one has given them any pressure since we moved out of a very conservative religious area (while we were there it was very pushed but even then I noticed it wasn’t “sticking” to kids like it did when I was a kid.)
There’s also more choices. Kids are no longer shackled to just what’s on the cable channels with no options, now they can watch what they want at whim. Content is plentiful as well, as opposed to only 3 channels targeting kids when I was a 90s kid. Also now kids have less access to outside play areas or outside exploring areas. When I was a kid I could go outside and play in my yard, and there were 3 parks in walking distance. As a teen I could walk down my road and cross into forested private property and it was something owners allowed and we could explore till we got to the part. If I went to my cousins there were empty lots next to his house and drivers were used to kids playing games in the street because it was a one-way street.
Now my kid has 1 park in walking distance, we have no yard as we can’t afford to rent a house, and empty lots are no longer acceptable for exploring or hanging out. Private property is now more feircly protected and heavier charges so it’s not worth the risk.
Parenting changed dramatically as well, as have kids dispositions to authority, but those kinda derail a bit more from what you’re asking.
A lot of kids today have a less unsupervised time than I did. By the time I was seven or so, I would walk to friends’ houses alone, walk to school alone, be out in the woods with friends building forts, etc.