Would the kids of today give up the internet for a GenX childhood?

When social media crashed recently it created an opportunity for my Daughters (after they both said they were bored after 15mins of not being online) to ask me what it was like when I grew up and the look on their faces when I explained that we didn't have the internet for a start was priceless. They simply couldn't grasp growing up without a mobile phone, iPad and social media, etc and it got me thinking...do they have a childhood these days? Should I be making parenting changes to ensure their happiness or as, The Who, said...the kids are all right!

I grew up in a council estate. I know of many people who also grew up in council estates and hide it in the workplace. I am immensely proud of the fact that I did for one resounding reason, I survived it! Only once in my career was an attempt of ridicule directed towards me for this fact and my payback was to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outperform this individual. And I did.

My estate was Woodhead Green in South Lanarkshire. We were surrounded by lots of open space, swing parks, fields, a nature trail (it formed part of the gardens of the Duke of Hamilton many years ago), and the families who lived there, for the most part, were all nice respectable people most of whom were overflow from the Glasgow housing capacity issues from the '60s.

My Grandfather was a Gaffer on the Woodhead Green building project and was employed to oversee the joinery aspects of the newly built homes and soon felt it was here that would be an excellent place to raise a family and began making inquiries to move there with my Grandmother and his children. He was provided a home there and couldn't have been happier. My Mother was the eldest of his four kids and was already living in Glasgow with my Father, I was only a baby at the time and have no memories of living there. I only remember Woodhead Green as my parents managed to also obtain a property in the estate very quickly after my Grandparents moved there.

Growing up with my Grandparents so nearby was a true blessing and something that I am so thankful for as it had a major impact on the person I am today. This was also a major factor in my survival of growing up as a GenX kid, more of that will be explained soon.

I walked to my primary school St Peters (it was only a 15min walk from my home) from a young age and always felt safe as I was surrounded by other kids and all the adults knew each other and each other's children. Back then it was called be neighbourly and you would often hear an adult shout "get down your own end of the street" or "I know your Dad" or worse "I know your Grandad" but maybe that was just my experience as I was always up to something!

One very early memory I have of primary school was being asked what hospital I was born in and I couldn't remember the name of it and explained to my teacher that it sounded like a train station!!! I was born in the Southern General Hospital and I was the only kid in my class who was born in it as all the other kids were born in the Bellshill Maternity Hospital so I instantly felt different. My folks lived on Great Western Road in Glasgow before we moved to Hamilton so I may have confused myself here as Great Western sounds referenced towards a train station, I was only five!

As most of the kids were born and raised in Hamilton I stood out as I wasn't originally from there. I was also very tall for my age and the tallest kid in my class and that was the same when I went to High School. This wouldn't prove as such a unique talking point as much as it did when I was in primary school as my High School was state-run and pretty rough. That's a whole other story and maybe for a different article at a later date.

Being a popular kid in Woodhead I gained friends from all over the estate. I wasn't one for going off in little groups and kept myself open to having a large number of friends. That was so I could always maximise being outdoors as much as I could be and have the run of the place. Maybe this is where my natural networking skills stem from, not sure?

Like most parents back then they tended to work a 9-5 role so dinner time seemed to be at the same time for my friends and I and that's when Woodhead would finally be quiet for a while, same could be said with Sundays as that was a roast day at the Grandparents. As my Grandparents also lived in the same estate most lunchtimes at school I would go to their house for lunch and so I was spoiled with my Grans cooking six days a week. Eating out was not heard of, we only had a takeaway on special occasions like a Chinese meal for birthdays. It is a bit like only receiving a toy on birthdays and at Christmas. I still remember when the first McDonald's opened in Glasgow and the buzz it caused. Fast food to most people back then was fish and chips so it was the start of the American culture shock to Bonny wee Scotland.

I want to refocus on my Primary School days as High School was not a great experience for me and this article is about the younger part of my childhood. St Peters was a great experience for me and I got to meet other kids from areas out with Woodhead Green. My mates and I back then would get our school clothes off as soon as we got home and put on our 'playing out' clothes. We didn't have fashion sense, maybe except for sports brands (my love of Adidas trainers did start then and continues to this day), so children looked like children, we weren't doing the trout pout selfies, the girls didn't wear makeup and I can't remember kids having anxiety about their appearances. As both my parents worked there was no taking or picking you up in the car, you walked or rode your bike if you wanted to see your friends.

The houses in Woodhead were all the same except for some having more bedrooms than others and when my Sister arrived we were offered one of the large houses. When my youngest daughter asked me if I was upset about moving because I would miss my friends I explained that it was only a few streets away and I would still get to see them. She then quizzed "but could you not just have called them if they were far away" and I had to remind her that I didn't have a mobile. I did tell her about our house phone that had a cord attached to it and its own little desk and seat and she found this hilarious. My eldest Daughter was confused that were no such things as private conversations as the phone was out in the hall so anyone within earshot heard everything. Even my little Sisters toy phone had a cord!!!

