You kids today have it made...

Layback Bear · 05 Sep 2012

The 50's and 60's compared to today.
Then teachers ruled the class room.
Now the students and ACLU rule the class room.
--
Then drug reports on the news were by the ounce.
Now reported by the ton.
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Then you could be out playing all day without a problem.
Now you can't sit on your front porch in safety.
--
Then kids mowed the neighbors lawn because they wanted to help out.
Now your parents have to pay a stranger to mow their own lawn. Kids are raised that way.
--
Then it was yes Sir and yes Ma'am.
Now $%%%#^ and &^$%##^&
--
Then they did hold a door for a woman or older person.
Now they push them out of the way so they can get ahead of them.
--
Then raising children was with the help of the parents, family, church, scouts, and friends.
Now raising children is with judges, courts, police and the ACLU.
--
Then your house and car was unlocked whether you were in them or not.
Now they are locked all the time.
--
Then children ask parents permission to do something.
Now the children tell the parents that they are going to do something.
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It sounds like I'm picking on the Now people and that is a mistake.
The Then people raised the Now people. Hopefully when the Now people become
the Then people a few years down the road, a better report can be given.

pincushion · 05 Sep 2012

x BlueRobot said:

You say that the past was harder and we have it all better off, but my dad is 49, and when he tells me about what he used to do when he was a kid and started to go drinking etc. The 70's and the 80's sounded so much better than they are now!

You got so much more freedom, he could finish school with a few half-decent O levels and walk into a comfortable job, yes I know there was still unemployment etc. Now, you need 20 odd qualifications just to get a half-decent job :O

You could walk into a pub at 16, and have a drink without no-one noticing or really caring, that was my dad's and his mates free time when you finished school :P

Harry - 17

This thread is mostly just fun remembering the old times and I doubt many truly feel things were actually better then - they were certainly different. As to the employment well when I left school (early 60's) I was lucky and walked into a job because I was recommended by a teacher but my mates were out of work for quite a while since unemployment was high just then. Things are a lot better now in many ways - for those who might have had racial problems then and for homosexuals for example - these are big advances. I think kids have it better in many ways but also have many influences and temptations now which we never had. We often think of our childhood as better perhaps because we do not look with adult eyes - WWII was a really significant impact on our parent's lives - something that most of us kids probably really didn't appreciate until much later. I had few relatives who actually talked about the past.

:)

Terronium 12 · 05 Sep 2012

Brilliant post, Bill. I can relate to much of that entire list despite being younger.

Yes, I was raised the old school way.

x BlueRobot · 05 Sep 2012

I do think we (kids) need to show more respect to people, but I think it's because the police, parents and teachers are not firm enough with kids when they start doing drugs, binge drinking and stealing etc.

Sorry don't want to hinder the positive atmosphere of this post, by all my complaining

Anyway, I'll probably say to my kids that it's much better for you than it was me :P

strollin · 05 Sep 2012

Layback Bear said:

...
Then you could be out playing all day without a problem.
Now you can't sit on your front porch in safety.
...

This actually isn't true but is our perception due to media sensationalizing child kidnappings and such. Then, as now, your child was much more likely to be kidnapped, hurt or molested by a family member, neighbor or trusted friend. Stranger abductions and the like are extremely rare now just as they were back then, it's just that the media hypes it more.

Layback Bear · 05 Sep 2012

Well I'm not going to look into the statistics from back when and compare with now. We have many more news outlets compared to back then. That is true. My self and many others walked or hitched hike all over every where without ever having a problem day or night. I don't think you can do that now. I haven't seen any body hitching a ride in 30 years. Us kids would either hitch a ride or walk from Cottage Hills Ill. to Alton Ill. just to watch a movie that started in the evening. That's about 12 miles round trip. I worked at a Burger Chief in Alton 5 night a week when I was in high school and hitch hiked to and from. I don't think their is to many places in this country a child could do that today.

Hopalong X · 05 Sep 2012

Layback Bear said:

Well I'm not going to look into the statistics from back when and compare with now. We have many more news outlets compared to back then. That is true. My self and many others walked or hitched hike all over every where without ever having a problem day or night. I don't think you can do that now. I haven't seen any body hitching a ride in 30 years. Us kids would either hitch a ride or walk from Cottage Hills Ill. to Alton Ill. just to watch a movie that started in the evening. That's about 12 miles round trip. I worked at a Burger Chief in Alton 5 night a week when I was in high school and hitch hiked to and from. I don't think their is to many places in this country a child could do that today.

LBear

That first 3-4 miles is still unlit.
Nice and gloomy at night until you almost hit the Beltline. LOL

Of course "we" weren't afraid of anything back then.
Brave and definitely naive.

Layback Bear · 05 Sep 2012

Is the State mental hospital still on rt 140? We were scared walking by at night. Years ago I lived all over that area. Elsa, Clifton Terrace, Godfry, Alton. I just looked and Clifton Terrace is big time money. When I was a kid their were two house and a bunch of corn fields. We lived in a old farm house with no running water. I remember walking the top bluffs to school in the winter and using the low road in the summer because the woods were too dense to make good time. At the top their was a one room, one teacher school with 6 grades. I think actually the system worked well because while you were doing your grade you were hearing and seeing the other grades. You could find more rattle snakes and copper heads than you could count around those bluffs.

Hopalong X · 05 Sep 2012

Yes it is still there. The inpatient section was closed back in the 80's when they emptied most of the hospitals nation wide.

All outpatient now or closed down.
Most of the buildings are full of asbestos and no money to do anything with them.

Layback Bear · 05 Sep 2012

My grandfather spent some time in that hospital. They thought he was crazy by he was just drunk. It took them about a year to figure it out and let him come home. Folks I'm not making these stories up. They are true.