Life seems to be changing at an ever-increasing pace for our children as they wrestle with the pros and cons of technology and an increasingly commercialised society. They seem to be either glued to a screen for an unhealthy amount of time or competing to have the very latest this or that to keep up with their peers.
What happened to playing in the streets all day until your mum called you in for tea? And shouts of ‘you’re either in or out’ and ‘shut the door behind you’? Ah, simpler times.
Of course, kids still play out, but they have more indoor options to choose from now. Sending a child to their room used to be a punishment, now it means 12 hours straight of Fortnight or Roblox.
Anyway, join us as we take a journey from the past to present with a series of stirring images of kids playing outside in Liverpool streets - from as far back as 1890.
9. A young boy attempts to hitch a ride on one of Liverpool’s first electric trams, in Derby Square, in 1900.
Image: J. Burke/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
10. Children climb the fence at Liverpool FC's Melwood training ground ahead of the Champions League match against Galatasaray in 2006.
Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
11. Children play in the street with a homemade go-kart in 1960.
Image: John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images
12. A young boy enjoys the warm weather playing on the pavement outside his home in the Shorefields area of Liverpool during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown, in 2020.
Image: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images