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Kids of the 50s, 60s, 70s, how did we make it?

What he said!!!!

I did all those things and I am still here! In fact even my kids did all those things too!

My kids have all the cell phones and such, and still would have rather been outside playing on the trampoline, swings or in the pool than be inside with video games or TV. There was a time when I actually had the cable disconnected because we didn't watch it enough.

Those were awesome days! I wonder how my grandkids will be raised?

Mel
 
Sadly, the days of our youth are gone.

I know my friends and I growing up would be outside till dark riding bikes, building forts in the woods, playing football in the yard, etc, etc.

Now days a lot of kids sit around watching the idiot box. I feel sorry for some of the kids I know that are already very heavy at 10 or 11 years old...they'll be having heart problems by the time they turn 30.

Luckily, my boys have an X-box, cable and so forth but most days when I get home from work they are bugging me to go to the batting cages or to go running (usually both). They get their homework done before I get home at 5:30 so when I get home they are ready to go.

However, as screwed up as the world is these days it's dangerous to let your kids roam the neighborhood unsupervised. Mine ride their bikes to school every day with a buddy who lives around the corner but they have to take their Iphone with them and call when they get there.
 
Its all relative.

I agree with the rant and the proliferation of technology that creates our society to be that way but.....

In the 50s....that damn TV...kids are always watching it, not using their imagination like we did with radio.
Before that...that damn radio...why don't kids read for their entertainment?

And those horseless machines on the road. What's wrong with a horse?

Things were always better when we were kids...no matter what age we're talking about.
And since we were kids of course it was better. We didn't worry about the world except for our own little world.

Things seem to get more convuluted as we get older don't they? It was always better when you WERE the kid.
 
"KBMWRS" said:
Its all relative.

I agree with the rant and the proliferation of technology that creates our society to be that way but.....

In the 50s....that damn TV...kids are always watching it, not using their imagination like we did with radio.
Before that...that damn radio...why don't kids read for their entertainment?

And those horseless machines on the road. What's wrong with a horse?

Things were always better when we were kids...no matter what age we're talking about.
And since we were kids of course it was better. We didn't worry about the world except for our own little world.

Things seem to get more convuluted as we get older don't they? It was always better when you WERE the kid.
Click to expand...
I'll agree with you on the tech aspect (as a guy who was fortunate enough to get one of the very first pong type games, I should know!) but the real point of this is the demise of the premise of kid play. Whether you played stick ball in the street in the 50's or rode a skateboard in the late 70's the point was we as kids were outside. We played with real live friends, right there next to us. Like kids generations before we made our own fun out of whatever little stuff we could manage.
I won't get into an argument about supervison or lack thereof. Times have changed where you can't allow your kids to roam free for 12 hours at a time. That is too bad.
It's funny I think back to the best times of my youth and I can't think of a one that is tied wholly to a "thing". They are all times where me and my friend(s) were just hanging out together doing "nothing". Are today's kids going to have those same memories? I know many of them will have a much smaller pool of such to draw from. Sad.
 
Of course, those that didn't make it out of childhood are not here to tell us their stories...
 
"Horseplay" said:
I'll agree with you on the tech aspect (as a guy who was fortunate enough to get one of the very first pong type games, I should know!) but the real point of this is the demise of the premise of kid play. Whether you played stick ball in the street in the 50's or rode a skateboard in the late 70's the point was we as kids were outside. We played with real live friends, right there next to us. Like kids generations before we made our own fun out of whatever little stuff we could manage.
I won't get into an argument about supervison or lack thereof. Times have changed where you can't allow your kids to roam free for 12 hours at a time. That is too bad.
It's funny I think back to the best times of my youth and I can't think of a one that is tied wholly to a "thing". They are all times where me and my friend(s) were just hanging out together doing "nothing". Are today's kids going to have those same memories? I know many of them will have a much smaller pool of such to draw from. Sad.
Click to expand...

It's the whole spectrum of things these days.

You can't let your kid run wild...too dangerous. The technology is also part of the issue along with there seems to be a lot more parents these days that are not "involved" in their kids' lives and are happy to let the TV, Xbox or whatever be the baby sitter.
 
"Midlife" said:
Of course, those that didn't make it out of childhood are not here to tell us their stories...
Click to expand...
I would bet that by any measurement the death rate of kids from "back in the day" as compared to today would not show a great difference. You'd have to be able to exclude disease and such as we are trying to compare the "helmet/no helmet" numbers.
 
I used to jump off the garage roof and down into basements in my subdivision as houses were being constructed. My main playground were all those houses. Wonderful jungle gyms!

Maybe that's what happened....
 
It's not all technology and danger and such behind why kids don't go out and play. Kids are no longer welcome in many places unless they are accompanied by an adult. When I was a kid, we road our bikes on the trails in local park. At some point, we were told it was no longer allowed. That was the one thing I loved to do. I quit going. We have taken away many of the outdoor venues for kid play and not replaced it with anything similar within bike-riding/walking distance of home.
 
1970s.jpg
 
Diet and exercise. Half the battle is to get the kids outside and be active, the other half is to feed them right. Both of my parents worked, mom came home and made dinner. Eating out other than Friday night was something special. Mom and Dad were creatures of habit, they went out for Mexican food every Friday night. So my point is to feed your kids right, do not live on fast food.

fd
 
^^^this.
We bought a place with plenty of room for the boy to romp around and wife to garden. We'll be getting plenty of outdoor time and homegrown veggies.
 
+2 ^^ until the age of 12, the little town we lived in had two eating out venues. a diner on the end of the bowling alley & a dairy dip. you had to drive a few towns over to get anything else, so our big treat was getting real deli meat for sandwiches & chips on sunday afternoon. the rest of the week mom cooked "real food".

sadly, a big loss now is actual communication skills. younger folks cant speak face to face, they only know how to text, email, chat online etc. our oldest cant sit for five mins & hold a face to face conversation with you, but he can ignore you while you speak while texting! no, he wasn't raised that way, it was a self developed talent. :confu
 
As the big SUVs pass by on the freeway, check out how junior is
entertained these days...... he's looking at the screen on the back
of the head rest.
 
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