Posted on 08/15/2014 9:54:14 AM PDT by Drew68
The way things are going, every kid is going to go to school wearing bubble wrap and a helmet. Back in the 1970s (and earlier), parents didn’t stress about our health and safety as much as they do today. It’s not that they cared less – they just didn’t worry compulsively about it.
Parents of 2014 need to be reminded of how less restricted, less supervised, less obsessively safety-conscious things were… and it was just fine.
1. JARTS: IMPALING ARROWS OF DEATH
Can your mind comprehend a more deadly toy than a weighted spear that kids hurl through the air like a missile? No one ever obeyed the actual manufacturer’s rules, we just flung these damn things everywhere. We threw them. They stuck where they landed. If they happened to land in your skull, well, then you should have moved.
After roughly 6,700 emergency-room visits and the deaths of three children between 1978 and 1988, they finally outlawed Jarts on December 19, 1988. I suppose it needed to be banned, but a part of me is sad that kids today won’t have the battle scars and Jart survival stories we had. Goodbye Jart – you were an impaling arrow of death, but I loved you anyway.
2. LOST AND NOT FOUND: SEAT BELTS
Cars came with seat belts in the 1970s, but no one used them except maybe out of curiosity to see what it was like to wear one. Of course, you’d have to fish them out of the deep crevice of the backseat cushion where they often came to rest, unwanted and ignored.
The only “click” heard in the 1970s automobile was your dad’s Bic lighting up a smoke with the windows rolled up. (cough!)
I should also mention that, not only were there no seat belts, child seats were nowhere to be found. Whether it was the front seat of your mom’s station wagon or her bicycle, chances are, you were entirely untethered.
3. SEMI-LETHAL PLAYGROUNDS OF HOT METAL
Remember when playgrounds were fun? Sure, there was a pretty good chance you’d be scalded by a hot metal slide, or walk away with tetanus, but that’s what memories are made of.
The ground wasn’t coated with soft recycled rubber or sand as most are today – they were asphalt. Remember being hurled from a spinning merry-go-round, then skidding across the gravel at full speed? Good times.
I remember my school playground had a metal ladder “wall” that I swear went up three stories – it didn’t connect to a slide or anything. It was literally a ladder to the sky. I remember fully believing the oxygen was thinner at the top. One false move and I’d have been a flesh colored stain on the asphalt.
According to the New York Times we are making playgrounds so safe that they actually stunt our kids’ development. So, while blood was spilt and concussions were dealt on the playgrounds of the 1970s, we were at least in a developmentally rich environment – and we had the bruises and scabs to prove it.
4. PRECIOUS LITTLE SUN PROTECTION
Back in the 70s, your goal was to get as brown as your skin would permit. Sun BLOCK or sun SCREEN was basically nonexistent. You wanted to AMPLIFY your rays, so women typically lathered on Crisco and baby oil to get that deep baked look.
For the kids, SPF numbers hovered around 2, 4 and 8. The idea that you would spray an SPF of 50 or even 30 wasn’t even an option, except perhaps from medical ointments prescribed for albinos.
5. HELMETS: FOR THOSE WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS ONLY
Whether you were riding a bike, roller skating, or skateboarding, one thing was for certain: you were not wearing a head protection. You would have been looked at as a sideshow freak by other kids, and parents would assume you had some kind of medical condition.
6. IGNORED AND UNATTENDED ON THE REGULAR
Hey, who’s watching the kid in the stroller? YOU MUST HAVE YOUR EYES ON THE KID AT ALL TIMES OR ELSE HE WILL DIE!
My mother routinely left me alone in the car at a young age while she ran errands. Today, this will literally get you arrested. You see, once upon a time it was okay to leave your kids for long periods without supervision (remember the so-called “latch-key kids” of the 70s?), or let them free roam without constant surveillance. Today, parents won’t let their kids go out to get the mail alone, and any fun with friends has to be scheduled, closely monitored “play dates”.
On summer break or weekends in the 1970s, parents kicked their kids out the front door and didn’t let them back in until the sun went down. “Go play,” were their only words, and you were left to your own devices for hours upon hours. Neighborhoods looked like Lord of the Flies.
7. ROUTINELY ALLOWED TO GET SERIOUSLY HURT
This poor kid is about to get rammed in the nuts by a goat, and the nearby adult isn’t the least bit concerned. In fact, he finds this all incredibly amusing! As hard as this is to believe, but when kids got hurt back then, adults didn’t come running with first-aid kits. More than likely you’d be left alone with your pain, with no alternative but to get over it.
