Thread: When you were young...

What's something that you did growing up, but you've noticed kids don't do now?

Every morning when I go to work I pass a school bus stop. I know the uniform, so I know they're middle school age. I also notice that there's always the same vehicle sitting just beyond the corner where the bus stop is, which I have concluded is a parent who doesn't want their child waiting with the rest of the kids. I didn't ride the bus til I was in middle school - my elementary school was right around the corner - and my parents never sat with me at the bus stop. It was always me and a friend who lived two houses away from me plus another girl a few streets away. The only time my parents had anything to do with getting me to school was when I was late or it was raining. I even remember a year when the stop was on the corner of a busy four lane road instead of in our neighbourhood.

interesting read there Offeiriad..are you sure the car is a parent's car?
I do not know why but it sounds kind of suspicious to me.

No, I'm not 100% sure, but as there's never been a report of a child disappearing from the neighbourhood, I'm leaning toward the fact that it is. We live in a pretty safe 'hood. Made safer, now, by the fact that there's a police officer and his ex-K9 partner living across the street from us. I think I might've also seen a kid climb out and walk to the bus when it arrived one day.

I see.
Is K9 some kind of police force?

A dog. K9 = canine Some officers have a trained dog as their partner in place of a human partner. She's a lovely German shepherd who will attack.

Thank you for that Offeiriad. Sorry did not mean to detract from the thread. Apologies..
Now as a kid I often play outside my house with my friends and neighbours..something that kids these days don't do because of safety and also cars/traffic without forgetting video games...such a shame.

K-9 = canine - a specially trained police dog. Some are for guarding, some for attack, some for tracking, some for sniffing out drugs, explosives, or dead bodies, whatever tasks dogs are suited for doing.

edit - you beat me to it.

So while I'm here I'll say that as a kid I played pick-up baseball. Kids today are in organised teams with coaches who yell and curse when a kid makes a mistake. We didn't have teams and nice uniforms. We had fun.

Playing by themselves in ways that require imagination. That's something we've tried to foster with our kids, as much for our own benefit as theirs. Mine are 6 and 8 -- they can play together and make believe, but most often when they try to involve their friends -- it falls flat. As in, one of them will say, pretend this doll is the so-and-so and we're doing this and going there etc. -- the other kids will sit there slack jawed. So many kids are fed entertainment or they're forced into a seemingly endless succession of activities. I honestly don't know what negative effects it all may have, if any. But it seems like having an imagination is something that could prove to be an advantage, regardless of what you pursue.

And these days, for the economy of scale -- at least around here -- there aren't nearly as many elementary schools -- lots have been closed -- so walking is an option for far fewer children. Also, there are fewer buses and drivers -- so the kids go in shifts, that means some are waiting in the dark in winter. My kids are home schooled, but in our neighborhood, the moms take turns staying at the bus stop. Just for the little ones. That makes sense to me.

I was allowed to run free when I was a kid, ride my bike all over creation, play in the woods etc. -- but the shift was happening toward more parental supervision and many kids didn't have the freedom I had. It was a time when child molestation, abductions and murders were getting big play in the media, and it made parents afraid -- and for mostly good reason. To a degree, I think these things went on before, but didn't get the attention -- there were no kids on milk cartons etc., no child abductions on national TV shows like "America's Most Wanted."

So yeah -- we probably wouldn't let our kids wait at the bus by themselves or even walk to a friend's who wasn't in sight of our house. Sad -- but that's the way it is -- and I don't think we're being paranoid. I think you need to try to strike a balance between reasonable concern and smothering -- but that's not always so cut and dried.

When I was young I could walk to the candy store with my riches (one dollar) and buy a pop, a bag of chips, and a freezie.

I never rode a bus to school, ever. I walked or rode my bike. Often the latter. In the summer, me and a bunch of friends would stop off at a handball alley after school and play for hours. It was a great way of keeping fit. I don't see any children playing it nowadays.

We went for bike rides (and races) every Sunday. We'd ride for miles. Now you're lucky if you see a kid walking the roads. I guess it's a lot to do with parents being afraid, of cars and predators, but I live in the middle of nowhere. Everyone knows everyone else. I remember riding into strangers' houses and they would invite me in for a cup of tea and home-made buns. I remember neighbours walking into our house without invitation. It was that kind of community. Then, a spat of robberies started and everyone reacted by locking doors and getting dogs.

Originally Posted by garza

K-9 = canine - a specially trained police dog. Some are for guarding, some for attack, some for tracking, some for sniffing out drugs, explosives, or dead bodies, whatever tasks dogs are suited for doing.

edit - you beat me to it.

So while I'm here I'll say that as a kid I played pick-up baseball. Kids today are in organised teams with coaches who yell and curse when a kid makes a mistake. We didn't have teams and nice uniforms. We had fun.

Thank you garza.

Originally Posted by garza

So while I'm here I'll say that as a kid I played pick-up baseball. Kids today are in organised teams with coaches who yell and curse when a kid makes a mistake. We didn't have teams and nice uniforms. We had fun.

We lived on a cul de sac, and it was the place to gather and play baseball or kickball. I don't see that now. I honestly think if you put kids on a field today with balls and bats and gloves and told them to play, they'd be incapable of organizing themselves into a game.

I played little league too and had plenty of fun, mainly because my dad didn't care how good we were -- as long as we made the effort and played hard. Some of the parents were ridiculous -- the pressure they put on their kids. My daughter plays soccer -- and you wouldn't believe these idiot parents, yelling at six-year old girls, getting all upset. It's insane!

Outdoor sports in general just don't seem to happen as much. I was always hitting or kicking a ball when I was a kid. Or reading. That doesn't go on much, either. There's a long list of things that aren't done the same way, but I was young a very long time ago. The world is different now.

You just don't see kids tieing kittens to railroad tracks as much as you use to . . .

Just kidding!

When I was a kid I would walk, or ride a bike everywhere (and yes, automobiles had been invented) but mostly I walked. That and the playing outside thing mentioned before.

Ramraiders... i never see any shops these getting ram raided by kids in stolen cars these days. The only reason i don't see them are two fold: first cars are harder to steal these days with better alarms etc. second the shops now have stumps infront of them to stop cars crashing through the windows.

awwwww bring back the good old days. Bless the little angels got to love them.