Are our grandkids getting too sissified?

[tallyho8]

Or are we making the world a safer place for them?

For the first time in many years I went by the playground that I used to play in a half century ago. We had a huge sliding board about 12 feet high, pretty steep and it ended in a water puddle if it had rained lately. We slid down it forward, backward, sideways, standing up, doubled up and every other conceivable way.

Today I saw a plastic slide about 6 feet high. A sign by it with a list of rules of what to do and what not to do.(everything that we had done) It had a rubber pad at the bottom of it and was barely steep enough for kids to slide down it without pushing themselves. One little boy about 4 years old was playing on it with his mother watching him. He had on a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. I had a feeling that if somehow he managed to scratch himself that his mother would rush him to the emergency room.

What's your opinion?

 

[/pine]

Forget about zombies...it's all the snowflakes that something needs to be done about...!

 

[k0ua]

With no adversity of any kind, our children will never build any character. We are seeing it now, and it will only get worse.

If you want to see what a "man" looks like now, just look at the "pajama boy" The wussi-fication of America.

 

[Doofy]

Sickly whimps, at that. In my day, we played outside all the time and even ate mud-pies on occasion. No one had allergies and such. We had immune systems that worked because of it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I used to do lots of things that I wouldn't let my kids do much less my grandkids. There seems to be many more weirdo pedophiles and other maniacal folks around now than there use to be. My mother had no problem with me leaving the house at daylight and not coming back till dark when I was 6 years old. We lived in the boondocks and much of my time was spent playing in the woods around our house. When I was old enough to ride my first 20" bike, I would ride miles from home to visit our closest neighbor kids and beyond. By the time I got my 26" it was nothing for me and my friends to ride 15 or more miles from home on Sunday afternoons, go swimming in the local ponds and creeks By age 12, I could take out a .22 rifle in the woods and hunt squirrels and rabbits by myself all day long. Back then, I could go to the local country grocery and buy a box of .22 shell for about $.50 (or less, cant remember exact cost) but there was no age limit, no security checks etc like today and no one I knew ever got shot accidently or on purpose.

I don't think I would like to have 12 year old kids out in the woods with guns today and I sure wouldn't want my 10 year old granddaughters out playing by themselves out of sight of an adult guardian. Heck my daughter wont even let them ride the schoolbus.

 

[Doofy]

I used to do lots of things that I wouldn't let my kids do much less my grandkids. There seems to be many more weirdo pedophiles and other maniacal folks around now than there use to be. My mother had no problem with me leaving the house at daylight and not coming back till dark when I was 6 years old. We lived in the boondocks and much of my time was spent playing in the woods around our house. When I was old enough to ride my first 20" bike, I would ride miles from home to visit our closest neighbor kids and beyond. By the time I got my 26" it was nothing for me and my friends to ride 15 or more miles from home on Sunday afternoons, go swimming in the local ponds and creeks By age 12, I could take out a .22 rifle in the woods and hunt squirrels and rabbits by myself all day long. Back then, I could go to the local country grocery and buy a box of .22 shell for about $.50 (or less, cant remember exact cost) but there was no age limit, no security checks etc like today and no one I knew ever got shot accidently or on purpose.

I don't think I would like to have 12 year old kids out in the woods with guns today and I sure wouldn't want my 10 year old granddaughters out playing by themselves out of sight of an adult guardian. Heck my daughter wont even let them ride the schoolbus.

Sadly, the world is a very different place than when we were young. I fear for the youth of today and of tomorrow.

 

[k0ua]

I used to do lots of things that I wouldn't let my kids do much less my grandkids. There seems to be many more weirdo pedophiles and other maniacal folks around now than there use to be. My mother had no problem with me leaving the house at daylight and not coming back till dark when I was 6 years old. We lived in the boondocks and much of my time was spent playing in the woods around our house. When I was old enough to ride my first 20" bike, I would ride miles from home to visit our closest neighbor kids and beyond. By the time I got my 26" it was nothing for me and my friends to ride 15 or more miles from home on Sunday afternoons, go swimming in the local ponds and creeks By age 12, I could take out a .22 rifle in the woods and hunt squirrels and rabbits by myself all day long. Back then, I could go to the local country grocery and buy a box of .22 shell for about $.50 (or less, cant remember exact cost) but there was no age limit, no security checks etc like today and no one I knew ever got shot accidently or on purpose.

