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When I was a kid….
…we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose, not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because we were always outside playing!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms. We had friends and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out anyone’s eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
The result? This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all!
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13 Replies
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That’s very true Shane, i did all that kind of stuff as a kid, and i’m only 37…yes i know i don’t look that old 😮
Trouble today is you can’t let your kids out in case they are mugged or kidnapped… Over here the punishment does not fit the crime, bring back hanging and flogging, then people might think twice about doing it
Just last week i think it was a 5-6 year old boy was kidnapped by two 10 year olds girls, they tied him up and did other stuff to him. Not sure of all the facts as it turns my stomach and i couldn’t read it… whats the world coming too (?)Simon
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I can’t agree more Shane. Used to walk round to my mates house, a farm, and watch his dad churning the butter by hand in a semi outside room, then we’d get bread with the just made sometime last week butter and sit outside in the cattle gathering area and eat it with a cup of still warm from the cow milk.
I joined the army cadets under age at 12 years old and we were asked if we had any rifles or pistols to bring them in so that we could go on the firing range, I had no cover for my rifle so I walked to the bus with it over my shouder in a plastic carrier bag, caught the bus to town, went on the range and caught the bus home. No big deal then but helicopters would be out now!
I used to go shooting with my dad, I borrowed my aunts 14 gauge. We never shot anything but walked miles. The kids now don’t know what the meaning of simple pleasure is, to some extent the same is true of mine, however my wife and I try to encourage outdoor stuff rather than electronic games. Trouble is there’s a whole generation of yobs on the streets here in the uk, with no idea of treating someone with respect and no fear of the law, such as it is. I agree with Simon and am sure that 80 % of the rest of the country would but we are not given a voice when it comes to real issues like safety for kids, health, security, etc.etc.etc
Blimey it’s Saturday night and i’m 41 years old what’s going on?Mark
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Hi Shane
I was born and raised in London. Spent my summer holidays in a northern town called Worksop, with my Auntie. My cousin, friends & I would go out in the morning and get back at teatime. Built dens, go-karts – no brakes either – and all of what you have said.
I’m now the wrong side of 50 and I totally agree with what Simon says.I have a 16 year old daughter, CJ and a 13 year old son, Mike. Yes, I do worry about them. CJ is a little more helpful and out going but Mike, if he has to put himself out, that’s to much.
I would hate to be a youngster now……………
Regards
Lee -
I know what you mean.
When I was 14, back in the 70’s, we lived out in the sticks with no bus service, so I had to wait outside the shops in the main street, for one of my parents to come home from work and pick me up.
I’d nearly always wait to about 7pm before either parent would pick me up. I used to do my homework on the footpath, and talk to strangers that would see me there everyday. Never knew them from adam, but there was always a friendly conversation most days. Got to know one of the shop keepers really well, and he remains a personal friend to this day 30 years later. I wouldn’t leave my kid(s) alone now in the main street anywhere now.
At school, the biggest worry I had was that the girls would think I was a dork, because I didn’t have long hair.
Now my kids practice ‘lock downs’, that teach the kids how to react if the school is taken over by a terrorist, gun toting moron, or drug dealer. The sad part is both my kids have both had to put this training into practice for real when some teenagers got into the school grounds on motorbikes, and tried to destroy the school during class. The police found a gun wielding ‘bandit’ on the school grounds last year too. We moved them from that school very quickly.
My kids this year, even my eight year old, must have access to the internet for some of their homework now. When I was a kid, we had to go to the library and research it. Now they are taught how to use google..
I went to the shops last week, and purchased $2.50 worth of goods, and gave the shop assistant a $5 note. She had to go to a calculator to work out the change. I worked in a shop when I was 18, and if the staff couldn’t count the money back into the hand, they basically didn’t have a job.
The schools here have a reward system. If they tidy their school desk, they get a lollie. If they return their homework on time every week, they get an ice cream, if they are consistantly good, they get someting else. I am very proud that both my kids get rewards just about every week. But at home they are basically very lazy. If we ask them to clean their room, they want to know what the reward will be. I tell them they will NOT get a clip under the ear.
Even that is a no no tho now. My dad would not hesitate to give me a ‘wack’ if I deserved it. They argue now that your kids will grow up to hate you if they get punished. I love my dad to bits. I knew I deserved it when I got it, but now our kids are asked at school if their parents ‘smack’ them. Any child that says yes, their parent get a please explain from the school.
The world has gone mad I’m sure.
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quote Simon C:That’s very true Shane, i did all that kind of stuff as a kid, and i’m only 37…yes i know i don’t look that old 😮
Trouble today is you can’t let your kids out in case they are mugged or kidnapped… Over here the punishment does not fit the crime, bring back hanging and flogging, then people might think twice about doing it
Just last week i think it was a 5-6 year old boy was kidnapped by two 10 year olds girls, they tied him up and did other stuff to him. Not sure of all the facts as it turns my stomach and i couldn’t read it… whats the world coming too (?)Simon
You’re right Simon. Saw that report on TV here too. Where are these 10yo kids parents tho?
Too many violent games and TV shows these days. I will not let me kids even watch the simpsons anymore. Teaches nothing but disrespect in my opinion.
We usually turn down the volume on cartoons too, just to check out the violence levels without the sound masking the action. If it is too violent, they don’t watch.
The school teachers tell the wife and I that our kids are among the least violent in the school. Although I feel vindicated in my approach, my kids are also the victims of abuse, with my son being held down and beaten by three other students. Instead of it being seen as a virtue, others see it as a weekness, with one headmaster telling me that my son is too soft.
I can’t win.
