Here are some pros and cons of each decade since the 1880s

1880s
Pros
kids back then had a lot less homework and more play time and ditching school was taken less seriously
There were a lot less laws you had to follow
The American Frontier when it was undeveloped and filled with beautiful natural winders
Cons
There were no labor laws
Cities smelled of Horse manure
No electricity
Had to light a candle or a torch to see at night.

1890s
Pros
The first early films that were made
Listening to music on a phonograph
horse less carriages
You were excited for the 20th century
Cons
inhumane working hours and work conditions
The depression of 1893

1900s
Pros
Witnessing the Turn of the century
Cars became easier to obtain by the working class
all the new inventions that were being made
Cons
Cars were very slow
The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco

1910s
Pros
Lots of entertaining Silent films to see
You could take pictures with a portable Brownie Camera
Refrigerators were invented
Cons
WW1
The Titanic disaster
Mustard Gas
War crimes in the Russian Revolution
Czar Nicholas II and his family is murdered

1920s
Pros
Cartoons like Felix the Cat, Oswald and Mickey Mouse
Penicillin
More people lived in cities than on farms
Cons
Al Capone
Adolf Hitler begins getting into politics
The Stock market crash

1930s
Pros
Sound Cartoons and films
The New Deal
Cons
The Great Depression
The rise of Nazi Germany
WW2

1940s
Pros
Popeye the Sailor man
Pinnochio 1940
Bugs Bunny
Cons
Worst decade to live in
The Holocaust
Near extinction of European Jews
Millions of deaths
The Nuclear Bomb

1950s
Pros
Disneyland
The Mickey Mouse Club
Vaccines are developed
Early Rock and Roll
Elvis Presley
Rosa Parks
Cons
After all those decades since the Civil War Blacks still cannot vote and are segregated from whites
Lots of people who think smoking is cool

1960s
Pros
Hanna Barbara cartoons
The Beatles
The Who
Martin Luther King helps fight for civil rights
Voting rights for non whites
Cons
Organ transplants are in their early stages
No artificial organs
Dental care that is by today's standards primitive
Average Dental fillings were made of silver
and mercury and composite fillings did not exist yet
Very few channels to watch on TV
No Vcrs
No game console
No home computers

1970s
Pros
Disco
Jimmy Carter
Cons
Richard Nixon
Watergate Scandal
Animation Dark age

1980s
Pros
Nintendo Nes
Commodore 64
8 bit game music
Windows 1.0
Ms Dos
Duck Tales
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
The Little Mermaid
Berlin Wall falls
Vcrs become widespread
Nintendo Gameboy is released
The Simpsons start airing on TV
Cons
Usenet is expensive and slow
Cellphones are bulky and expensive
South Africa still had Apartheid
Oppression in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc
Vcrs and computers are expensive
Home computers had very little memory and disk space.
It took many years for Artificial Hearts to become available to the average person in need of a new heart

1990s
Gameboy games
Super Nes
Nintendo 64
Sega Genesis and the other Sega consoles
Playstation
Windows 9x
2nd Animation Golden Age
New Classic Disney animated films
The Rise of the World Wide Web and Internet
Pokemon
Nickelodeon,Disney Channel and Cartoon Network are in their Golden Age
Cold War ends in 1991
Cons
Saturday Morning Cartoon programming declines in quality.
WTC bombing
Oklahoma City Bombing

2000s
Pros
Wifi becomes available
Wikipedia
YouTube
Facebook
MySpace
Broadband
Windows Xp
Windows 7
Lilo and Stitch
Cons
9/11
Decline of Traditional Animation
VHS, and the whole Gameboy line become obsolete
Stem Cell research advancement becomes slower due to laws made by George W Bush
Al Queda
Soccer Moms
Childhood obesity

2010s
Pros
Smartphones
Über
Grub Hub and other similar food delivery apps
Cons
Medical advancement is still very slow and a lot to be desired
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer
ISIS
Political Correctness is at an all time high

My additions in bold.

Here are some pros and cons of each decade since the 1880s

1880s
Pros
Not required to stay in school
There were a lot less laws you had to follow
Dime novels at their peak
The telephone becomes popular
Impressionist art
The American Frontier when it was undeveloped and filled with beautiful natural winders
Cons
There were no labor laws
Cities smelled of Horse manure
Extreme income inequality
No electricity
Had to light a candle or a torch to see at night.

