Did those born in the 50's, 60's and 70's have a better childhood?

[Alexander's Horse]

Borrowed this from Gary.

We shouldn’t have survived!

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because ...

Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on our wheels. (I think you will find they were known as spokey dokeys - some old git wrote this)

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags
- riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

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

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with
Sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

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

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.
No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, and no Internet chat rooms. We had friends went outside and found them.

We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no lawsuits.

We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played knock-down-ginger and were afraid of the owners catching us.

We walked to friend's homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.

We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

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

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.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow up as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.

For those of you who aren't old enough thought you might like to read about us.

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put
A smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today
Were born in 1983........They are called youth.

They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children,
And the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.

They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.

AIDS has existed since they were born.

CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year.

They can never imagine life before computers.

They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, Red Hand Gang or the Famous Five.

They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You.

They can't believe a black and white television ever existed and don't even know how to switch on a TV without a remote control.

And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.



Now let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smile.

2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.

3. Your friends are getting married/already married.

4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.

5. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.

6. You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time around.

7. You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the good old days, repeating again all the funny stories you have experienced together.

8. Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other friends because you think they will like it too...

Yes, you're getting older!!!!

I can really relate to that - when I was a kid Mum would kick us out after breakfast and we'd spend all day playing outside with the neighbourhood kids until the sun went down. We played a lot of sport - just scratch games in the street or yards - but full contact. We had a lot of fights, fist fights, wrestling, fruit fights, stone throwing, name calling but resolved it amongst ourselves.

You'd actually get into trouble from your Mum for telling on someone. Obesity was very rare, almost unheard of.

We were sunburnt, free and independent. We made up our own games and got into lots of trouble.

One thing I never see kids do today is run away. That was a big part of our life - we'd do something dangerous or annoying or stupid and run for it. We got chased a lot - either by rival kids or angry adults. We always had dogs around. We started fires and tried to work out how to derail the local trains. We smoked from about the age of 7.

I caught a bus to school by myself from the age of 5. To get to the bus I had to cross a busy railway line and a couple of roads in all kinds of weather - it was a dangerous journey and would never happen today.

Is childhood better now?

[VetLegion]

This was already posted on Apolyton and there was thread about it.

I'm not sure whether you posted in the thread, that would be something

[St Leo]

We had friends went outside and found them.

Except for those who didn't.

[Alexander's Horse]

Boo Hoo!

[mrmitchell]

Every other month one of the old fogies posts a "our childhood was better" thread. Most of the other old fogies agree, but most of the young whippersnappers says "nuh uh ours was better".

[Alexander's Horse]

well I think there are 2 big differences

Loss of independence

The impact of packaged entertainment like computer games

We watched a lot of TV so the latter is not either/or

[Ned]

Yeah, and road my bike to school in good weather and walked in bad. No buses. Ever. When I got home, we played outside until it was dark. In the summer, we were outside all day long. I was seriously injured twice, but no lawsuits.

Mine was the first generation that had TV. Now that did change America significantly. Before TV, I believe families played games together a lot more than afterwards.

How many of you who grew up in the '90s regularly played games with Dad and Mom?

[Alexander's Horse]

oh yeah - played a lot games with Dad and Mum too - we'd beg them to come out and play footy and stuff like that.

[Sarxis]

I guess I'd have to live my childhood again today to give a real answer. But yeah- I think the 'golden years' of my childhood were really fun and wholesome.

Then Nintendo ruined it all!! >:|

[molly bloom]

Oh happy days of childhood.... power cuts in winter, miners' strikes, Edward Heath, OPEC oil crisis, flares, velcro fasteners, platform shoes, Viet Nam war, Six Day War, the imminent ice age (then it was the next ice age, now it's global warming), pollution (the Torrey Canyon, not the Amoco Cadiz, Minamata Bay and Three Mile Island, not Bhopal and Chernobyl), the Common Market not the European Union, Munich Olympics, Black September, Yom Kippur War, nuclear war on the horizon (yes, I spent a great deal of the early seventies thinking about what would happen in a nuclear conflict- not difficult if you lived on Airstrip One), thalidomide, football hooligans, I.R.A. bombing campaigns...

