For Carol Bodensteiner, growing up on an Iowa farm meant hard work and connection to the family unit. She felt her work was valued even when she was very little. In this final show in our Iowa Week series, Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe talks with Bodensteiner about her childhood experiences and what they say about Iowa.
Bodensteiner says one aspect of growing up in Iowa that has changed is the freedom she had to roam outside.
"That is something that is really quite different in Iowa and in society in general is the ability for kids to run free wherever, but I think that was also true in towns."
Also joining the conversation is Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Human Sciences Specialist Kristi Cooper. Cooper agrees that childhood today feels a bit different.
"I think children these days do not have those same freedoms for lots of reasons: there are safety issues, there are actually some legal issues, there some cultural things that are happening in our communities—the world doesn't look quite the same as it did when I grew up."
Listener emails and phone calls are also answered during this program.
