InsideTech

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the

1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.



Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs 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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and 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 koolade made with sugar, 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 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or 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 very many 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. Imagine that!!

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

These generations have 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!

If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.





Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

No offense taken netman, I AM an old man. I was born in 1960 and remember these days perfectly well.

Y'all are just kids.  I was born in the 50's!

born 1985 haha. but it just sounds like me growing up in the country hahaha. so it just shows people know now but it still goes on

Wow, the old days were very hard, we had to go outside to take a piss, and go to the cabin to take a dump, but well everything was fine collecting cow's dung to mix it up with straw in order to make bricks, sometimes it was real hard during the winter to take a bath or let the women washing clothes in the river, but my generation made it, today we got cars instead of horses, we even got indoor clothes dryer. And there is that thing that has a light inside and that rings which make your food hot. This is a real cool box, we don't have to chop wood anymore.

I was born in 1978 and I too remember this as my childhood.  The newer generations are bred as dependent pansy-asses.  I don't sugarcoat things or baby my children so hopefully they will turn out better for it.  Anyone that thinks that children and families are fending better in this day and age are delusional.

Aren't the lawyers and government regulators the ones who were born in the 40's 50's 60's and 70's? lol... I grew up in the 90's and still managed to do everything that you named only we passed around a can of soda not a bottle. My parents were laid back and a little hippyish though so I guess I lucked out. The kids I feel for are the ones born in the millenium age. The way I see some people raising their children now I can tell there is gonna be hell to pay later on while I'm attempting retirement and talking about the good ol 90's.

Born 1970 here.

Learned to ride my bike by going downhill really fast... Learned to lean into turns after wiping out in a ditch at the end of the hill.  Also had to replace the handle-bars as they were hopelessly damaged. 

I was never raised to be a panty-waist dilletante.  Just grew up learning about the good and bad things in life through experience.  I learned about accountability early on, and though I was never given a BB gun, I was in full knowledge of where we kept the real guns in the house, and was authorized to use them to protect the family if ever the need arose.  And yes, this included learning how to handle them all starting at about age 7.  Funny thing is, I have not ever actually acidentally shot anything, especially myself or friends.  When the pistol nearly knocks you over the first time you use it at that age, you truly learn how powerfully dangerous the weapon is.  It doesn't take rocket science to figure out what would happen on the receiving end of the barrel.

Let's face it, we're careening towards a society where no one has to figure out how to survive by fending for themselves. 

We should see a point in the near future where Darwin's theory proves right, and then those of us left can figure out what to do with all the extra things left around when the common-sense mass die-off occurs.  ;-)

Almiller says ...

The way I see some people raising their children now I can tell there is gonna be hell to pay later on while I'm attempting retirement and talking about the good ol 90's.

Stonecutter says ...

Let's face it, we're careening towards a society where no one has to figure out how to survive by fending for themselves. 

We should see a point in the near future where Darwin's theory proves right, and then those of us left can figure out what to do with all the extra things left around when the common-sense mass die-off occurs.  ;-)

I couldn't agree with you more. Sadly, I'm almost looking forward to it.

Phreadd, this is not a jab at you. You opened a door on a truth that most people do not see about reality.

I’ve heard this many times “I don’t have much contact with kids.” Or “I do spend every opportunity that I have working with the kids, but there just isn’t time.” (Remember, I’ve worked adolescent pych for a while, and heard lots of reasons people don’t have time for the Youth.) and I have always the same reply “Do you have time to watch TV for a half hour in the evening?” “Do you go to the movies?” How about this? “How much time do you spend surfing the net?” “Getting lost in the music?” “Going to the Gym or Jogging?”

Here is the reality, our time is our choice. Our youth are the future that we are creating. The problem is not the youth, it is “US” ! I know that every person on this planet has the ability to make time for anything that is truly important (slavery is another discussion). It really doesn’t take that much to make a huge difference, but it does take Commitment to make it effective. If you have a local boys and girls club, just take a half hour every day and go there to help. Not all people are gifted in interacting with kids, but you can still make a difference by helping them put up supplies, clean or prepare stuff. If you can play basket ball or catch or talk (rephrase that… Listen…) to a kid for a half hour. You can add a kid to your daily routines of working out. If you don’t have kids, somebody in the neighborhood does, ask them strait out if they would come for a jog with you, or would go to the gym with you (yah you might have to pay for them but it would be worth it). Make friends with any kid and participate. It’s great if they are to busy with their family to join you, that means try the next or the next.

Those kids that get into trouble do so because they “WANT”. They lack role leaders that are interested in them. Gangs exist because kids are not getting the support they want/need from home. Gangs run on fear. I do not know any child that wants to be afraid. The greatest driving factor in gangs is the fear of being left out. If kids are busy having fun with adults (Teachers) they will not be concerned about being left out.

Ok, the next question that I get is usually something along the lines of…. So, if what you say is true what do you do for the youth?

(Heehee) You mean other than being an adolescent psychiatric nurse? (I’m not currently) Currently, I work through our Church and the public schools to help kids have sound equipment for events. I help them plan the events and provide time and occasionally space to hold concerts, dances, meeting, and much more. I help support different groups in the community to provide activities and I spend about 1-2 hours each night learning how to program in HTML so that we will be able to provide web activities and advertising for the kid’s events. While this is easier due to the fact that I have a teenage son, and he writes music (concerts and sound thing) It still take a determination to be committed to the youth. I actually have a lot of teenage sons and daughters that are just as close to me as my son.

