In my time, ...

If you hear somebody say the sentence above, probably it's because they are in their 40's or 50's.

The focus of this post is comparing childhood in the past and present. So to start, let's compete the sentence:

In my time, children

used to play more with each other rather than spend time in front of the computer

used to respect adults more than today

used to be deceived by relatives

didn’t know as much about sexuality  

knew very little about the birds and the bees (sexual intercourse)

Children today …

have more information

learn things at an earlier age

These are some true accounts from students:
  
"A girl I knew got pregnant at 13 after one sexual encounter or experience. Her father demanded that the two of them get married. She was forced to stay married to the same guy for 20 years."

"My eight-year-old nephew told his grandma that he had had sex at school, thinking that kissing was a form of sex."

If we had to compare childhood today and childhood in the past, several points can be raised:

• It was more dangerous in the past
• Kids would spend more free time at home
• Most people were raised in a small city
• Parents used to let kids go anywhere/allow the kids to go anywhere
• I attended a presentation from a guy who talked about how children are the same no matter the period or generation
• Kids at 7 or 8 (years of age) already know how things work
• Sometimes parents give in to the demands of the kids
• Kids like the company of other kids
• You need to establish limits, guidelines, rules, laws, barriers, frontiers
• Kids are always looking for brands/always asking for more money
• Children and teens are more worried about being in fashion, in style than being posh or chic

N.B. LANGUAGE NOTE
to attend something e.g. an event = to go to an event
to attend to someone or something e.g. a nurse has to attend to many patients at the same time

Just a minute, I have to attend to some customers waiting outside

to assist = to help

Some other neat expressions we can use to say that we agree with something being said

• I would say the same about …
• I have the same opinion about
• I share the same opinion ...
• I see things the same way ...
• I follow you on …
• We’re on the same page about …

The truth is, every older generation thinks the younger one is more consumerist, more impolite, less responsible and less informed. Don't you agree?