Was The World A Safer Place When I Was Growing Up?

Today the world appears to be so unstable and incredibly volatile. We have so much tension and war all over the Middle East and certain parts of Africa are also having numerous wars on going that we rarely hear about. Plus numerous trouble spots around the world. 

The world has changed so much since I was a child or has it? Growing up I feel now as though I was in a bubble that didn’t expand beyond the estate I live on. I grew up on an estate on the outskirts of Cardiff. It’s a purpose built concrete jungle with a maze of alleyways that were perfect for a quick getaway if the police or a rival gang were chasing you. Yes I had my moments. 

I never knew anything really existed beyond the edges of our estate. The reason was simple. All we had was a tv and if I did watch the news it was usually days or even weeks behind. I rarely remember seeing a newspaper in our house. I was probably about 17 before I reaslised there was a world out there. London for example seemed a million miles away.

The biggest reason for this of course was there was no social media or internet. No instant news that something happens in the world and two seconds later it’s all over Twitter and Facebook, which of course is how it is today. You can now travel anywhere in the world which makes the world a small place. 

I genuinely think the world wasn’t any safer. I just never got to hear about it the way my children do today. They don’t live in a bubble, because they hear about all the shocking atrocities and natural disasters that happen around the world in an instance.

My children are aged 21, 19, 17 and five year old twins. My older children to some extent have grown up in a bubble, but it’s been burst now. Every time I look at them they are on some sort of social media. 

My greatest fear is what is it going to be like for my five year old twins? Already part of their lives is blogging, and blogging is cool to them because they get lots of nice things. They are very aware of Facebook Live, You Tube and Instagram. Do they fully understand it all? Maybe not at fours years old, but it won’t be a problem in a year or so. Computers, laptops and the internet are going to play a very large part in their lives.

For that reason the earlier we educate and teach them responsible use of technology, the better because it will set them up for life that they can take into adulthood. I believe we ignore technology at our peril as parents. However, my wife disagrees! She said they should be at least 12 before they use the internet! On this occasion, I will agree to disagree.

If you have young children this is their world. One that sees an American Presidency run the USA via tweets and looks like any minute he is going to pull his Smith & Wesson out and start shooting the press because they dared to criticise him.

Where Syria has been destroyed beyond recognition and with the dreadful loss of life including so many innocent children. 

Where racism and sexism for all our valiant efforts is still alive and kicking in many supposedly safe and educated countries.

My children have a challenge in their lives, but they will have the tools to change the world because any message they have can now reach across the world very quickly. In fact in a split second via social media and the internet. They can of course use the technology they have been handed to make things change and make the world safer. Which is where as parents we are important to educate the  responsible use of social media etc.

Back to my original question. Was the world a safer place when I was younger? I actually don’t think it was. I just didn’t have the dangers of the world at my fingertips that our children have today.

Would love to know if you think the world was safer when you were younger or is it more dangerous today for our children?