Being Raised In The 60s & 70s Made People Better Humans In 10 Ways Kids Today Will Never Understand
Elzbieta Sekowska / ShutterstockAs social norms and society change, so too do parenting standards and expectations, so it’s not surprising that many parenting styles, virtues, behaviors, and priorities from the 60s and 70s have shifted for modern parents. Parents now care about different things as they manage different struggles, changing the way they approach raising kids.
From giving kids the opportunity to engage in healthy, unstructured play to letting them solve conflicts with friends on their own time, being raised in the 60s and 70s made people better humans in certain ways that kids today will never understand. While modern kids may be more digitally savvy and emotionally self-aware, old-school behaviors and values are sabotaging traits like patience and empathy.
Being raised in the 60s and 70s made people better humans in 10 ways kids today will never understand
1. They learned the art of patience
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Delayed gratification and the art of waiting, especially for young kids at impressionable stages, can often bolster positive outcomes like patience later in life. They’re not taught to feel entitled to comfort and convenience all the time, which allows them to handle change and challenge gracefully as they get older and enter the real world.
However, compared to modern kids who are offered instant gratification and convenience through technology and new parenting styles, people from the 60s and 70s are among the last generations to learn this skill. From saving money to entertaining themselves through boredom, these expectations made them better humans.
2. They became independent through practice
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While modern kids today are often socially and emotionally harmed by overbearing parents who are too involved in their lives, people raised in the 60s and 70s grew into better humans because they learned to be independent by practicing. From unstructured play to babysitting younger siblings, and spending more time alone without supervision, they had no choice but to take accountability for their own time and behaviors.
They learned to practice integrity and figure things out on their own, crafting a more grounded, emotionally regulated sense of self into adulthood.
3. They figured things out on their own
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Instead of being hand-held and constantly guided by their parents, as many modern kids are by overbearing parents today, people raised in the 60s and 70s had to learn to figure things out on their own. Their independence wasn’t a choice they could pick on certain days, but an obligation their parents set for them from a young age.
From leaving home and playing unsupervised to watching siblings, and resolving problems on their own, they’re the self-reliant adults they are today because they learned to trust in and guide themselves.
4. They learned to appreciate small things
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Without instant access and gratification, kids from the 60s and 70s who actually had to wait for things learned to appreciate them. They weren’t offered fleeting convenience or spoiled by parents who felt pressured to be perfect, so they learned to express gratitude and be thankful from a very young age.
Especially in the social environment they grew up in during this period, many families couldn’t meet their kids’ every wish and desire. Without the pressure of comparison on social media and screens that many modern kids face today, these old-school generations learned to be grateful for what they had, rather than worrying about what they were missing.
5. They became responsible through household chores
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While many kids today are bribed with allowances and offered praise for the bare minimum at home, kids from the 60s and 70s were expected to contribute to their household without any extra compensation or rewards. From running errands alone to doing household chores and even babysitting, their contributions were obligations, not choices.
While it might’ve been annoying and exhausting for these people as children, they can thank their parents for teaching them to grow into more responsible, accountable, disciplined adults.
6. They gratified themselves instead of seeking approval
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While modern kids often crave constant praise, rewards, and validation from other people at the hands of gentle, overbearing parenting styles, people raised in the 60s and 70s had to cultivate self-gratification on their own. Whether it was doing chores, managing their own boredom, or crafting a routine without their parents always around, they rarely received praise for doing the bare minimum. It was simply an obligation.
Even if it seems harsh or cold to parents who make their kids’ emotions the center of their lives today, it taught kids to be responsible for themselves and to seek the relief, pride, and achievement from challenge that they could only truly provide for themselves.
7. They didn’t quit when things were hard
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The work ethic and resilience that many people from these generations boast today as adults are largely due to expectations to get through challenges without quitting as kids. As a study published in the Frontiers in Psychiatry journal agrees, adversity and hardship prepared them to handle the uncertainties of adulthood without expecting someone to immediately solve all their problems.
While modern kids face all kinds of opportunities to handle challenges and discomfort today, our convenience- and comfort-culture urges them to rely on others to manage their issues, whether it’s a parent or a distraction like a cell phone.
8. Boredom crafted their healthy attention spans
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While modern kids’ attention spans are shrinking exponentially at the hands of cell phones and mindless entertainment, people raised in the 60s and 70s crafted their adult concentration and attention spans from leaning into boredom. They didn’t chase “quick fixes” for avoiding alone time and were expected to fill their free time, so, of course, they’re comfortable managing boredom today.
While it wasn’t always comfortable or easy, they found ways to address boredom without immediately resorting to a screen for respite, and they’re more grounded, present adults today because of it.
9. They learned to take accountability
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Especially considering many kids from this era didn’t have parents constantly protecting them from discomfort and challenge, they were forced to take accountability and learn to be responsible from a young age. They couldn’t rely on a parent to solve an issue at school or to step in when they made a mistake. They had to learn accountability for their own well-being alone.
Instead of making excuses, which often justify poor behavior and sabotage opportunities to learn self-efficacy, these generations of kids learned to apologize and own up to their mistakes without viewing them as personal weaknesses or attacks.
10. They became disciplined without rewards
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While many parents today unknowingly create transactional relationships with their kids by gamifying chores and responsibilities like homework, people raised in the 60s and 70s became better adults by learned discipline without reward.
They didn’t always get allowances for doing chores or endless comfort from parents, with compensation for the bare minimum. They had to learn their own ways to boost motivation and get things done, because there was no other choice.
11. They learned decision-making skills
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Instead of being guided by their parents and simply adopting the busy schedules they were expected to, as many kids are today, at the expense of their well-being, kids from a few decades ago had the freedom to craft and choose their own routines. Of course, there was some kind of structure, but with the alone time they acquired with two working parents, they had boredom and time to play by themselves.
They learned to assess risk and make choices without a parent looming over their shoulder, whether it was something like doing chores, completing their homework, or deciding to leave the house.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
