Today’s kids are less likely to play out
WHEN was the best time to grow up? If your childhood and teenage years coincided with any time from the 1990s onwards, you’ll have come of age in the digital era - with its Xboxes, Ipads and mobile phones.
For those who grew up in the decades before that, your formative years were quite probably full of outdoor games and activities.
Each generation will no doubt regard their own childhood days as special and magical.
(For myself, on a personal note, you cannot go past the 1970s when we still had the seemingly unlimited ability to play safely outdoors, coupled with the burgeoning but not-yet all-consuming technology of coloured TVs, stereo record players and the like. But, of course, that’s just one opinion).
Now, a new study has found today’s teenagers are playing outside less and are reading fewer books than their parents did at the same age.
A YouGov survey for the children’s charity Barnardo’s found just 48% of 13 to 15-year-olds play outside compared with 87% of 45 to 54-year-olds during their adolescent years.
Meanwhile, just 54% of today’s teenagers read books, while 79% of adults said they did so when they were younger.
The findings are part of a study by Barnardo’s looking at the “challenges and opportunities to children from the rapidly evolving technological world”.
Javad Khan, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “‘While it’s fantastic that new technologies are broadening horizons and providing new opportunities, it’s vital we stay ahead of the digital curve to anticipate the problems it poses to future generations.”
What do you think? Was it better then our now?
In a selection of archive images, we recall the pre-digital days when youngsters were far more likely to play outside.