But no compulsory seatbelts in cars. No H.I.V., no genital herpes, no drug resistant staph or t.b., hardly anyone knew what a paedophile was, no reality t.v. shows, no t.v. pop idols, no Milli Vanilli or Enrique Iglesias, butter was good for you (smoking still killed), Party Sevens, Cresta (it's frothy maaan...), wine in boxes, fondue sets, Habitat was chic.... car coats and sheepskin rugs, orange and chocolate interiors, Betamax videos....

http://www.naffcaff.co.uk/fads.html

Ladybird books, Gerry Anderson television shows (U.F.O. with purple wigged women in Moonbase)... Jim Morrison dies, Jimi Hendrix dies, the Beatles split up, the Velvets split up, Janis Joplin dies...

Milk Tray advertisements with the Man in Black, Orson Welles advertising sherry, Kojak and Columbo....the Streets of San Francisco, blaxploitation films, Funkadelic...

[Alexander's Horse]

I have feeling this all sounds a bit like the stories my Dad used to tell about his childhood - which usually had us groaning.

The difference was he was a depression/war child and his stories usually started out with "we were so poor that.."

One day we caught him out when he said he had chewing gum. We asked how he could afford chewing gum if he was so poor?

He said oh - he picked a used piece up off the ground

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by St Leo
We had friends went outside and found them.

Except for those who didn't.

exactly. although i'll admit video games/the net lure some kids inside, some kids were GOING to stay inside anyway, and they would have used this in the 50's.

[Grandpa Troll]

I was born in the '50's, raised in the 60's..

I didnt have a great childhood though, I was abused and at age 13 was culminated by being held down and beaten, with my ribs broken and front teeth kicked out. This was in the woods of Northern Maine in the very early 70's. I did however become an introvert and developed many mannerisms that were very hard to break and then led me deep into the old "cause and effect" corridor of drugs and alcohol experimentation to escape the harsh realities of life.

The one good thing at the time that helped me was, while becoming an intovert because I was sooo scared to go outside and face my assaulters I read and wrote. I studied and found an escape in writing. The mind is a wonderful place to explore, if you stay away from the pitfalls of memory, and chose rather the open road of self-exploration.

Were the 50's & 60's & 70's any better than today?

I believe they were different for sure. Where I came from kids fought with brass knuckles, rings on fingers to simulate brass knuckles, baseball bats, tire irons, sticks and pieces of rebar. Today kids have guns. We had drugs back then, mostly Marijuana, Crank and Angel Dust (PCP) today Crack and Powdered Cocaine.

Were families any closer?

Dad worked at a large Pulp & Paper Mill while Mom ran the household raising 8 children. 2 died and eneded up raising 6. We had lots of love and today there is lots of love, for some families, sad for some none.

I think its allways easier to say one generation was tougher than other but each has unique circumstances to deal with.

I miss some of the simplicity of those good old days but would not want to have to pay for the real estate I went through again!

Im glad for the times i had, and try to take the rough times as a child to Glorify God now.

I just wanted to share that life is often not what chances and opportunities we had but what we did with the experiences, both good and bad.

Its an interesting life,

I feel God left Death as the last experience in Life because its the wildest ride we ever experience!

Question is where will your ride end up at?

Smoking or Non-Smoking?

Peace

Grandpa-"Gonna-make-it" Troll

[notyoueither]

You know you're old as soon as you start noticing the differences between yourself and 'the kids nowadays'.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Troll
I was born in the '50's, raised in the 60's..

I didnt have a great childhood though, I was abused and at age 13 was culminated by being held down and beaten, with my ribs broken and front teeth kicked out. This was in the woods of Northern Maine in the very early 70's...

You wacky Mainers!!

