Do you ever just sit and ponder how the world has changed?

[Aurora63]

I was reading the thread about sending a 10 year old to the community pool by himself, and it got me to thinking about how the world has just changed in the past 20 or so years!

The pool thread reminded me of my grandmother, who used to send us to the pool without her, when I was about eight, with my twelve year old sister. No lifeguards on duty, and it was againts the pool rules. But it wasn't a big deal back then.

Then that reminded me of my friend's dad from across the street...he was always trying to get us to go outside and play! We would play outside, completely unattended by adults, and even wander around the neighborhood. Again this was no big deal!

I know most parents no would not let their kids just play on their own so unattended...with all that we hear about in the news...I think it's sad that kids don't get these experiences anymore...I'm not saying I will let my kids do this, but it seems like now, they can't, because of all the crazies out there! What do you all think about this?

 

[MushyMushy]

Marseeya here.

I was just talking with a friend about this the other day. I was giving her a tour of my town and laughing, asking her if she could picture me as a kid wreaking havoc in the neighborhoods we were driving through. I thought it was so sad remember how we kids used to have such a blast in this small town, and when my friend and I were driving around, there wasn't a kid to be seen ANYWHERE in the middle of the afternoon.

All their time is being taken up by organized activities, or being indoors. Whatever happened to just plain old free play?

 

[grinningghost]

Summer vacation in the 70's:

Outside by 10 AM, maybe inside at noon for lunch, outside until after dark.

Nobody asked where you were going, you just got on your bike and went.

If you ended up in some kid's house, his mother would kick you back outside.

Nothing at all like that anymore.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Unfortunately, what goes on now, went on when we were children. However, it is over correcting itself, a lot.

When I was little, I remember a 10yo got pregnant, a boy died when hit by a car and lots of other stories.

The pain is way too deep to risk losing a child, so parents protect (over, at times) to save their children.

My grandparents were never as interactive with their children, as I am with mine. They had a different mentality back then. Raising children was treated differently.

It seems there are just as many screwballs in the world now as they were then (in ratio), it just gets printed or reported faster. We are now in touch with world now, not just local, regional, state news.

Times change, but not the people (or at least, let's hope not). Because even though we have lots of problems in this world, I like to think that most people are good in nature and do not mean to bring harm. HOwever, just because it's not meant, doesn't mean it doesn't happen anyway.

 

[Mermaid02]

Things have changed.

Last week here at our community pool a man tried to lure an 8 year old girl into the bathroom saying he lost his puppy. Her Grandmother came up on them and he took off like a shot, but what if she hadn't gone to check on the girl?

The world is scary now. I hate to say it, but it is.

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I remember, growing up in the country, I would go outside and ride my 4-wheeler or go "exploring" for hours. I started doing this when I was about 8, and I would be gone from the time I got up in the morning, until I got hungry. My mom had no clue where I was, and if something happened to me, they would have had no clue where to start looking. Not that she was a bad mom, she was a great mom. I think that because we lived in the country, no one thought much about letting their kids roam around with no supervision. Everyone else in our town did the same thing, and we would usually all meet up on someone's property at some point in the day and ride together. Of course, back then, the biggest problems in the town that I lived in was who was going to which church, and the occasional shotgun wedding.

I would never in a million light years let my child spend hours away from home with no idea where she was!

 

[Beth76]

The pool thread reminded me of my grandmother, who used to send us to the pool without her, when I was about eight, with my twelve year old sister. No lifeguards on duty, and it was againts the pool rules. But it wasn't a big deal back then.

Really? Drowning wasn't a big deal back then? My mother never let us go to the pool by ourselves when we were little. When I was about 10-11, we had an above ground pool in our backyard. Even though I knew how to swim and could stand with my head well above water, my mom wouldn't let me swim unattended. This was 20 years ago.

 

[Missy1961]

Unfortunately, what goes on now, went on when we were children. However, it is over correcting itself, a lot.

When I was little, I remember a 10yo got pregnant, a boy died when hit by a car and lots of other stories.

The pain is way too deep to risk losing a child, so parents protect (over, at times) to save their children.

My grandparents were never as interactive with their children, as I am with mine. They had a different mentality back then. Raising children was treated differently.

It seems there are just as many screwballs in the world now as they were then (in ratio), it just gets printed or reported faster. We are now in touch with world now, not just local, regional, state news.

Times change, but not the people (or at least, let's hope not). Because even though we have lots of problems in this world, I like to think that most people are good in nature and do not mean to bring harm. HOwever, just because it's not meant, doesn't mean it doesn't happen anyway.

I think your point about "it just gets printed or reported faster" is the reason for some of this. We didn't know about this stuff years ago. It still happened, but without the internet & 24 hr cable TV, it was barely reported.

But the other thing I always think about is how we also didn't use car seats. I am the 2nd oldest of 6. My dad drove a sedan--not a station wagon. My brothers sat in the front seat with my dad, my mom & the 4 girls sat in the back--well actually, mom & 3 of us sat, my youngest sister sat on mom's lap or stretch across all of us! (this was in the early 70's). We didn't take long car rides, thank goodness!

