Where did we go wrong?

I personally don't remember those days but they sound great. I've tried more and more lately to get my kids to play board games and eat dinner together at the dinner table instead of on tv trays in the living room. In fact, board games, besides clothes, are mainly what they got for Christmas this year. The things that you mentioned sound wonderful and I would love to live in a time like that.

The changes have been going on for several decades now. I remember the society you were referencing, and it was much better than the way things are now. People have forgotten the things that are really important in life in their quest for "the good life". Young people look at the way things used to be and say "Boring!", but it wasn't. We didn't need to be entertained. We knew how to entertain ourselves, and we had family and friends around us to do things with. Kids today don't know what they're missing.

It would be lovely to get back to a simple life. It seems that life gets more complicated the older I get. People get wrapped up in trying to get the latest and best that they forget what is most important. Family.

I do remember those days. It was not that long time ago. I think that computerization of the world is not making as closer....lonely people in front of small computer screen...kid don't play sports as often as we did....

Several things happened. the first is that married women Had to go to work. back in the day, a woman could Choose to stay home with her kids and have her hubby to all the working outside the home. With all these moms home , it was a little easier to keep an eye on all the kids in the neighborhood. Now she Has to work outside the home. She isn't home to get to know her neighbors. The second thing was the 80's . Back then Material things ruled. That's why yo work, Not solely to support the family but to Buy Everything.and with both parents working , there was less attention for the kids. Latch key kids Became the norm. The kids come home to an empty house. They are'nt allowed to play outside, too dangerous. So whole families don't connect ,Plus they don't get to know their neighbors.So everyone is so wrapped up in their own schedule no one connects with anyone else.

I sure do remember those days. Where i grew up I knew everyone on the street. And my family and I all got together for meals and watched tv together in the evenings. I don't think that will ever be back. I think people are getting too paranoid and we live in cities full of apartment complexes not homes. People are in a hurry and don't stay in places for generations like they used to either.

No I don't think so Reasons..... Computer, xboxes and things like that have taken over the Childrens Life, TV is not in any more These Days you can not trust any one with your Children, Neighbours used to help one another, now they just try to butt into your Life and then talk behind your back Board Games are not in any more as the Games are Computers and Consoles Parents are to busy with working, social Life and things like that so the time for the Children is very limited It is not any more like it used to be and I do not believe it ever will be again

That's describing how I was brought up worldwise. It would also have been the way my kids were raised but for the fact that my daughter's father and I divorced and that broke our family. Broken families mean that the parents have to try and somehow rebuild their lives and the family, obviously is never whole again. For each family member whether they are aware or conscious of it or not, there will be an emptiness, a void. Do what you will to fill that void, it can never be done.

Hello, Worldwise. :-) The world has indeed change and so are we... We focused much on the material things and comfort of life that has monetary values and we neglected what is most important why we drag our butts working so hard, OUR FAMILY. Family's belief had changed. The elders perceive that if they can't provide comfort in their family, meaning they lack some of the material things and live a truly simple life, they don't fit in the society of contented families. Correct me if I'm wrong but other than aspiring to have a better life, one great factor why we seemed to succumb to this sort of nuisance is envy. Envy that others have the things that we don't have. We tend to compare our lives to the lives of our neighbors and we always want to appear the superior type among our group. Accumulating things, wealth and even power will surely give that status instantly. I am trying so hard to teach my daughter how to appreciate things not for its monetary value but for the purpose it has served her.

I don't really remember those kinds of days. I wish my neighborhood was that nice to live in. It would be nice to have neighbors that are friendly and willing to help you without any money required. I tried talking to my neighbors but they just ignore me. =(

Hi world wise: I don't remember these days. It's sad but that's true. My mom have talked to me in a similar way and I think there is no way to come back to these ideal days and that's because, new technologies have made us individualists that we don't care for our neighbours, kids prefer to play in their laptops (and in some cases doing wrong things) instead of talking to their parents or doing things with their families. The best think we can do it's to be better family members, to hear the others and to share more time with the ones we love. Thanks for asking us this question world wise. Hope you are having a nice day. Keep mylotting. Take good care of you. -Alvaro.

Thanks to technology people no longer need people for entertainment except when a celebration is organised when suddenly everyone wants everyone else to make a crowd and those attending need an occasion to dress up and have some good food! Lets take those who are here in myLot. None of us need our family members, neighbours or anyone to participate here and this is just one of several activities activity where we prefer to be left alone. With the kind of varying interests one has even watchig tv together is no longer attractive.Even eating dinner is at different times. This explains therefore what we cosidered togetherness is not wanted or appreciated any more.

Can't help but reminisce after reading your post! I grew up in a closely knit family and neighborhood. My friends call my parents Mommy and Daddy and my older siblings as Ate(big sister) and Kuya(big brother), likewise, I call their parents and siblings the same. We are so used to extended families so to speak. Now, I have my own family. I have three children and I am sharing the values to them. In fact, their godfathers are mostly my childhood friends. For me, the family values that I am sharing to my children is my legacy and very important and more precious than anything in this world.

I like this sentence "What we value ,our kids will value".

I think with the economy more families are playing games and watching tv together. I would much rather play board games, but kids would much rather play video games. I would like it to come back to that, but I am not sure it will.

Perhaps with the economic slow down we will have to go back that way. That may be the only blessing. I know I am going to cut back a lot, and cut back on being such a wage slave. The things you describe really gave life value.I would love to spend time in my own back yard, or gathered with family to play games. We used to sit on grandma's porch in the middle of the summer and play games. That is one major attraction when I visit my family out of state. We play games and relax, listen to music. Very simple and fun things.

i think around the 1970s is when more women started to work and the thing is, its not just about things and keeping up with the Jones, it is about jobs not being as secure as they used to either. hubby and i have been watching a number of tv shows from the 1970's and this sort of struck me recently.

worldwise, you just described my childhood perfectly. Will those days ever return? I highly (and sadly) doubt it. Kids have lost the joy in the simple things mainly because they just have so much "stuff". We didn't have computers and video games and all that stuff, so we didn't know we were missing anything! I think the best we can do now is try to make our own family unit closer, by insisting on eating meals together, enjoying a family night without distractions once or twice a week, and so on. You tell some little kids today to go outside and just play, and they will look at you like you are crazy! It is all electronics, lessons, and scheduled activities now. Everybody is so busy, there is no time left to slow down and take it easy. I am in so many ways grateful that my child is already an adult.

It is a function of globalisation, of the increased drive for profit, of the penetration of any and all markets by organised capital. Everything has become a commodity. Everything is for sale. Family values, religious faith, traditional values - all will be eroded by cheap goods, cheap entertainment, etc. I don't think that globalisation is necessarily a bad thing, but I do think that as a function of the profit motive, it can only be harmful. Ultimately, though, it is up to us - we can choose not to consume. But how many of us do that?

Here in the UK we have definitely become more insular and cocoon ourselves in our homes by surrounding them with fences (if there are gardens) to shut away the neighbours and be more private. However, since the snow started here recently the British Bulldog Spirit has been apparent in a number of ways...District Nurses visiting their patients on foot as opposed to driving (often walking 4 miles or more to get to them), staff at Health Centres staying there overnight just in case they can't get in the following day, young people doing good deeds for their elderly neighbours, people in 4 x 4 vehicles helping others get to work. Having said that an awful lot of workers have - to put it bluntly - skived off work. Hospitals don't shut down so the staff in those places have had to get there by whatever means, why can't people do so elsewhere?