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froglady

Kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, & early 70's

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According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have
survived................

Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.

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 seatbelts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

Horrors!

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode 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 would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

NO CELL PHONES!!!!!

Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends!

We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame
but us.

Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home 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.

Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.

Horrors!

Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own.

Consequences were expected.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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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Now Anne, did you think all those up and write them down yourself???:P

Sometimes I wonder what my kid will be doing in the future. Alot of time I wonder if I'm doing an OK job as a parent for him... Food, school, homework, fun, love, ect...

I think it all comes down to are we happy, is he healthy, and is life still fun.. If we have a bunch of 'yes' answers there... Then he can have a cupcake if he wants one;)

Once the plane takes off, you're gonna have to land - Might as well jump out!!

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According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have
survived................



umm...many of them didn't.

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Horrors!



It is horrible...when you look at how many children were unnecessarily injured or damaged or died because of the things listed.

(I truly hope you aren't meaning to infer that these things don't carry a significant risk? Or that just because some of us survived something means that the risk from the activity is low enough not to worry about??)

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We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.

We had friends!

We went outside and found them.



These things aren't mutually exclusive. Many of us play games and spend time online...and also have a very active social life with lots of friends.

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and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes,



Gah..??
Umm...yes...'we' did put many eyes out. We also killed each other...and caused perminent damage to each other...


I'm not sure if you really feel this way...but this seems like a huge glorification of what used to be. "the good old days" rarely were.

--------------------------------------------
Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

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I can't recall which book it is in, but Charles Lindberg wrote in one of them that at a very early age, something like 7 to 10, his mother drove him off the homestead about 5 miles, got him lost and then made him find his way and walk back home by himself.

He wrote it helped teach him how to become self reliant at an early age.

I think most parents would be locked away today and the truth is we do live in different times. Still, an interesting story.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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As children, we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.




Not only did we ride in cars without seatbelts or airbags, we stood up in the front seat and layed down in the back deck of the car obstructing our parents vision.

I Loved and still do like riding in the back of a truck and im over 30.

There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan

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I don't succumb to any peer pressure, or bullshit remembrances...lets see what I do:

1. EVERY kitchen cabinet has child proof locks.
2. Some cabinets have locks elsewhere in the house.
3. Gas stove has locks on the ignitors.
4. Stove has lock on the door.
5. Toilet has locks on it.
6. Crib has no paint on it.
7. 8 Airbags in one van, 2 in the car
8. Carseats, 5 pt belts
9. No coffeetable in the living room
10. Button guards on all electronics within reach.
11. Guards in all sockets
12. Gates at the bottom and top of all stairways
13. New big-boy-bed so, guard on one side, mattress on floor on the other.
14. No Yelling in front of any kids.
15. Any smokers are not allowed to handle or be close to any of my kids unless they wash their hands and mint up first. If they want to hold them, they better bring a change of clothes.
16. No demeaning anyone unless it's me ;)

I consider ANYONE that says I go too far a SHITTY parent. PERIOD. (this is not to say everyone has to do what i do, to each his own, i don't care as much about other peoples kids)

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You obviously are not a suporter of what I like to call "Social Darwanisim"

Sure some didn't survive. But then there were a lot less people unwilling to pull them selves up by their boot straps, instead of looking for a handout.

There were less unwanted childern.

People on a whole were more creative, more social, and in general I think coped beter with the world, because they were never "told" they had problems.

They just live, and had a good time doing it.

I'm still sickend buy the pansies many Americans have turned them selves into. I've had a 5 year old tell me they've been diagnosed with ADD, and are being medicated for it.

I say send em' outside to play, and shut off the f*&king TV.
----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

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Times are so remarkably different. I tried to get my kids out of the house today on a bright, beautiful S. Texas day. Nope. No Luck.

My Dad and Grandfather through me into the middle of Pensacola Bay one summer day to see if I could swim. I came up laughing and swimming.

Oh yeah. I was 8.
L.A.S.T. #24
Co-Founder Biscuit Brothers Freefly Team
Electric Toaster #3
Co-Founder Team Non Sequitor
Co-Founder Team Happy Sock

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I blew things up with firecrackers -

We rode our bikes at horriffic speeds down dirt roads - And crashed, got cut up bad and laughed about it. We also jumped ramps made from old boards and garbage cans and lived to tell about it.

I broke an arm rollerskating in second grade.

