Every generation is unique in its own way. Some things are carried through from the past generation, though slightly changed, while other things are lost or skip a generation, and sometimes something completely new is added. As I was growing up I learned a lot from my parents and hung on to a lot of their ways, and I imagine I will pass a lot of that onto my kids (at some point right?).
One thing that is grossly different from my generation to the next is how kids are raised. It may be for better or worse, but it is definitely different.
We were given a lot of freedom to do pretty much what we wanted…as long as we were home for dinner and then back in again when it got dark. There was generally not a lot of adult supervision either. As long as we told our parents who we would be with and gave a general idea of what we were going to do, we were good to go. If we did something stupid, we were fully aware that we would get in trouble by the closest parents, and then our own when we got home.
We were creative with our activity too. Sometimes we would ride our bikes around town, or play in the creek across the tracks. Other times we would climb a tree to see who could get the highest. We liked playing backyard football, and pickle, and monkey in the middle, and tag, and a slew of other playground type games. We hated rainy days because we could not go outside and play. Sometimes we would get permission, in the summer, to play hide and seek or capture the flag at night. If we disagreed with our friends, we settled it between ourselves. Sometimes that ended up in fights, but we were friends ready for the next game afterward.
Most of us had game consoles (Nintendo or Atari), none of us had computers. It did not matter though. We wanted to be outside playing with our friends, not sitting in front of a TV…unless it was 6 am on Saturday morning for cartoons of course.
Who is we, you ask? Every kid in the neighborhood. As soon as we were allowed outside we would start gathering on our bikes or in somebody’s yard and start something fun. That was our life.
If we did something stupid like I mentioned before, we didn’t get Dr. Phil punishment either. We got an ass whuppin’! Leather belts, wooden spoons, paddle ball paddles…whatever was closest. If we said something we shouldn’t have, we got a nice mouthful of soap. Did it work? You bet it did! I had my fair share of all of the above, but it was NEVER for the same thing twice. If you got any of those punishments, you knew damn well not to do what you did again.
These days, kids are too plugged in to their Xbox, or Wii. They aren’t allowed out of their back yard without a set of parents closely in tow. The most interaction they get with other kids is through a headset. Heaven forbid they ride their bikes to get some candy from the corner store or an ice cream cone! I would have been happy to get the punishment they do…no computer tonight Johnny? That is awesome, time for Transformers and GI Joe! I would have been lost without my friends when I was a kid.
When I moved into my house, I was completely surprised to see kids in the house behind me playing outside. They may be loud as hell, but I am not going to complain. At least they aren’t sitting around playing video games or complaining about their standard definition TV.
Tags: games, Kids, outside, playing
Ok,so this is all very good stuff and Jesse is right on about who he is,but just so you all know, if there was ever a belt or paddle or spoon or soap It was never me. I could not handle that.(0f course that is why they were never afraid of me:)) Love you Jesse! Keep writing,I enjoy it very much. You are very true to yourself.