How has the world changed from when you were young?

Becky-

The world has totally changed now from when I was a child. The biggest change has been the Media which has brought the world into our homes. When I was a child, all we really knew was our neighborhood, first and for most and then our town and church. We were also acquainted with the rest of the county but on a very limited basis. I went to Bicknell Elementary and only the children from Bicknell, Teasdale, Torrey, Grover, and Fruita attended. When I was in 5th and 6th grades, we held a Pentathalon and the students from Loa Elementary came and that is the first time we were acquainted with them. So when we went to Wayne High School in the 7th grade, that is basically the first time we ever really met and became friends with the 'upper' county kids.

We only have one telephone and it was a 'party line' where several other families shared the same phone line. We listen in on their conversations and they could listen in on ours. That was a 'no no' to do that, but sometimes we would sneak in and do it anyway. However, we were mostly too busy playing outside to worry about listening in on phone conversations on our neighbors. Now the world comes into our homes. We know about all of the other countries, movie stars, tragedies, earth quakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc and we see the suffering of other around the world. We also get to watch discovery channels on t.v. and get to visit other countries via the pictures and television episodes. We also get to watch and listen to great concerts throughout the world. Yes, I would say the Media is the greatest influence on all of our lives today and it has been interesting to see how it has expanded in the past 60 years of my lifetime.

Collette- I was having a conversation with a couple of ladies in my ward and somehow the topic of kids walking to school came up. I was shocked to learn that these ladies and most others in my neighborhood do not let there children walk to school alone, even though we live a stone's throw away from the school. It's not like these kids are really young either one of the ladies has a daughter around 9 years old. I'm not sure if the difference is in how the world has changed or if it is a small town vs. big city thing. Since I can remember I was always doing things alone or with friends. I'm sure the adults knew where we were but we were free to create our own fun and not be so reliant on our parents. Now days mom would be jailed for leaving Brooke home as a babysitter of 3 younger siblings at the age of 9, yet Brooke handled the job like a pro. I think kids in my day grew up a little faster because they were given more responsibilities and freedom.

Raquel-How is the world different since I was a child well I know that when i was a kid being outside and doing productive things were more popular than they are these days. Video games and computer and cell phones are huge now and I think thats a big time waster. Technology just keeps getting more and more advanced it can be helpful if you just use it in the right ways and dont abuse it. I wonder all the time what the world will be like for my kids...