How true

[Colin]

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of; they actually sided with the law! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned. HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

makes sence to me

[truder44]

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........

We didn't even have tv till I was 10
I think it was one channel from about 5pm to 11pm in black & white.

[Nick]

i have to say as someone growing up afta that time piriod i still drink from the hose, when in the bush or fiji i ride inthe back of the ute, since my ps2 broke i havn't been happier, i walk every where cause i havnt got an m.b yet. ive hitch hicked and been almost stabbed by girls angry fathers, and my parents always side with the law.
So whats my point hmm, not entierly sure but i think living today is just as dangerous despite all this new technology, and theres probably more room for trouble wit all these personal law suits and child molesterers at the local swimming pool

[stevan_istheman]

Even though i'm only 18 (almost 19) i know where you are coming from.
Up until i got my mightyboy i rode my bike everywhere, i only got a game console and a mobile phone this year (apart from the legendary atari which my parents had forever).

My 8 - 10 year old cousins have gameboys, PSP's and mobile phones.
Why?...where do they go where they need a phone?
Go outside and play on a trampolene or ride your bike, build something and don't even think about danger, thats always fun.

I remember when i was little i would help my dad work on the car, passing spanners and sockets to him while he was laying under the cruiser. And i remember going for drives withe my dad up and down our street in unroadworthy and unregestered cars. Going to my Nan's and playing cricket and football in the dirt, I haven't got any physical or mental problems (that i know of). Breaking bones and hurting yourself while playing games, those were the days.

My point to this rambling:
This generation born in the 90's are a pack of sissys, who can't have sugar filled treats and are dependent on electronics to have 'fun'.