I wish I took photos of their faces as I explained what it was like back then, too funny!

The girls then began a checklist of things that I didn't have that they do now and they actually seemed a bit upset or pity for me (I found this funny) as if I was living in a dark age or something but I suppose to them I probably was to some extent. No Sky TV, no Netflix, no Disney+, we had only 3 channels to watch and it was by permission only as the adults controlled the TV remote. The only time I had control of the remote was when I was unwell or in the mornings at the weekend. Channel 4 and 5 were exciting additions. I remember waiting on the Channel 4 station to come on with my Dad, it was like a build-up to a World Cup game or something groundbreaking. TV played a huge role in my career to date as adverts on TV fascinated me and would purposely avoid watching the BBC so I could keep up to date on the new adverts. Marketing and advertising directly to kids as the consumer boomed in the 80's. Kids in my school would reenact them, sing songs from them and gain playground humour from them. Remember the banned Tango advert, the red car and blue car from the Milkyway advert, or the Yo-Yo and Panini stickers explosion in the UK market?

I tried to explain to my youngest Daughter that playing outside was like playtime at her primary school. You play games like army, British bulldog, kerbie, hide and seek, tag, rope swings, climb trees, football, rounders, most boys made mud pies on rainy days and girls would make their perfume from flowers and water. The most important thing we probably had back then though in my opinion was having a bike. If you had a bike (of course no helmet) you had more freedom and exploring was always my thing. I truly loved my bike, it was my prized possession...the one in the photo is just wishful thinking though, and not what I had.

Being outside was everything to me and my friends and staying in the house was a punishment used by my folks. You're grounded...words that would do nothing to kids these days but sent shivers down my spine when I was young. I can't ever remember being bored as a kid and always had something to do. On days when the weather was too bad to go out in and you had exhausted all games and toys, the adults would find something for me to do around the house and I enjoyed helping. It made me feel a bit more grown-up especially if you made a few quid for sweets from the ice cream van. This was probably the beginning of my understanding of the value of money which led to me having four jobs by the time I was 12 years of age. Two paper rounds one in the morning and one in the evening. Really early start for delivering milk on weekends, and every other week sold dairy products from a local farm.

Both my Daughters are picky eaters and I have said a million times now that my Sister and I ate what my Mum made or we ate nothing at all. If I rushed my dinner I wasn't allowed to go back out and if I didn't eat it (like most Catholic families it was fish on a Friday and I had a real fear of it as a bone stuck in my throat when I was very young) I wasn't allowed back out either. Bit of a Catch-22 but I would have eaten half the ocean to ensure I was back out playing!

My eldest Daughter is very health-conscious and always has her personalised water bottle in hand but of course, this is topped up from highland spring water from the fridge and not tap water even though we live in Scotland and have an abundance of the stuff. She can't understand that bottled water is still fairly new to the market as are bags of ice. She actually lol'd...she also asked how did you do homework without Google. I had to explain to her what a library is! I'm so thankful to my late Mother for taking me to the library so often and I still love to read to this day. In fact, I just got a new book delivered this morning and I suspect the only reading materials in my eldest Daughters room will be menus.

I tried my best to summarise to them both that I was really happy growing up as a child. I watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. Rode my bike for hours a day and explored everywhere. We weren't afraid of anything back then and played until it got dark and knew when to go home when the street lights came on. If any of my mates fought, that's what it was, just a fight and they were friends again a week later, if not sooner. No cyberbullying and keyboard warriors to worry about back then.

We watched our mouths around our elders because all of the adults in Woodhead were all extensions of our parents and you didn't want them telling your parents if you misbehaved! Or they would give you something to cry about. Everyone had respect.

My Woodhead Green days were amazing and I can only hope my kids are now experiencing a similar childhood since we made the move to a rural location and living village life in South Lanarkshire. Walking my youngest to and from school every day is simply amazing for me and the highlight of my day. I've noticed that she crafts more these days and gets bored with YouTube quicker now so long may it continue.

These were my good days. So many kids today will never know how it feels to be a real kid as unfortunately screen addiction is very real. Since finishing writing this I have made some mental notes to go out more myself more often and with the girls on our bikes and explore our new surroundings. Does us all good to be like kids even if we aren't anymore.

I loved my childhood and maybe it's up to me and my partner to ensure our kids have the childhood they deserve and teach them what we know rather than them Googling for answers. I may not be able to give them my childhood, my old paper-round jobs, or milk delivery route or remember where any of my dens and hideouts that I built are but I can help create shared new memories with them without being online. They have a lot going on and I would like to think they can figure some stuff out on their own as they are resilient kids.

Would they give up the internet for this type of childhood?

I highly doubt it as it will shape a massive part of their futures whether we as parents like it or not but we can give them a chance at what we had and I am positive the alternative option is much better for them in the long run.

Thanks for reading my article

#genx #childhood #family