I'm curious -- what decade was that? I grew up in 90s Russia, it was literally "be home for dinner, be back by dark." The things we did without supervision...
Gen X in the USA. The Millennials got hosed, badly. Not only did their playgrounds get replaced with child-safe equipment that looks really unfun[1], they got a whole load of parental and school supervision over recess. Never mind the whole no going out without parents crud.
1) the 20' dome monkey bars I played on as a youth got tore down and replaced with a molded plastic installation to play on.
1) the 20' dome monkey bars I played on as a youth got tore down and replaced with a molded plastic installation to play on.