People Who Lived Through The '70s, '80s, And '90s Are Discussing Whether They Felt "Safer Back Then," And Wow, I Was Not Expecting To Feel This Grateful For 2025

Warning: This station discusses intersexual battle and rape.

Recently, I came crossed a station connected the fashionable "Ask Old People" subreddit from idiosyncratic Mundane_Bad_2437 asking, "People who lived done the '70s/'80s/'90s, did you consciousness safer backmost past than you bash today?"

"I’m funny however people’s consciousness of information has changed implicit time," they said. "Please disregard caller statistic oregon headlines. I’m much funny successful however it felt to unrecorded successful those decades compared to now."

People had immoderate beauteous insightful answers, and I work done rather a few! So, present are immoderate of the astir interesting:

2. "I don't retrieve arsenic overmuch roadworthy rage successful the '60s and '70s arsenic nowadays."

3. "Oh, decidedly not. I lived successful New York and Chicago successful the precocious '80s and '90s and it was waaaaayyyyyyyy much unsafe then. No comparison. (It was besides much reasonably-priced, but that's a tradeoff, I guess.) Also, erstwhile I was young successful the '80s and '90s, atomic warfare seemed a batch much imminent, and AIDS was a decease sentence."

4. "Speaking for myself, arsenic a woman, I did not consciousness safer. Once you turned 12, men conscionable seemed to consciousness entitled to remark connected your assemblage oregon conscionable to beryllium immense pervs. I'm amazed and thrilled by the precocious expectations girls person for themselves astir however they should beryllium treated."

5. "I was a miss successful the '70s and '80s, and l loved to locomotion and bike, and the harrassment started arsenic a pre-teen. Groping attempts started arsenic an existent teen. Guys thought it was 'funny' and expected you not to beryllium mad. They would autumn backmost connected 'you person nary consciousness of humor.' It was SO BAD by modern standards, and I'm truthful blessed that things person improved successful that sphere."

6. "It was perfectly not safer. My beingness was threatened regular successful Connecticut for being cheery successful precocious school. AIDS was a scourge that killed truthful galore astir me. This is simply a f—ing breeze."

7. "As a woman, no. Or possibly we were conditioned to conscionable instrumentality it. I'm blessed to spot however girls are being taught present due to the fact that of the experiences I had to unrecorded through. "

—u/bmbmwmfm

8. "Yes and no. We didn't person quality disposable astatine our fingertips to archer america what was going connected astir the world. It's casual to spot each antagonistic happening now. Back then, we lone knew what was going connected successful our ain neighborhoods."

9. "Looking back, not definite however I got retired alive! So galore pervy men I had to dodge, adjacent arsenic a young child. Maybe it’s not a bully thought to fto your young daughters spell to sleepovers oregon babysit astatine different people's homes."

10. "Yes, it felt safer due to the fact that determination wasn’t a 24-hour quality rhythm perpetually telling america everything atrocious that happens. But I don't judge we were safer. We didn’t person compartment phones, information cameras, rings, Ubers, oregon motorcycle helmets. Cars were obscurity adjacent arsenic safe. We weren’t instructed connected what to bash if idiosyncratic touched america inappropriately oregon showed america a gun. I virtually walked a mile to schoolhouse by myself starting successful Kindergarten. Fire information wasn't taught. I cognize I'm successful the minority, but I consciousness overmuch safer raising my kids today."

11. "I felt overmuch little harmless backmost past due to the fact that the Cold War was connected and we came to the brink of atomic warfare a mates times: the Cuban situation successful 1962 and the European rocket situation successful the 1980s. Then successful the 1980s and aboriginal '90s, convulsive municipality transgression increased, but I ne'er felt unsafe. The thought that metropolis streets are much unsafe present than backmost past is simply a implicit phantasm."

12. "The menace of atomic warfare during the Cold War felt precise existent and precise scary. In simple school, we had regular aerial raid drills wherever we were taught to fell nether our desks successful the lawsuit of a atomic explosion. Even then, I was beauteous definite that wasn't going to assistance precise much."

13. "It was decidedly not safer. Especially for women and children."

—u/EdgeMiserable4381

14. "We feared atomic warfare mostly. Now I fearfulness my government."

15. "My parent was 1 of the weirdos who bought into the satanic panic, truthful that was annoying for maine arsenic a kid."

16. "No. I consciousness nary little harmless present than I did during the 1960s to 1980s. Perhaps safer present due to the fact that I won't beryllium drafted to spell termination the incredibly bully radical of Vietnam (or beryllium killed myself)."

17. "Gosh no. We didn't deterioration seatbelts. Drunk driving was socially acceptable. We didn’t person GPS and got mislaid each the time. Home information systems weren’t truly a thing. I consciousness overmuch amended now."

—u/ilovepadthai

18. "Hell no. We had serial killers, cults kidnapping people, cars with metallic dashboards shaped similar axe blades and nary seatbelts…I could spell on. Seriously, though, convulsive transgression is mode down from those decades."

19. And finally: "Not really. As a girl, it was conscionable expected that you would judge being groped, harassed, and catcalled. Once erstwhile I was 13, I was really 'pantsed' by 2 teen boys who were conscionable laughing astir it."

If you grew up successful ye bygone days earlier the twelvemonth 2000, archer maine what you deliberation oregon stock your ain experiences down below. Or, consciousness escaped to usage this anonymous form! Who knows, your communicative could beryllium included successful a aboriginal BuzzFeed article.

Please note: immoderate responses person been edited for magnitude and/or clarity. 

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has experienced intersexual assault, you tin telephone the National Sexual Assault Hotline astatine 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest intersexual battle work provider. You tin besides hunt for your section halfway here.