Young teen in Central Utah in the 50s: Alone with a .22 in the foothills for hours on end. Free-range, barefoot, swimming in the canal, walking 8 miles to look at boys from a different town, then thumbing a ride home. Dances at the band shells on the lake.
I grew up in suburbia, but still lots of green spaces to explore. My buddies and I would spend most summer days at a creek about 4 miles from our neighborhood. Bike down in the early morning and fish. Go up the hill to the corner store when it opened and buy some penny candy - I can still smell the roasted chicken they had turning on a spit in the front window, with a red glowing light on it.
Then head back down to the creek for more fishing. Then some sandwiches, then play around in the water, etc. My old man had grown up a few blocks from that creek, and had done similar.
“Except in my day we would go skinning dipping! And we used to hunt down there too. The first time I went I thought I would be really smart, and in order to get a quicker second shot in the double-barrel, I put both fingers in on both triggers. Of course when I pulled the first one, the second one went off at the same time! Knocked me over!! Although I was only 12 at the time.”
The most we did was BB guns down there, and once we were a bit older we traded in our fishing poles for archery to shoot the carp that had taken over the creek in later years.
But yeah - my old man doing stuff in 1930 that I was still doing in 1970. I’m sure lots of kids are still doing what there parents were doing in 1970 - but probably not in suburbia.
I really think that society is going to be greatly affected by so many people glued to their f-ing smart phones. There is a HUGE disconnect with the REAL world and REAL people right next to them. And more and more studies are showing the addiction and depression that they can manifest.