In the 70s, parents watched their offspring fall from trees and fall off bikes with a smile.
8. SECONDHAND SMOKE EVERYWHERE
From airplanes to your family car, it seemed the world of the 70s was shrouded in a haze of cigarette smoke. It wasn’t just the fact that many more people smoked, it was the absolute 100% lack of concern for those that didn’t, including children. Teachers smoked, doctors smoked, your parents smoked…. and they didn’t take it to a secluded smoking area, they did it right in your face.
Please don’t interpret this as condoning it. There’s no question that engulfing your child in a thick carcinogenic cloud isn’t a good idea. I’m just stating facts – this is the world we lived in. It was full of adults who didn’t seem to have anxiety attacks over our safety, and we turned out just fine…. right?
I was born in 1950. When I was in high school they had designated smoking bathrooms. Ugh. I had a horse and rode every where by myself. No helmet. Just a rope and a good horse. Hint: don’t rope a jackrabbit. It’s tough getting your rope back.
***Any other examples?***
Riding horses with no saddle, falling off, getting back on.
BB gun fights. We didn’t put our eye out. (almost did when I was hit with a home made arrow 1/2 inch below the left pupil).
Drinking from a farm pond. No filter.
Playing with and getting seriously bit by a “tame” raccoon.
Rock fights with neighbor kids. (Friends on Monday Wednesday and Saturday, rick fights in between)
Winter snow ball fights with rocks inside (We fought back by putting cactus inside our snow balls).
Building and falling out of tree “houses” ( more like a tree stand today).
Gun fights with cork guns. (Almost did put out an eye with that one!)
Riding in my little read wagon down a steep road. Lucky no cars were coming.
Swimming in a algae green farm pond. No lifeguard.
Eating wild blackberries without washing.
Buying a box of 50 .22 Shorts for 45 cents at the age of 14. Now must wait till 21 to buy.
Way too many more to mention.
might as well buried land mines throughout a playground and let the kids loose.
You did this too?
Good article a FRiend shared with me not too long back:
The Overprotected Kid
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/
“Playing with and getting seriously bit by a “tame” raccoon.”
damn I’m busting up Ruy
In the late 70’s I was in high school, and I wish that would have been our lunch menu.
Jimmy Carter bailed out the turkey farmers, and we had some sort of reconstituted, deep-fried breaded turkey product at least three times per week.
"Hey Ma! Look at me I'm on top of the wheeeeee *clunk* Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh!"
Was aged 2 through 12 in the fifties.
Played with asbestos
Smelted lead and made bolos from lead balls and leather thongs
Played with mercury (actually swallowed several ounces age 15)
Rode bikes behind mosquito fogger spraying fuel oil and DDT
Played with lawn mowers (lost part of one finger)
Left for all day trips on hikes and bike rides
Climbed on roof of elementary school
Sled riding (friend ran into brick building)
Drove tractors, bailed hay
Camped out
Climbed cliffs
must be more also.
Yep! Conquered many fears jumping from the high dive into to the (14') deep-end of the pool. I used to try and test myself by swimming all the way down and sitting on the bottom.
These days the diving boards are all gone and the pools are so shallow that kids risk serious injury by diving into them.
Very true. The fact that we have so many fewer kids also partly explains #6. We all went out and played with the other kids in the neighborhood, either in the backyard, nearby woods or the playground. Today kids don't have the opportunity to do that because there simply aren't other kids around.
I wonder if that ad was legit, or BS. Kind of like when I was a kid in ‘74 and in a comic book bought this ripoff.
don’t know how to post a picture
http://mediahygiene.blogspot.com/2011/10/frankenstein-month.html
Ah yes, the Cage of Doom. I remember those well.
Built fires on riverbank and tossed in aerosol cans
Pound of calcium carbide for 25 cents, empty paint can, matches
Smoked cigarettes
Carried knives, axes, made spears
They had an authorized student smoking area at my high school.
Lot’s of high schools in Virginia did.
Born in ‘61. Same thing here.
My kids have been horrified at our stories of growing up.
We played “smear the queer” on the concrete street.
Then there were those planes with the rubber band to wind up the propeller, if you didn't do it right it hurt.
Tennis ball can cannons.
Rock fights.
Fire crackers.
All the sports and games were unsupervised and rules disputes were settled by fist fights.
Easy Bake ovens.
Light Bright.
Riding in the pickup bed.
We actually played in the car.
We had one of those at our school to. EVERY year, at least one kid would break an arm on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.