We played with gasoline -

I learned how to shoot (and shoot well-) by the time I was 12. I learned at the local police range, and was taught by active police marksmen. At a very young age I was taught safe and responsible firearms skills. This was in New Jersey in 1973 or so.

We played in the mud and the dirt, and ate good share of it, too.

I personally could wear out 2 rear tires on a bike in one summer.

No wonder I'm damaged-

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It's awesome that you do all that to protect you kids. Only one of them is a law. Given information you've choosen what you want to do to protect yourself and your family, no body else.



Think about it - How many thousands of years have we been raising kids, we still can't get it right and no one has come up with a decent owners' manual?

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You're one of those people that don't think they should keep score in little league, aren't you? :P



Nope...

notice that I didn't comment on the touch-feely part of her post like being held back in school or having problems in little league. I commented on the safety issues she talked about...like lead paint and no car seats and such.

I have no problems with hard knocks when it comes to socializing and emotionally....I have a problem when it becomes physical. (tease my kid and it's between you...but if you hit my kid then I'm going to step in.)

--------------------------------------------
Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

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Sure some didn't survive. But then there were a lot less people unwilling to pull them selves up by their boot straps, instead of looking for a handout.


I don't think we have to put our children into physical/mortal risk in order to make them responsible and self reliant. I don't think one thing has anything to do with the other.
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There were less unwanted childern.



This is absolutely and catagorically untrue. There were many more unwanted children per capita.

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People on a whole were more creative, more social, and in general I think coped beter with the world, because they were never "told" they had problems.

They just live, and had a good time doing it.



I dunno...
that hasn't been my experience. But this is an opinion, so I'm not going to say that you're wrong...just that my opinion differs from yours.

Quote





I'm still sickend buy the pansies many Americans have turned them selves into. I've had a 5 year old tell me they've been diagnosed with ADD, and are being medicated for it.

I say send em' outside to play, and shut off the f*&king TV.




I doubt that the reduces risk to children by things like not smoking/drinking in pregnancy, using car seats, not using lead paint, not using asbestos, etc...has anything to do with children being "pansies".

And has it occured to you that they are watching TV instead of playing outside because there is no parent around to turn it off?

--------------------------------------------
Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

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Not only did we ride in cars without seatbelts or airbags, we stood up in the front seat and layed down in the back deck of the car obstructing our parents vision.

I remember standing on the front seat of a 73 Buick Electra many times. If you sat down and were straped in you couldn't see where you were going.
I should never have lived. Our water came from a well with a cow pasture on one side and corn on the other. Who knows what was in it besides water. We had mini bikes, go carts, and dirt bikes and never wore a helmet. We played with tools and knifes and BB guns and rarely got hurt. When a kid who didn't know better came to play the favorite trick to play was to get him to pee on an electric fence. I'll probably burn in hell for that some day.

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I was born in the '40s. Food was rationed until I was 6. There's no comparison between the '40s and the '70s. Even less with kids that grew up in the '30s.

And did I mention walking 5 miles to school, uphill each way?
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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I blew things up with firecrackers -

We rode our bikes at horriffic speeds down dirt roads - And crashed, got cut up bad and laughed about it. We also jumped ramps made from old boards and garbage cans and lived to tell about it.

I broke an arm rollerskating in second grade.

We played with gasoline -

I learned how to shoot (and shoot well-) by the time I was 12. I learned at the local police range, and was taught by active police marksmen. At a very young age I was taught safe and responsible firearms skills. This was in New Jersey in 1973 or so.

We played in the mud and the dirt, and ate good share of it, too.

I personally could wear out 2 rear tires on a bike in one summer.

No wonder I'm damaged-

***

Dude!
I WANNA PARTY WITH YOUUUUU!!! ;)
I'm STILL that way! :ph34r:











~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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And did I mention walking 5 miles to school, uphill each way?



I actually did walk a mile to school in a Chicago blizzard once. Only to find out school was closed and had to walk back.>:( They had not announced our school as closed on TV by the time I had to leave so Mom sent me out. About five minutes later they announced it but it was too late to stop me then.


"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

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I moved around a lot so I suppose I could have missed it but I don't recall loosing very many people to any of these causes. There were not bunches of kids running around with patches or glass eyes either.

Have we made the world a safer place as far as childhood accidents are concerned, yes as we should. But the paranoia level raised in many people and especially children is apalling. For cryin' out loud where are we going to get more skydivers from if this trend continues?


"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

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