We were raised as a sort of communal group of neighbood children. Older siblings took care of younger ones. Kids were turfed out of their houses during daylight hours, to “play". Sometimes this meant going to someone else’s house, sometimes you just wandered around in a herd. If you didn’t show up by dinner, parents would start calling around to find you.

That level of laissez-faire would probably get you arrested for child endangerment nowadays.