10 Things Kids Used to Do before There was Internet

Many things have changed since the 1970′s and 1980′s when I was growing up in the time before the Internet. Of course, since I am a bit older my opinions are skewed and most likely romanticizing that time of my life where I spent hours and hours playing outside with my friends and finding things to do (some good, some bad). I’m very certain that my parents would say the same thing about how different and most likely easier my childhood was than their’s as well, but I really do believe that all of us our correct. As technology advances, society as a whole is changing and adapting at a pretty alarming rate. Okay, before this spirals into a truly bizarre article let me stick to my original concept and give you 10 things that kids used to do before there was the Internet:

We simply spent quite a bit of time outside playing different role playing games like pretending we were Ponch and John from CHIPS or prisoners of War from Hogan’s Heroes. This required quite a bit of imagination and usually resulted in at least one member of our crew always being disappointed with their role and quickly going off script. Now kids play in virtual online worlds where there is still room for creativity but it’s all done indoors and most likely sitting in front of their computer or game console.
We rode our bikes ALL the time, far more than kids seem to nowadays (for the record we did NOT use helmets and pads). Going along with #1 we also did all kinds of crazy things on our bicycles like playing Evil Knievel and constructing all kinds of jumps and elaborate courses. I’m sure there are now all kinds of amazing Wii games for BMX cycling, but somehow it doesn’t seem like the same thing.
We actually read books from time-to-time, I’m not going to say every day (that would be a lie). However, we would ride our bikes to the library and check out books for us to read when we couldn’t think of anything else to do. Libraries still exist but with the rise in eReaders and other ways to read books even I feel like a dinosaur when I crack one open.
When we were doing our homework and specifically writing papers we had to use encyclopedias and dictionaries. That’s right, we couldn’t just jump online and look up anything we wanted to about U.S. history. We would have to find an encyclopedia or make another trip to the library to get the information we needed.
We played pickup games of any variety nearly every day. Whether it was a baseball game at the park or football in our neighbors big an spacious yard (now of course it looks ridiculously small). That’s pretty uncommon now but I know my children enjoy a good game of basketball with their cousins in another State (over the Internet via Wii) on a frequent basis. Somehow, it just seems wrong… and fun at the same time. However, I’m not sure that anyone is the king of the Wii and that it has the same value as being the star of the neighborhood pickup games. Of course, kids are spared being the last player picked which was rough on some of the kids for sure.
Before when you were being bullied by another kid it was physical and mental abuse that was usually carried out on the way home or to school. This resulted in at least a couple of black eyes for me and some experiences that I won’t ever forget. However, now kids do their bullying online in chat rooms, on Twitter, and various other social networking sites. It’s pretty much exclusively mental torture now but it is more wide-spread and globally embarrassing versus just in your neighborhood.
Stranger danger! Being aware of and avoiding strangers seemed simpler back in the day as well as we were told to not get into a car with a stranger and to not take candy from a stranger, etc. Now kids and parents have to be careful and try as best you can to figure out who you are talking to online. Before we could see the person, but now strangers can hide behind their computers and cause all kinds of problems.
We played a lot more board games like Monopoly, Risk, and backgammon. This is roughly equivalent to playing the same games online though as the strategy remains the same. However, the access to games now is almost overwhelming and I think that while kids still find a way to zero in on their favorites I would guess they are more broad and less deep in their game playing skills.
Kids did a lot of waiting with no way of communicating before the Internet and also cell phones. I remember waiting for what seemed like hours wondering if and when my parents were going to pick me up. With no phone and no way to communicate there was just a lot more involved with going places and doing things (whether after school activities or special events). Now if I am even a minute late I am getting hit up on email, Twitter, FaceBook, and have several text messages.
Chores and work seemed much more common when I was growing up. We worked in the local grocery store as soon as we were old enough or had a paper route and if we expected to get an allowance we worked around the house. Now, keep in mind that we also were expected to keep our grades up and we seemed to be able to manage doing all of that. Now, kids seem to expect an allowance and to not have to work… or maybe that is just a function of where you are living. However, I have relatives all over the country and I hear the same things from them too.

Okay, well I can now see that this article has definitely spun into an old man griping a bit about how things have changed and how great it used to be versus now. WOW! I have officially become my parents and completed that cycle. However, I also now know that they were right when they told me how easy I had it. I’m sure someday our kids will feel the same way.