Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Good Old Days ...

A friend of mine were talking about the “good old days” the other day, and how things have changed. Please, let me bore you youngsters with the discussion, if you don’t mind.

First of all, nowadays a parent has to pretty much accompany a child wherever he or she goes, or at least have a member of the “parenting pool” of the neighborhood volunteer to do this … it very much sounds like being a designated driver, doesn’t it? Has the world become this evil this quickly?

Geez, when I was growing up, a typical Saturday would involve me waking up at 7:00, eating breakfast, then going out with my friends … whether it was playing sports, video games, going to the pool, going to the mall … the choices were endless. Sure, I’d have to be back by noon for the usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich … but then, I’d once again leave for the remainder of the day. Back then, all I had to tell my mom was what I was planning on doing … and even this didn’t have to be set in stone.

Our parents would let us go … even if we had to ride our bikes miles to get to wherever we were going. Public transportation? Sure, no problem! Playing basketball in a neighborhood we’d never been to? Absolutely! It never crossed our minds back then that dangerous people could be on the prowl.

I’m not sure if things just changed, or if these dangerous people were always out there … I mean, I’m sure some dangerous people were out there, but has this number increased? Today, there is no way my mom would’ve let me out the door without making sure that we had parental supervision. … and heck, I don’t blame her. All you hear on the news nowadays are stories of abduction, kidnapping, and murder.

When I have kids, I don’t think I’ll be able to give them the leeway my parents gave me … and that’s a sad thing. I miss those days.

9 comments:

Steph said...

Good question. I'm sure the evil peeps were out there, we just didn't hear of them as much.

minijonb said...

i also had the freedom of the land as a kid. i'm sure i did a few things i shouldn't have done, but i'm still alive to tell the tales.

i have no idea what i'm going to do with my kids when and if that happens. i just asked my Hot Sexy Girlfriend about this, and she suggested there has to be a good middle ground between the freedom of the old days and the supervision society of today... she's a smart cookie.

Jeff said...

Easy answer: Michael Jackson isn't much older than us.

Seriously, if it bleeds, it leads -- stories far more prominent. Not sure if more frequent, though creepy groups like NAMBLA are more widespread now. At least today you can look up sex offender registries online. And you could get rich and build a castle and moat.

That said, today's parents can't stand the idea of their kids sneezing, falling down, getting the tiniest bruise ... so why would child-molester-paranoia be any different?

El Padrino said...

true story

Ink and Stone said...

Remember that the focus of the news has changed. Tradgedy and fear is what brings the ratings. There's no 'story' in the 9 year old who walked to and from school uneventfully, ya know?

Mama en Fuego said...

I remember being dropped off at Kennywood by our parents and running around eating shit food, which was okay cuz we always threw it up after about our 5th ride on the Thunderbolt.

Can't do that these days, too many sick freaks. doesn't that just suck ass?

snowelf said...

Where I live is pretty safe, so I'm okay with Snickers playing around the neighborhood, but ONLY in the neighborhood and ONLY with friends--never alone. She doesn't get to go out of "I can't hear my mom calling me" range. Lucky for her, I have a big mouth. ;)

My mom--the same mom that used to let me run around the entire city on my bike when I was little--can't even stand the thought of her riding her bike over to her house from school. (probably about 5 blocks)

Times have definitely changed.

--snow

Superstar said...

I remember when my parents would let me go to the roller rink. I think I was 11 and I would hang out with the kids...who mostly ranged from 11ish to 18...then there was the "scarey" guy that was like 30 and skating..."creepy guy" skater...LOL ;o)

Now, kids are not taught the same moral fiber. I would NEVER have dreamed of telling an adult to go F**k themselves. Yet as a teacher I get that at school from the kiddos. Not the same morals that we had. Kids are GIVEN everything, where you and I had to EARN it. drive thru windows make food instant and easy. video games make them sit where we used to climb tree's...

~shakes head~
I am so moving to a cabin in Idaho...LOL ;o)

Los said...

Steph - Life before the internet!

Minijonb - I guess it's just something we'll have to deal with as parents.

Jeff - I agree with that. I never heard of attention deficit disorder when I was growing up.

ElP - True, indeed!

Ink - I hear ya. But still, it sounds more prevalent today.

Mama - I remember going to the carnival with just my kid friends ... no parents. I probably won't let my kids do that.

Snow - Great points. We would ride our bikes to the mall ... even take trains to the malls in Philly as kids.

Superstar - We played sports almost every day after school and on weekends. I hardly see any kids doing that anymore.