I was born and grew up in Africa (most of the time). As I recall kids were rare on commercial flights to and from Africa in the seventies and early eighties. I was (nearly) always invited to visit the cockpit and boy did the pilots impress me
I was never offered the front seat though. Enjoyed jump seats during landings and soaked up the experience of all the new automation (all explained to me while coming in) when the Airbus was introduced...
When I grew older, and on non-commercial flights I was often offered the front seat, and the controls, with an experienced pilot next to me. At that point I knew I wanted to be a pilot. It never happened.
When I moved back to Europe I worked for some years as a courier, practically living on airplanes or airports. I noticed the change in attitude towards pilots. If you're a captain, you should be treated as a captain, not a bus driver.
Now back on topic: I wouldn't dream of touching anything in he cockpit even if I would've been offered the front seat as a kid. Right now I wouldn't trust my kids in a front seat for a second. Kids these days have a tendency to push a button and then ask what it actually does. Times have changed, we (the kids) are not used to great consequences from pushing buttons (or rotating knobs for that matter). Blame Apple
Ignorance is not bliss....