Thanks for making me feel like my crap childhood experiences were actually the "good ol' days" compared to the dogshit you had to deal with Troll.

[Alexander's Horse]

I found that hard to read - thanks

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by notyoueither
You know you're old as soon as you start noticing the differences between yourself and 'the kids nowadays'.

true - but when you have kids yourself you begin to wonder why you are raising them like pampered little poodles.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
true - but when you have kids yourself you begin to wonder why you are raising them like pampered little poodles.

Funny thing is, I treat my kids pretty much the same as my parents treated me and the siblings, and I feel like I'm abusing them.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
true - but when you have kids yourself you begin to wonder why you are raising them like pampered little poodles.

That's a point.

[Ben Kenobi]

3. Your friends are getting married/already married.

That's one.

[st_swithin]

Lawn darts.
Motorcycles and scooters before the helmet law.
Whippits (not the dog, the nitrous from whipped cream).
'Ludes (gorilla biscuits)
Hitchhiking.
Unfiltered cigarettes.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by Stuie


Funny thing is, I treat my kids pretty much the same as my parents treated me and the siblings, and I feel like I'm abusing them.

Tell me about it - I sent one to school with a huge bruise on his face - the result of a fall - and the school nearly launched a child abuse investigation.

Another time we were riding bikes and one of them got off and refused point blank to go on during a hill climb, tears, the works. I stood there until he got up and pushed his bike to the top of the hill under his own steam. I suspect the modern parent would have carried him. He was so happy when he got to the top by himself.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
One day we caught him out when he said he had chewing gum. We asked how he could afford chewing gum if he was so poor?

He said oh - he picked a used piece up off the ground

My mom grew up during the depression. Her story was that they were soooo pooor that instead of chewing gum, they would chew the rubber tar used for paving roads.

[MRT144]

the fact that we didnt grow up in the time doesnt mean we werent aware of what happened during the time. its not like every time a child is born a new universe is created...

i was born in 1983 and...

this is all crap. i am totally aware of all of this and more.
to me every time some elder brings up these threads it always seems to me they are trying to pat themselves on the back and make themselves feel good about growing up in a world different than now.

[Alexander's Horse]

don't take it so personally

[Drake Tungsten]

Kids these days sure are cry-babies, aren't they?

[DaShi]

Damn, this thread made me feel old, and I just caught the tale end of it.

[Alexander's Horse]

I dunno, my childhood didn't always seem like such fun when I was in it.

[Joseph]

These old tale are somewhat true. However we never had a lock on our door. I live in the country. We did not have a TV until Dec 1958, I was 14. Did not have a lot of toys. Little money. Just my mother and I. No dad. only saw him about 4 times for a few days each time. He was taken away by the cops when I was 9. Never saw him again. He died a month before I turned 13. My Mother milk cows for a living. I had to help until I when to High School. I still clean the barns each day (7 day a week) until day I left to join the Navy.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse

I can really relate to that - when I was a kid Mum would kick us out after breakfast and we'd spend all day playing outside with the neighbourhood kids until the sun went down. We played a lot of sport - just scratch games in the street or yards - but full contact. We had a lot of fights, fist fights, wrestling, fruit fights, stone throwing, name calling but resolved it amongst ourselves.

You'd actually get into trouble from your Mum for telling on someone. Obesity was very rare, almost unheard of.

We were sunburnt, free and independent. We made up our own games and got into lots of trouble.

One thing I never see kids do today is run away. That was a big part of our life - we'd do something dangerous or annoying or stupid and run for it. We got chased a lot - either by rival kids or angry adults. We always had dogs around. We started fires and tried to work out how to derail the local trains. We smoked from about the age of 7.

I caught a bus to school by myself from the age of 5. To get to the bus I had to cross a busy railway line and a couple of roads in all kinds of weather - it was a dangerous journey and would never happen today.

Is childhood better now?

Yep, I agree with every word you wrote here. My childhood was very similar. No wonder I so often think younger people are pussies, many of them are through little or no fault of their own.