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quote mark walker:. The kids now don’t know what the meaning of simple pleasure is, to some extent the same is true of mine, however my wife and I try to encourage outdoor stuff rather than electronic games. Trouble is there’s a whole generation of yobs on the streets here in the uk, with no idea of treating someone with respect and no fear of the law, such as it is. I agree with Simon and am sure that 80 % of the rest of the country would but we are not given a voice when it comes to real issues like safety for kids, health, security, etc Mark
So true mark, respect is a thing of the past.
I stood up for a pregnant women on a bus once, and she abused me for treating her like she was helpless. She refused to sit in the seat, and called me a chauvenist pig, so then young kid jumped into it while it was vacant.
I actually felt sorry for her that she could see that I was trying to display some manners.
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I grew up in a small village. Pretty much done all you say Shane.
We used to go for long walks roung the lanes in pitch black, wouldn’t let my kids think about that now(not that their old enough yet).We had a proper village bobby(remember those?), he was a VERY big guy and you respected him and other peoples property and if you got into trouble, he’d clip you round the ear and threaten to tell your parents and you were TERRIFIED he would tell them.
Biggest problems nowdays are the parents, thats where kids learn most respect from but obviously outside influences do play a part and I think all teenagers get stroppy but not all teenages assult people, take drugs, vandelise stuff etc.
We currently live in a town but as soon as the extensive renovations are complete on the house, we plan on moving to the country as I really don’t want my kids growing up round here.
Lee
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Lee, I’d love to move to the country, but unfortunately it will never happen. My wife is from the bush, and she loves the convenience of the city way to much to give it up now. 😛
Remember when the Bank Manager was one of the most respected men in the community? My parents used to have our bank manager around for afternoon tea, and they would discuss everything from our schooling to managing our money. Now, IF you can actually talk to your bank manager, they are usually a pimply nosed kid that has no experince whatsoever in business, apart from what they read in the text books at UNI.
I had an inspection the other day by the EPA – Environmental Protection Agency – as they were doing a blitz on sign shops in my area. These inspectors have the power to close your business on-the-spot if you are in breach, and issue $250,000 fines. I think the oldest inspector was 25 years old.
She had never run a business of her own, and basiclly couldn’t understand why anyone would be self employed. I was more than a little worried I can tell you.
She informed me I was in ‘breach’ because my street number was only 6″ high, when the fine print said it should be 12″. She let me off without a fine, but I will not be so lucky next time…..
25 years olds in my day were doing menial tasks, just happy to have a job, never dreamed of having that much power. 😮
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Shane, what’s a Bank Manager?
We moved from Reading to Somerset about 9 years ago. I used to work for a BA at Heathrow and I was on shift work. One day I was in our spare bedroom, where the computer was, doing some work. There was all this noise going on, so I looked out of the window and saw the next door neighbours kid’s and there friends with an air gun, pointing it through the fence at one of our cats.
I pointed out to them that if they pulled the trigger I’d ‘ get the f*****g gun, shove it where the sun don’t shine and I’d pull the f*****g trigger’
At that point, they started to blame each other for having the gun and made a very hasty retreat inside. I didn’t go to see the parents ’cause I felt it would be pointless, as it was the same family who would drain the oil from there car’s straight in to the drains, with out the care in the world.
quote :We had a proper village bobby(remember those?), he was a VERY big guy and you respected him and other peoples property and if you got into trouble, he’d clip you round the ear and threaten to tell your parents and you were TERRIFIED he would tell them.We had the OLD beat bobby in London when I was growing up and yes I did play hooky from school and yes I did get caught by our local bobby who took me home and yes I got it from my Dad that night and to top it all I got it from the Headmaster at my junior school the next morning……Did I ever do it again…..NO WAY
I was taught respect from my parents. Taught to give up your set on a bus or train for a pregnant women or an elderly person. Taught to hold open doors, when going into department stores etc. Taught to say ‘thank you’ if some held a door open for me.
Respect is a thing of the past and the way things are going in this world, in the words of Roger Daulty ‘I hope I die before I get old‘
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When I was a lad in the 50 & 60’s it was much the same as it is now, respect was down to the individual. I wasnt an angel, and I can remember that we used to give a load of verbal to adults and teachers, when we were mob handed. Waiting for the school bus was an example, we would be rowdy and use bad language. We would often get warnings from the headmaster about our behaviour out of school, trouble is, same as it is now, how do you catch the little sods?
Nothing changes, my dad used to say the same things as you lot are now saying, And I suppose that you were all virgins untill you married!
Rose tinted glasses are quite common.
Teddy boys, Mods and Rockers were all nice kids never did any harm, they were just highlighted because they were young!
Peter
Ps The Coppeer that clipped everyone round the ear must have been very old, and very busy, I never met him but he got my dad! and every one else over the age of 30!!! 😉 -
Peter, you sound like one of the kids my dad warned me about!! 😛
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I dont think its all doom and gloom, I lived the kind of childhood that you all described and have grown up none the worse for it. I’d like to think that both my kids have had a similar childhood, we are lucky that we live on a farm and the girls have always had the fields to play in. But I think its up to the parents to put the effort into encouraging their kids away from the telly and pc, both my kids swim competitively and that teaches them discipline, respect and team spirit. They have learned that they get nothing from being lazy and only alot of effort will get them what they want. Take this morning, they got up at 4.45am and swam from 5.30am till 7.00am then went to school. They will swim again at 4pm till 6pm and they love it, have some of the best friends they could ever make and are fit and healthy ( and they havent got the energy left to be causing trouble :lol1: )
The youth of today arent all bad, and still get up to the same tricks as we did and have plenty of fun and freedom too! -
Hi Lee
Where abouts in Somerset are you? May be neighbors.
Chris
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