Childhood in the 60s and 70s compared to today: the biggest changes, according to a psychologist

Compared to the 60s and 70s, even the 80s and 90s, what we've noticed is a more individualistic approach to play. Generally, it's kids with tablets, video game consoles, mobile phones, smartphones... instead of kids playing football or other games in the street with other children, or board games. What I think is crystal clear is a shift towards individualised play and a change in how kids play.

Obviously, this is also accompanied by greater parental supervision and less control over children's free time because they probably have many more extracurricular activities and less time for physical activity. There's also a lot of distrust regarding children's autonomy, but also concern on a social level about what might happen to them. The trend has been moving in that direction.

In individual play, it's true that kids can develop a bit of competitiveness or improve their skills. Perhaps some video games also work on intelligence, maybe even motor skills (if they're sports games or require movement), but what certainly doesn't arise in these more individual games are interpersonal conflicts.

That's where I see a deficit in terms of conflict management, which can occur in one-on-one situations when they're with other kids, when they're playing soccer, when they're playing a board game and a disagreement arises, someone has cheated, or hasn't followed a rule. Ultimately, in this more individual style of play, boys and girls lose the ability or the opportunities to learn how to manage conflicts. 

Free play, or unstructured play, is essential for children because it fosters creativity: it encourages creativity in choosing a game to play, in finding scenarios where a leader suddenly emerges whom the others follow to play that game or simply to entertain each other, in such a way that they decide what to play, with whom, or choose teams. 

Parenting styles and the models of what constitutes being a good father or a good mother have changed. Before, there was a more traditional model with more separate roles, where one of the two, usually the father, went to work, was the only one who worked outside the home and earned money. The mother stayed home taking care of the children, the house, and doing a great deal of specialised work in childcare and also in saving money.

Previously, if anything, it was the mother who played with the children, and occasionally maybe the father when he got home from work. But it's true that now we're much more involved in all the household chores because we both work, we both earn money. There are, of course, new situations like single-parent families, same-sex parent families... but in the end, we all do everything. It's true that, generally speaking, everyone wishes they had played more with their children.

Fortunately, from my point of view, there has been a shift, a revision of educational models and models of being parents, where playing with children and having fun is important. 

I have seen stressed kids with whom it's been difficult to agree to something as simple as getting them to see a psychologist, for example, because they really have very busy schedules. I do urge parents to be sensible and to introduce work and extracurricular schedules that are compatible with this work-life balance, with having a somewhat comfortable life, a life rich in the amount of time they spend at work, with their families, and especially with their children.

Boredom is the breeding ground for creativity. Without boredom, ideas don't arise. I think it's essential that children have some quiet time, some passive leisure, where they can be bored and invent games or learn to entertain themselves because, otherwise, we deprive them of learning and practicing that skill.