There has been a drastic change in the way children experience childhood over decades

Difference between 90’s Kids vs Today’s Kids

Arfat Ali Junejo
4 min readJan 9, 2021

As there is saying that change is inevitable but it really matters whether that change is for good or worse. Kids are cute, innocent, and naughty but there has been a drastic change in the way children experience childhood over decades.

Following are the differences that can be observed between 90’s kids and today’s kids.

#1. Kids were smarter than appliances

Children were super active in everyday life in the 90s. Running, playing and outdoor games were a must for every child, as a result, kid was healthier and fitter. Today kids are getting obese thanks to fast food and lack of activity and appliances are getting slimmer with the advancement of technology.

#2. Distance made the hearts grew fonder

90’s kids used to write letters send postcards and spent money to be able to connect with their friends and family, which certainly made them miss and value each other’s company. However, in today’s time when the whole world seems to be just a click away, we see kids burry in their gadgets finding little or no time to bond and make friendships at a human level.

#3. Kids were social in the absence of social media

Back in 90’s kids were a lot more relieved, happy, and social. There were much more interaction with schoolmates, neighbor’s kids, and cousins. There were picnics, movie nights, outings or simple get together. However today it has been observed that despite having hundreds of virtual friends on social media apps, kids are getting alone, disconnected, and less social.

#4. Today’s kids are more into selfies than oneself

In 90’s kids actually spent time with each other, enjoyed and cherished the hobbies, reading and listening to stories. While nowadays, kids are more into taking pictures, selfies, and posting them online making hence making them self-centered.

#5. The school was not a stressful place

Back in the ’90s going to school was fun; there was a balance between studies, playtime, and socializing with friends. Today kids drag their heavy bags to the schools filled with books and notebooks having the pressure to get good grades and secure positions, ultimately causing them fatigue and stress.

#6. Games were on the ground, not on gadgets

In the ’90s kids used to play a variety of real games, be it outdoor indoor like hiding and seek, kho kho, Ludo, carom board, or chess. Today kids play all the games on a phone or tablet, in a virtual world causing physical and mental health problems.

#7. Punishments

In the ’90s when kids got punished, they were not allowed to go outside, meeting their friends, and grounded at home. However, today, the way to punish a child is to snatch their gadgets and force them to spend time outdoors rather than sitting in front of screens. It's ironic how things have changed nowadays.

#8. Personalization vs Digitalization

Kids in the ’90s made to practice handwriting, drawing sketches, and reading books. Storybooks, coloring books, and digests were quite popular that helped to broaden kid’s imagination and enhanced their creativity. Nowadays digitalization is becoming popular for both studies and entertainment as a result attention span has reduced so much making it difficult for a child to focus on any single thing.

#9. Number of Hobbies

What are your hobbies? There were times when gardening and coin collecting were the answers to this question. Now the answer to this question comes, as a surprise, which is gaming. Too much screen time is causing aggression, restlessness, and insomnia in today’s kids. Also once connected with the virtual world kids get so addicted that they are simply not able to get back to the real world.

#10. Today you have to pay a price to make a kid happy

In 90’s kids used to get ecstatic over inexpensive things, toys, and sweets. Today it has become a real task to make a kid happy until and unless you buy them a PS4, mobile phone, tablet, or drone camera.

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