I agree with most of Pelican's comments , particularly those which refer to the increase in car usage as being a factor . In earlier decades , there were indeed " dirty old men " about whom one was warned , though one did not know exactly what danger they posed . Though such dirty old men committed sex crimes in earlier decades ,it was not as easy for them to do so , as pedestrians , as it is now that they are motorised . The presence of more pedestrians [ adults and children ] made public places safer . Parents , often not owning cars , would walk to places with their children , instead of dropping them off from cars .Now , many parents claim that their responsibility ceases at the car door and the police / schools / somebody else then assume that responsibility , as the parents are all so busy , working " 24 / 7 " .

There seems generally to be a social trend amongst people over different generations to look back on their childhood and say things like ‘Remember when we were kids, ah you could run around...not have to worry about anything...it was such an innocent time a better time’.
This kind of nostalgic reminiscence has seems is a common human experience, even people from vastly different generations can agree that things have ‘gone to the dogs’ and there are ‘sickos everywhere’.
One thing that I have observed in my lifetime, is what is perceived as change has been largely superficial changes. Changes in technology, fashion, transport and communication make it seems like society has changed but has it? A child might feel as free playing a computer game as they did building a treehouse (this might be worth considering for older readers)
Yes my childhood was free, as humans our childhood is a free time. Children today are as free if not even more free as they were in the 1950’s.
This debate has no positive recourse and is only meant to dwell on negativity.

Do we all have an internet BIO? I hope so

mine is called Life of Brian and here is the start of my entry for year 1951:

"A J Milne (was it?) that wrote the poem "Now we are six". Whatever, this was best year of my life. In Pukoon by Spike Milligan, he says that you only know the best day of your life in retrospect. I got up early back then, and ran barefooted to the corner of Lodge Street and Balgowlah Road at about 6AM, climbed the tree at the end of the street and thought "it don't get any better than this" It never really did, nor will it!"

Need I say any more 'bout "them good old days" [but I probably will]

Dear bluealien,

"Whatever makes the past, the distant or
the future, predominate over the present,
advances us in the dignity of thinking beings."
(Dr. Johnson).

We can always learn
things from the past. It provides insights
into human nature.

For example, the value of historical novels for
children lies in the way they illuminate the
present through the past.

I remember the effect that reading Ruth Park's
novel, "Playing Beatie Bow," had on me.
Where the detail created gave me an effective
picture of the past. I really felt as if I was
a time traveller.

However, remembering the past doesn't necessarily
negate what we have today. Each era is different.
With its own set of minuses and pluses.

The past gives us the present, and what we do
with our future is up to us.

Times may change, but our inner needs and
aspirations - do they change?

I've been searching for a few years trying to locate some missing neighbours and I've just found them. A lovely girl in the family was 13 when the family left my area. I've just found them again and imagine my heartache when I found out that she had a baby at the age of 16, even though she told me when she was young she was never going to make that mistake. (She had no father, and her mother had several children, possibly all to different men). Please love our kids from underprivilaged backgrounds. Don't judge them because of the family they were born into. They've had enough of being told they are society's trash and they start to believe it themselves. I'm still trying to make contact with the girl I've mentioned, although I've managed to make contact with one of her sisters (who appears to be estranged from her family - and she's only 15). I've sent Emails of encouragement to the sister. This young girl with the baby is now 17, and as far as I'm concerned she's still as precious as a little princess.

Gibo, on this issue will you put aside our differences. Will you please pray for these kids? They are in real strife and need help. God's answered my prayers of three years trying to find these kids. That's why I've not been very active here over the last week.

Interesting topic. Certainly, my childhood in the northern beaches of Sydney was far 'freer' than the current experience of my younger kids living in Brisbane's leafy inner western suburbs. I actually had a conversation with them about this fact quite recently.

When I was a kid, when we weren't at school we roamed the neighbourhood, beaches and bushland pretty much at will - Mum would only worry if we weren't home by dinner time. Yes, there was the odd 'dirty old man' lurking in the sandhills behind the beach or offering us lifts, but I recall being well-schooled by my parents in the 60s equivalent of 'stranger danger'.

This is to be compared with the experience of my 12-year old daughter, whose 'helicopter' mother won't even let her walk the 1 km to and from school, and insists she wait in after school care to be picked up. She loves coming to stay with me, partly because I allow her to exercise independence and to take limited responsibility for herself.

While it's difficult to find any hard data, I tend to think that that children are at least as "safe" today as they were when I was a kid, but what seems to have changed is that people are more aware of crimes against them, and are more willing to talk about them. This is, of course, a good thing - but the flipside is that this can feed into the kind of hysterical 'moral panic' that we now have about 'paedophiles' etc.