It missed on the single biggest difference (imo) and that was the building up of the immune system from constantly playing outside and actually getting dirty and interacting with other kids.
You raise kids in a bubble (like many do today) and you wind up with sick kids because their bodies aren’t ready to combat germs.
LOL..I remember my mom saying to get out and stay out..we lived on a farm and there was soooo much to do and explore. We had ponies and timber and oh boy..I loved my childhood. And yes...dirt was a big part of it!
I would tend to agree with you about that ‘getting dirty’ notion. Mama told us kids that we’d all eat a peck of dirt in our lives, so might as well get to it.
Of course, once our inside chores were done, she was always shuffling us out the door to play, as well. Seems like it was safer, back then, to let kids play outdoors with minimal supervision. The older kids looked out for the younger kids, and the whole neighborhood could put together a pick-up game of some sort in just a matter of minutes.
The stories of these two precious kids being taken from their families (FL and MO) put a chill on that kind of thing, today.
Was it a simpler time? Yeah, probably. Was it a better time? Yes, definitely.