The 1930's. Eww.

I think that growing up in the 1930's would be very unpleasant. My group's newspaper articles were on labor. Labor in the 1930's almost exclusively means the Great Depression. Call me strange, but growing up in the Depression sounds depressing, appropriately enough. Since the topic of the Great Depression was too morose, we tried to find things unrelated to the Depression but still related to labor. Somehow, both Andy and I ended up with tragedies involving the loss of life. Andy had the Massacre of Something In Which People Are Shot, and I reported on the Moweaqua Mining Explosion, which killed 54 people. On Christmas Eve. I don't want to grow up in a time where my father leaves for work on Christmas Eve, expecting to come home and hand out candy to all of the little children, only to be exploded and crushed to death in the mine. I'm sure that this didn't happen to everyone, but it seemed like tragedies like this were common in the 30's. People living at this time would have to acclimate to all of the misfortunes. They would have to be tough of spirit to survive in the harsh real world.
These difficult conditions would make growing up a tumultuous experience. The protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird will have to undergo extreme character growth, and will have to adjust from the life of a child to the life of an adult, in one of the most difficult times that this nation has faced. Her friends and parents will have to help her become the strong person she needs to be to thrive.