But do they have a happier childhood than you or I did? If s difficult to look back on one's own childhood without some element of nostalgia. I have four brothers and sisters, and my memories are all about being with them, playing board games on the living room floor, or spending days in the street with the other neighbourhood children, racing up and down on our bikes, or exploring the nearby woods. My parents scarcely appear in these memories, except as providers either of meáis or of severe reprimands after some particularly hazardous adventure. These days, in the UK at least, the nature of childhood has changed dramatically. Firstly, families are smaller, and there are far more only children. It is common for both parents to work outside the home and there is the feeling that there just isn't time to bring up a large family, or that no one could possibly afford to have more than one child. As a result, toda/s boys and girls spend much of their time alone. Another major change is that youngsters today tend to spend a huge proportion of their free time at home, inside. More than anything this is due to the fact that parents worry far more than they used to about real or imagined dangers, so they wouldn't dream of letting their children play outside by themselves. Finally, the kind of toys children have and the way they play is totally different. Computer and video games have replaced the board games and more active pastimes of my childhood. The irony is that so many of these devices are called 'interactive'. The fact that you can play electronic games on your own further increases the sense of isolation felt by many young people today. Do these changes mean that children today have a less idyllic childhood than I had? I personally believe that they do, but perhaps every generation feels exactly the same.