I don't think I would like to have 12 year old kids out in the woods with guns today and I sure wouldn't want my 10 year old granddaughters out playing by themselves out of sight of an adult guardian. Heck my daughter wont even let them ride the schoolbus.

All of those activities were my experience also, including the .22 at 12 miles from home in neighbors woods (with their permission to decimate the squirrel population) and a .22 pistol at 13, and a .357 revolver at 14, and also a high powered rifle at 14 (7.7mm Japanese type 99 Arisaka) because the Arisaka has a short length of pull and would fit a 14 year old. By the time I was 17, the Arisaka didn't fit any more.

Starting about age 9 I would walk the 3 miles to my buddy's house and we would play all day with his BB gun. As long as I was home by dark (about 8:30pm in summer) I was good.

 

[Thomas]

Some safety measure today are good,but you gotta let kids be kids and test the water...playing dodge,tag,let there knees get grass stain etc.

 

[bcp]

Denmark:

Kids Gone Wild: Denmark's Forest Kindergartens - YouTube

Bruce

 

[George2615]

Agree that things have changed since when we were kids.
Guns at young age to pick off squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. Nobody ever got shot.
Rode my bike 35 miles one way to visit grandparents who were surprised to see me that far from home on my bike. They called Mom and Dad and I spent the night and rode home the next day. No helmet, knee pads etc. Just followed the law and rode with traffic.
No cell phones or video games. We had to make up our own games or things to do. We had to use our minds. We didn't even have a TV until 1956 and then it was B&W.
Rode in the back of open pick ups without seat belts. Most vehicles didn't even have seat belts then.
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING.
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.
When we did wrong we got spanked either by hand or with a belt. Nobody would ever call the police to report your parents for child abuse.
No childproof caps on medicine bottles.
We had to do chores or we didn't get supper. When we did eat we had to eat everything put on the plate.

Ahh, the good old days.

 

[Doofy]

Agree that things have changed since when we were kids.
Guns at young age to pick off squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. Nobody ever got shot.
Rode my bike 35 miles one way to visit grandparents who were surprised to see me that far from home on my bike. They called Mom and Dad and I spent the night and rode home the next day. No helmet, knee pads etc. Just followed the law and rode with traffic.
No cell phones or video games. We had to make up our own games or things to do. We had to use our minds. We didn't even have a TV until 1956 and then it was B&W.
Rode in the back of open pick ups without seat belts. Most vehicles didn't even have seat belts then.
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING.
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.
When we did wrong we got spanked either by hand or with a belt. Nobody would ever call the police to report your parents for child abuse.
No childproof caps on medicine bottles.
We had to do chores or we didn't get supper. When we did eat we had to eat everything put on the plate.

Ahh, the good old days.

Ditto, and YES...we Survived!

 

[Oldoak]

"Ahh, the good old days." is right!

We didn't go running to a lawyer every time we got a bruise on somebody else's property. Or even bitten by the neighbor's dog for that matter. Although they did pay several bucks for the doctors bill. A stitch or two, a bandage and a shot, that's all there was to it. Life went on............:dance1:

 

[k0ua]

Denmark:

Kids Gone Wild: Denmark's Forest Kindergartens - YouTube

Bruce

That is so wonderful. Those Danish kids will be so much more rounded adults. Those children are truly blessed to have that opportunity.

 

[Agvg]

My kids, I have 3 boys went to this type Kindergarten. Almost outdoors all year, sleep out doors down to -10 - 15C, climbed trees, learnt to use knife, axes and hammers etc. Works very well and they loved it.

 

[Doofy]

My kids, I have 3 boys went to this type Kindergarten. Almost outdoors all year, sleep out doors down to -10 - 15C, climbed trees, learnt to use knife, axes and hammers etc. Works very well and they loved it.

