My sister finally broke down and bought her own TV from babysitting money. I think it was a 13 inch black and white. She charged us 3 cents per hour to come into her room to watch, 5 cents for Star Trek. I got a discount because I made tickets and assisted her in enforcement.
There was an upside. With no TV, my brother and I spent most summer days playing ball with our friends. We did out morning chores before lunch and then didn't come home to stay until dark, which was 10 p.m. or later in North Dakota. Supper was a very hurried affair to get back to the game. In the wintertime, we build snow forts, tunnels and trenches to defend our turf. The only season we didn't care for was spring when it was too muddy to play baseball and too warm to have anything other than isolated patches of melted snow.
The first time I smoked weed was second-hand, at a Doobie Brother concert in college. Contraty to the Clintonistas, there were a lot of people who grew up in the 1960's who managed to stay off drugs and keep their zippers up. We were only a small part of that number.
You actually HAD TV stations in North Dakota?
(just teasin!)
Neighborhood kids getting together to play ball without adult supervision.
Kids building forts and tree houses in the woods.
Exhilaration of 7th graders playing spin-the-bottle.
Getting whipped for staying out too late.