Is NOT for sissies…
We were talking over the weekend, and this came up. Sigh…
And yes, this was really the way we grew up. Outside all summer, playing in the creek, the woods, and only coming home at dark for supper. 
If that happened today, the parents would be arrested, the kids sent to CPS, and it would be a ‘horror story’ of ‘wild’ children running amok!
Funny, we survived our childhoods, and grew into responsible adults…for the most part…but we’ve never forgotten, and just shake our heads at what is going on today.
We were so wild , speaking for myself as a late boomer / early gen x’r , that they had celebrities on TV Commercials asking our parents “Do you know where your children are ? ” . Imagine seeing that now? We were out having fun , especially as a teen . If you had a decent afterschool job you could buy a second hand muscle car . My High School student parking lot would make Mecum Auction house jealous. And we were working middle class kids , and drove the piss out of them , drove them out in fields for keg parties . Maybe that is why they are so rare now . Good Times!!
If no chores needed doing, I had a free reign inside a certain area. If I wanted to go outside that area, I needed permission which was usually granted. My parents needed to know where to find me if necessary. Supper was served at 6PM and I had better be there, or else. Afterward the neighborhood kids usually played baseball until the sun went down with an old, dark ball. It wasn’t batting, it was self defense.
We grew up as feral/latchkey kids!
Boating/fishing on the river/building forts with debris contractors gave us(3 story tree house the best!)/riding our bicycles to where ever/as we got older had dirt bikes,literally rode em on trails and railroad tracks to high school,parked them behind the “smoking lounge”,walked in,light up a smoke,good times!
Then,as mentioned above,the cars,in my case a 4×4 built like hell!
“Child Protective Services” is the worst thing ever to happen to American families. Their own data shows this quite clearly.
The Constitution protects you from having the government arbitrarily and maliciously seizing your valuable property – but apparently, not your children.
Spot on. Kids need to be able to prove to themselves that they can cope, to develop CAPACITY.
Convenience is going to kill us all.
I am NOT invulnerable anymore.
I’ll just go write that on the chalkboard 100 times. *sighs*
*winces and takes pain killers*
You had woods and a creek? Musta been nice.
Minimal vaccinations, plenty of homemade meals, exercise all day; every day, barefooted, hydration from a garden hose, and hours of entertainment with an orange rubber ball that came in the box of detergent. Our imaginations created a world that AI can’t begin to create, and we were free of most of the emotional problems that plague modern society.
In our area we have farm fields being turned into housing developments. They are isolated from “the town”. I pity the kids growing up in them with nowhere to play or explore. Are we surprised the internet becomes their world?
All- Yep, we’re dinosaurs… But we had fun! Boats, I hear ya…LOL 66 GTO and a 67 Vette!
A big part of the problem are parents just handing their kids these phones. Neither of my girls got phones with Internet access till they were in college…and they were late millennials. Prior to that they only had simple cell phones that couldn’t even text,so they could call or help if a problem arose.
Dan- Understood, and agreed, but today…sigh… I don’t think you could find one that wouldn’t get the net.
You have me wondering how hard it would be to make my own cellphone.
It looks like you can still buy ones similar to my current, which is a feature phone that texts, but I do not internet otherwise.
Not so sure about the “Responsible” bit…..You’ve met me after all…