I've talked about this with friends before and many of them were amazed at the amount of freedom I was given as a child. From about age 6 or 7, I was allowed to roam with local children until the street lights came on and as long as we stayed in a group. If I was late I would not be allowed out the next day, or longer depending on how late. Most of the other neighbourhood parents didn't really pay much attention to what their kids got up to (it wasn't an affluent area) unless it was illegal or ridiculously dangerous (bamboo blackpowder cannons fits into that category). We would go into forests, creeks and occasionally get all the way to the beach (about 5 kilometers from our neighbourhood). Most afternoons would be spent building things or planning something. I even taught other children how to fix computers so we could play games. I'm only in my mid-twenties so this isn't one of those, "back in my day..." stories but I rarely hear of similar experiences from anyone under 30. Has anyone else had a similar upbringing or have you raised your children with actual free time /and/ personal accountability for their actions?