We are making a difference in our community and the effort is beginning to spread to other adults. I hope to raise the money for a concert hall to be built for the youth to hang out at instead of down at the corner.

Ok, I’m off the soap box.

I was born in the 70's and I can tell all these things are true. Technology;economic;life, etc. are not likely as today. Kids nowadays are so so lucky that living in the modern history...

Here is a comment from someone on the younger side:

I will say from what i read that you are right. from what i have learned about history. due to the break out of electronics in the past few years, it has made a new era for how people live and what they get used to as kids. i was building and fixing computers when i was in 5th grade, Nintendo came out with a new form of entertainment and the change on having many songs one one source instead of just a few on a big one. this all changed us. as in the diagram above we are mostly (depending on the person) living a little closer to the top.

but the better things go up. the dark sides grow as well. from all the stories i have heard from my older family. if any were to be done today. you would have a cop up your but because you broke a poinless law. the Tolorisam has grown as well. jokes and little talk was OK from what i learned. now a days say 1 thing in a funny way Because it "could" have heart someones fealings you get suspended from school.

Now i will admit this isnt quite as bad as what you guys have said in some cases. but no mater what time it is there will always be the dark side in society.

I have raised 7 kids, and I agree with all who say how important it is to spend as much time with them as possible. I found myself a stay at home dad for many years and found ways to pay my bills and spend that time with my kids. My wife would always describe our boys as busy, well that's part of being a kid, but what we as parents and adults must do, is keep them busy doing the things that will make them productive when it comes time for them to go off into the world on their own.

Our society our media, and some in government would have us believe that it takes a village to raise a child. It takes parents to love and nuture them to raise them to be Adults.

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." Ronald Reagan

Interesting...

I can understand the frustrations dealing with children who were raised to be spoiled.  I came from a poor home, and moved to the city when I was five.  I can recall having a group of friends from the nieghborhood who would come with me every day to look at the attic window in my back yard to discover what size the hole was that day (we swore my attic was haunted), and even ran screaming one day when we all saw a see-through green face of an old man peering out...

I remember playing pretend out on the playground, and having monkeybar competitions;  snowball fights in winter, with snow angels and snowmen.  My favorite treat was when my grandpa would go out and pile up some fresh snow in a glass and put flavored syrup or soda on top.  I also remember long evenings in my room in front of the TV when it was just dad and me in the house & I was only 5 or 6, and he was working on some computer or another, parts all around his big lazyboy chair downstairs.  I remember climbing trees, and going to the school playground 10 blocks from home with friends under the age of 10 without a supervising adult, I remember swiming in the snohomish river and playing spin the bottle one afternoon in the urban woods by the river ( a small undeveloped space of land still owned by the city parks dept. then)   when I was 12, all without parents knowing what we were up to.  Other things I remember doing in school weren't always what would be done by a quiet girl with straight a's.  I remember my dad, frustrated with the idea of having a child in the house whil trying to watch "mature" shows and rated "r" movies, sitting me down one afternoon and watching a special on movie stunts and special affects, explainging to me the difference between reality, right and wrong, and the fiction movies & television showed.  I remember learning table manners from my grandparents (my dad was a pig at the table), and learning to cook with my mom, and clean up after myself.  I baked cookies with my grandma, and every christmas grandpa would give me my very own "virgin" tom & jerry.  Very rarely, on special occasions, I was allowed a half glass of wine after the age of 14, and was taught it was a treat, and not something to binge on all the time, and also was sat down for the discussion of alcoholism.  One thing I do dearly remember was the hilarious conversation I had with my dad one day on the topic of drugs, where he outright admitted to doing things during his "hippie days" and gave me one single rule regarding drugs, without telling me no.  The one rule he insisted I stick to, because he knew I would experiment as a teen, is that I had to know how to make it, grow it, and all the affects it could have.  In short, anything really damaging would require chemistry classes and extensive research.  

Sorry for reminicing, back to the topic:  Oddly, I saw the difference of only a year or two while still in high chool as a sophomore.  (born in '81)  I recall my group of friends complaining about the freshman class, and how they had no respect for their teachers, and no respect for us older students.  We had a discussion on how we were certain they treated their parents the same way, and probably were taught to act this way by parents and other gorwn-ups in their life who thought it was a good idea to "be the kid's friend".  We all thought this was a bad idea that did not help children at all.  This conversation was triggered after the annual medieval fair on the freshman campus, where those of us attending higher grades in the medieval history club had attended the mock melee battle with "boffers".  Our group of warriors followed the rules of "boffer" conduct, while the freshman class (who had more safety training since some of us had moved to the school after freshman year) on the opposing side did not. 

We, the older students, attempted to point out this folly, but the teachers refereeing would do nothing in response to our combined complaint.  So, sad to say, we stooped to their level eventually, and trounced their butts soundly.  It was a victory, but a hollow one and we all knew it.  Most of us continued with the club, however we declined the yearly mock battle after that.   The teachers never understood why because they refused to listen & act. 

What's really interesting, is I see those same spoiled adults getting the jobs that I apply for, with less experience and less first hand knowledge.  if someone can explain that to me, you will have answered my million dollar question.