1890s
Pros
The first early films that were made
Listening to music on a phonograph
horse less carriages
You were excited for the 20th century
The modern era of newspaper design begins (sections, comics, noted advertising)
Cons
inhumane working hours and work conditions, with thousands of strikes per year
The depression of 1893
The Boer War and the Spanish-American War

1900s
Pros
Witnessing the Turn of the century
Cars became easier to obtain by the working class
all the new inventions that were being made, most notably the airplane
Theodore Roosevelt
Postcards become popular
Ragtime music
The modern age of Major League Baseball begins
Cons
Cars were very slow
The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco

1910s
Pros
Lots of entertaining Silent films to see
You could take pictures with a portable Brownie Camera
Refrigerators were invented
Futurism
Jazz becomes mainstream
Cons
WW1
The Titanic disaster
Mustard Gas
War crimes in the Russian Revolution
Czar Nicholas II and his family is murdered
Women can't vote

1920s
Pros
Cartoons like Felix the Cat, Oswald and Mickey Mouse
Penicillin
More people lived in cities than on farms
Radio becomes popular
Flappers and women's rights
Art deco architecture
Cons
Prohibition
Al Capone
Adolf Hitler begins getting into politics
The Stock market crash

1930s
Pros
Sound Cartoons and films
The New Deal
The golden age of comics starts
Cons
The Great Depression
The Dust Bowl
The rise of Nazi Germany
WW2

1940s
Pros
Popeye the Sailor man
Pinnochio 1940
Bugs Bunny
Cons
Worst decade to live in
The Holocaust
Near extinction of European Jews
Millions of deaths
The Nuclear Bomb
Television is only available in a few cities and programming is only on a few hours a day

1950s
Pros
Disneyland
The Mickey Mouse Club
Vaccines are developed
Vinyl records replace shellac 78s
Television becomes popular
Early Rock and Roll
Elvis Presley
Rosa Parks
Cons
After all those decades since the Civil War Blacks still cannot vote and are segregated from whites
Lots of people who think smoking is cool

1960s
Pros
Hanna Barbara cartoons
The Beatles
The Who
Martin Luther King helps fight for civil rights
Voting rights for non whites
The golden age of space exploration
Cons
Organ transplants are in their early stages
No artificial organs
Dental care that is by today's standards primitive
Average Dental fillings were made of silver
and mercury and composite fillings did not exist yet
Very few channels to watch on TV
No Vcrs
No game console
No home computers
Vietnam and its controversy

1970s
Pros
Disco
Jimmy Carter
The Hollywood Renaissance
Calculators
Environmental awareness launched by Earth Day
Cons
Richard Nixon
Watergate Scandal
Animation Dark age
Energy crisis/stagflation

1980s
Pros
Nintendo Nes
Commodore 64
8 bit game music
Windows 1.0
Ms Dos
Duck Tales
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers
The Little Mermaid
Berlin Wall falls
Vcrs become widespread
Hip-hop becomes popular
Cable TV becomes popular
Nintendo Gameboy is released
The Simpsons start airing on TV
Cons
Usenet is expensive and slow
Cellphones are bulky and expensive
South Africa still had Apartheid
Oppression in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc
Vcrs and computers are expensive
Home computers had very little memory and disk space.
It took many years for Artificial Hearts to become available to the average person in need of a new heart

1990s
Gameboy games
Super Nes
Nintendo 64
Sega Genesis and the other Sega consoles
Playstation
Windows 9x
2nd Animation Golden Age
New Classic Disney animated films
The Rise of the World Wide Web and Internet
Pokemon
Nickelodeon,Disney Channel and Cartoon Network are in their Golden Age
Cold War ends in 1991
Economic boom
Cons
Saturday Morning Cartoon programming declines in quality.
WTC bombing
Oklahoma City Bombing

2000s
Pros
Wifi becomes available
Wikipedia
YouTube
Facebook
MySpace
Broadband
Windows Xp
Windows 7
Lilo and Stitch
Memory storage capacity improves significantly
Cons
9/11
Decline of Traditional Animation
VHS, and the whole Gameboy line become obsolete
Stem Cell research advancement becomes slower due to laws made by George W Bush
Al Queda
Soccer Moms
Childhood obesity
People start to spend noticeably less time outdoors

2010s
Pros
Smartphones
Über
Grub Hub and other similar food delivery apps
Virtual reality boom
Drones
Cons
Medical advancement is still very slow and a lot to be desired
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer
ISIS
Political Correctness is at an all time high
The fall of rock music from the mainstream

1880s
Pros
Not required to stay in school
How is poor education a pro? Or do I miss something? ???

How is poor education a pro? Or do I miss something? ???

What I meant is that kids back then had a lot less homework and more play time and ditching school was taken less seriously