13 ways summers in NJ were different for Gen X and millennial kids

You heard about the parents who got arrested for apparently not understanding what a family vacation means?

According to police, a Jersey City couple left their 8-year-old and 1-year-old alone in a home in Brigantine over Memorial Day weekend while they were out partying. Police found the children in the house unsupervised and managed to contact the parents, who were then asked to come. When they did, they were arrested.

Yes, a 1-year-old is too young to be left with an 8-year-old. No argument here. But what if it were just an 8-year-old? Still too young? Today, yeah. But what if it were an 8-year-old in the 1980s?

Oh, how things were different then. Gen Z will never know just how different millennials and Gen Xers had it. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole thinking of examples of how things were different. Here’s a short list.

SEE ALSO: 10 ice cream treats we’re most nostalgic for in a Jersey summer

13 Ways Summers Were Different for Gen X and Millennial Kids

Home Alone

Being home alone was a real thing. I remember being as young as 5, and my older brother not even being home, let alone my mom and dad. And it was for maybe 2 hours while they shopped or 3 hours while at a movie. No one questioned it. No one called protective services. And you know what? Being left alone for a couple of hours at 5 felt great! You felt like a confident, cocky badass. I’m putting anything I want on TV AND I’m having Fritos for lunch! Stop me!

No SPF

Maybe this one is more of a Gen X kid thing than a millennial kid thing. I don’t remember when it started that every time a kid left the house, they had to be sprayed down with sunscreen. But I never remember it being put on me, ever.

Drive-in movies

GenXers and older millennials remember being a kid and our parents taking us in the back of a station wagon in pajamas for a double feature at the drive-in. The snack bar food could be picked out in a blindfolded test. And remember those dangerous playgrounds at the drive-in? Yeah, here’s a cement tube to crawl through, kids. Try not to shatter your teeth on it.

Make Your Own Friends

We didn’t spend summers waiting for Mommy to set up “play dates” for us. We made our friends. We knocked on doors. Any kids in there? You like baseball in the street? Then come on, we need a man! It was that simple. And we could knock on doors because…

Outside Freedom

We had the freedom to roam. Roam the neighborhood, roam the woods, roam the stores, roam as far as our legs or our bikes could carry us. We had no parent hovering over us. We were trusted. We knew when to come home with those street lights coming on. People in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are more confident for having been allowed that.

No Trackers

And when we did roam, no one had technology tracking us. No kid had a cell phone or a tracking chip anywhere on them. No one was “sharing locations.”

Bug Man

Was any Jersey summer complete without a bunch of us hopping on our bicycles when that pesticide spraying truck would come down the street? It was suddenly “Lord of the Flies.”

No Helmets

When I was a kid, the thought of wearing a helmet on a bicycle was completely preposterous. Nor do I remember even a single time I saw one. Would it have made sense? Of course. But this list is about how things were different, not how things did or didn’t make sense. Speaking of not making sense…

No Seat Belts

Remember those drive-in movies we talked about? How many of us were allowed to ride all the way there, bouncing around in the back of the station wagon like a sneaker in a dryer?

Phones on Walls

You know where Gen X and millennial kids did NOT have freedom? Phones. You had one phone in your house to use. And it was hardwired to a wall. Usually, a kitchen wall. We all tried to talk invisibly or duck into a pantry to talk, but it didn’t work.

No Social Media

OK, I’ll just say it. This one WAS better. If you can keep your kids away from social media even an extra year, hell, even for one extra month, do it! Social media has normalized hate and is responsible for more depression than anything else I can think of. We didn’t miss what we never had.

Cassettes and CDs

Remember the boom box? They graced every beach all summer long, and all our music was either on a mix tape or a CD. It was a tactile experience. Now? Music is a digital download and nothing but a disembodied spirit.

Ice Cream Trucks

It’s not your imagination. They have become fewer and fewer. Seeing one now might as well be seeing an albino deer. But they used to be everywhere. And the moment you would hear that cheap music play, you would dash inside to find a dollar. Everything changes. Things go away. I get it. But for better or for worse, Gen X kids and millennial kids owned Jersey summers in a way they’ll never be owned again.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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