Very cool! These days the kindergartners are all sporting smartphones and tablets. No time to play outside. Sad and unfair.

 

[tcreeley]

Playgrounds - insurance liability rules.

More people are at work today than when I was a kid. Mothers stayed home and were home makers.

The kids today are sent to daycare, after-school programs. The kids get downtime by hitting the electronics, just like their parents do after a day at work.
If you leave your kids unattended in the car you may come back to a cop and the state taking your kids.

We have snowflakes - but we also have a government that dips into everyones's business.

4 years ago when I retired from teaching - one of my female students was proficient with a handgun. Her father was an instructor. She made cookies for his group classes.) Another female student looked forward to hunting - deer, turkey. Another tagged her first doe. I had a male student who taught himself to trap, tan the hides. He carried a club he made himself to finish them off if they were still alive (and they usually were.

Some kids are tough in new ways, some in old ways. I think it depends on the income of the family the type of toughness they develop. Rural poor hunt, poach, work on their junk 4 wheelers, snowsleds. Rural well to do kids participate in farm league, school athletics, ride and care for the motorized equipment they are given. Drive to work. Rural church kids keep out of trouble, engage in the school activities - plays, chorus, clubs. They attend church functions. They are never disciplined because there is no need. And there are many who don't fit any category. - I had one student who liked to listen to music. He knew the best way to get the best sound of equipment. His jokes were good, but he was never pushy, never fought, never in trouble. This mild kid got his first job in the fall of his sophomore year. He butchered turkeys for his neighbor, using a cone. The work lasted from before Thanksgiving until Xmas. He did tell me that it was getting "old". He was tough.

 

[Agvg]

We have farm kindergarten, a lot of different outdoors Kindergarten, nothing like that in the US?

 

[bunyip]

I think we can blame the opportunistic lawyers who see a dollar in every cut and bruise so much so that local authorities, schools etc have to make everything idiot proof and negate any form of injury.
We had a case a few years ago where some clown dived off a bridge despite warning signs that the water was shallow and succeeded in paralysing himself, he won a multi million dollar payout but lost on appeal, the local authority contested the claim that despite the signs warned of shallow water they did not warn of what injuries could be expected.
In this case common sense prevailed.
My daughter broke her arm when she was at primary school, she was climbing up a slide while someone was coming down, as far as I was concerned it was her fault and she learned a lesson through the pain, we could have sued but it wasn't anyones fault but her own.
Unfortunately the system only serves to increase insurance premiums and ultimately we pay for it through higher fees and taxes.
May I add that I used to eat dirt until my first wife walked out and I got a wife who can cook....

 

[4get gto]

Yea the Good old days. My childhood was no different than many of you are talking about. Parents changed too through the years. Did parents even care if you were around all day ? As long as you didn't get into trouble they were happy. And I know of a few old time farmers who would tell their sons to leave the house if they weren't going to work the farm. My FIL was told to leave because he was one 5 boys and didn't need that many boys around. So yea things have changed. For the better or worst I don't know. What I do know is none of us have an answer.
Are kids whimper today ? Sure. Not by their choice though. Just like it wasn't our choice to be the way we were.

 

[Oaktree]

More people are at work today than when I was a kid. Mothers stayed home and were home makers.

The kids today are sent to daycare, after-school programs. The kids get downtime by hitting the electronics, just like their parents do after a day at work.
If you leave your kids unattended in the car you may come back to a cop and the state taking your kids.

We have snowflakes - but we also have a government that dips into everyones's business.

Both of my parents worked, my mother went back once my youngest sister started school. I think I was 11, as the oldest it was my responsibility to look after my siblings.
School vacations and summer my father would leave a list of chores for my brother and me, my mother did the same for my sisters. If we hustled we could finish by lunch time and have the afternoon to ourselves.

No one's mentioned the big to-do these days over "bullying". We had bullies when I was growing up too, as I'm sure did every other generation before. We just learned how to deal with them.

Agree with you on government meddling.