 

[Aurora63]

Really? Drowning wasn't a big deal back then? My mother never let us go to the pool by ourselves when we were little. When I was about 10-11, we had an above ground pool in our backyard. Even though I knew how to swim and could stand with my head well above water, my mom wouldn't let me swim unattended. This was 20 years ago.

Different strokes for different folks!

 

[DVCLiz]

Marseeya here.

I was just talking with a friend about this the other day. I was giving her a tour of my town and laughing, asking her if she could picture me as a kid wreaking havoc in the neighborhoods we were driving through. I thought it was so sad remember how we kids used to have such a blast in this small town, and when my friend and I were driving around, there wasn't a kid to be seen ANYWHERE in the middle of the afternoon.

All their time is being taken up by organized activities, or being indoors. Whatever happened to just plain old free play?

Marseeya, I don't think it's so much that kids are not having any free play anymore - I know mine are. It's just that outside, free-roaming free play is probably a thing of the past. Two reasons that I can think of - we DO live in a different time now, and most parents wouldn't let their kids roam around. And, the amount of indoor temptations has substantially increased. Remember when three black and white channels and your Dad's big radio were all the choices you had, other than a book??? It's hard to compete with MP3 players and personal DVD players with a stick in the back yard, even though we all have great memories of our outside childhoods.

 

[grlpwrd]

Yes, I do.

One of my instructors used Powerpoint in class and I wasn't used to seeing a computer being used like that in college. It is sure the sign of the times.

 

[diznygirl]

Really? Drowning wasn't a big deal back then? My mother never let us go to the pool by ourselves when we were little. When I was about 10-11, we had an above ground pool in our backyard. Even though I knew how to swim and could stand with my head well above water, my mom wouldn't let me swim unattended. This was 20 years ago.

Apparently your mother was ahead of her time!

I remember roaming all over the neighborhood with my friends, going down to the playground, riding bikes all over, and having to be home when the street lights came on. All our moms just knew we were with the other kids, but that's about as specific as it got.

Now, I don't think my kids will get 10 feet without me! It is different, we are much more aware of things now.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I can remember going out on my bike with a friend or two and roaming the woods for hours. We built forts and just were outside all of the time. My mom would come out and dinner time and yell for me from the back porch.

I think the lack of inside activities 30 years ago made a big difference. As someone pointed out - we had 3 channels on the tv or radio or books. No video games or computers to keep us entertained.

I wouldn't dream of letting my 10 year old run around all day without checking in with me.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

I never attempt this unless I have had at least four Miller Lites.

 

[Disneyaunt4]

My niece and nephews laugh when their Mom and I say we only had 3 tv channels when we were kids. My nephew asked if there were Dinosaurs around when we were kids. Oh how I love that boy!!!

 

[lisajl]

Funny you should mention this. We have a new family in our neighborhood.
A young man, 8, showed up at our house yesterday morning looking for our 9 year old son. Another neighbor told him about our son.
My DH came in and said, "Honey there is a young man here.....by himself....."
I thought my DH was going to have a heart attack. We are very careful about where our kids are and where they are going.
This young man came right in our house and talked to us for about 30 minutes. (our son was sick, so could not play)
No one came looking for him. We walked him back down to his house and met his family. Mom was at work and dad was taking care of 4 year old sister and twins that are 5 months old.
No wonder he did not come looking. We told him it was a pretty safe neighborhood but he should still be aware.

 

[Stitchfans]

I was thinking about that the other day. When I was little my mom would let us leave the house after breakfast to go out and play. We'd be all over the neighborhood. If one friend wasn't home we'd check out another one. Often we would eat grapes off one friend's vine for lunch. Or rhubarb another day for lunch.

We seldom came home until supper time. Mom never worried or checked up on us. Now a days I wouldn't even think about letting DD do that. I watch her at all times. Even her older sister when she was younger. Back then we had a fenced in back yard so she had a little more freedom. The world has changed and not for the better when it comes to that.

 

[drgnfly30]

Summer vacation in the 70's:
Outside by 10 AM, maybe inside at noon for lunch, outside until after dark.
Nobody asked where you were going, you just got on your bike and went.
If you ended up in some kid's house, his mother would kick you back outside.
Nothing at all like that anymore.

Sounds like my summers too! My bike was my freedom.. Hot Pink, streamers on my handle bars, flowered banana seat and all!

My parents had no clue where I was or when I'd be back! And yes that included the community pool!

 

[lyeag]

I have talked about this with one of my good friends. We were always outside during summer vacation. When I was younger, we were outside by mid morning, ate lunch, ran back out until dinner, and then back out until the street lights came on. We rollerskated, rode bikes, built forts, played in the sprinkler, Barbies, kick the can, baseball, endless things to do. Heck, we had our own 4th of July parade where we made floats out of our wagons, and we had a Miss Neighborhood Pageant!

No wonder our mothers' homes were so clean, we were never inside!

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I was thinking about that the other day. When I was little my mom would let us leave the house after breakfast to go out and play. We'd be all over the neighborhood. If one friend wasn't home we'd check out another one. Often we would eat grapes off one friend's vine for lunch. Or rhubarb another day for lunch.
QUOTE]

I was sometimes kicked out of the house to go play and told I better not come back in unless I was in dire need of a bathroom or a drink!