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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I just saw a post on my local FB group: a grandmother looking for someone to keep company her 21 yo GD… who is “a bit scared to explore the city and the area on her own”. She has access to a car. 
Honestly I am surprised. I did a lot of traveling when I was that age… 
This is to say that something is probably changing and young people are generally less mature nowadays [/quote]

Eh, or parents/grandparents are more overprotective.

In the 70s, my parents travelled all over the world at that age. Their parents didn't help them because (1) two of them were dead, (2) they had no idea how to help, and (3) even if they were worldly people, there were no cell phones or internet to facilitate assistance. So my parents just figured it out. I am certain they were often scared and confused, because I've heard the stories. That's normal. Back then, it was pretty typical for most people to venture little beyond their hometowns. Traveling abroad, unless you were wealthy and could afford certain comforts and protections, was considered very brave and somewhat dangerous. My parents when places like Thailand, India, Argentina, the Middle East. They were scared all the time, and no more mature than your average 21 year old today. They just had fewer options for getting help.

When I was 21 and 22, I travelled abroad a bunch and my mom was constantly asking me to call her (with a "calling card" lol) and send emails so she'd know I was alive). She gave me an emergency credit card to use in case I needed it and wanted all my itinerary details so that she could look up flights and train schedules online and make sure they had happened okay. I was like "mom, please lay off, I'm fine." I, too, was scared and immature. But I wanted to do it on my own.

Now, when my own kids cross the street by themselves, my 76 year old mother screams at me that it's not safe and criticizes my parenting. They are 14 and 11.

It's not "kids today." My mom has an extremely different attitude about independence and what parents owe their children now than she did when she herself was young. Kids are the same as they've ever been. Parents and grandparents have changed a lot and are much more risk averse.[/quote]

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