EssexFTB Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. I read this and realised its not just HPI that the Poly's have messed up!!! Why do they have to Meddle?? It puts a lid on self learning!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubai Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. I read this and realised its not just HPI that the Poly's have messed up!!! Why do they have to Meddle?? It puts a lid on self learning!! It's a sign of the times I'm afraid. Somebody, somewhere considers that they better themselves by interfering in your life and protecting you from yourself. You cannot be trusted on your own. You need a group of peers to tell you what to do, what to think, how to behave. To leave you running free in the fields is not the way of the new efficient herdsmen. Don't smoke, don't drink, don't go out after dark, lock your doors, don't talk to strangers, don't talk politics to friends, don't, don't don't...... Well, as Ewan Mcgregor said...... chooose LIFE!! I think there are quite a few on here who have..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happily renting Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 A lot of kids did get lead poisoning and suffered (then or years later as adults), and swallowed pills they shouldn't have and died, and flew through windshields and cut themselves into ribbons. Some of the other stuff in the list raises a smile, but as a stinging indictment of modern day life it falls somewhat short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smell the Fear Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Shouldn't this end with "forward this to 10 people and you will live happily ever after" or some such sh*te? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minos Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 A lot of kids did get lead poisoning and suffered (then or years later as adults), and swallowed pills they shouldn't have and died, and flew through windshields and cut themselves into ribbons. Some of the other stuff in the list raises a smile, but as a stinging indictment of modern day life it falls somewhat short. Yes, but a lot more survived no ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubai Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Life is full of risk. In fact, I don't know anyone who has got out alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happily renting Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Yes, but a lot more survived no ? Your point being? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minos Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Your point being? My point being why impose rules which save a few while burdening the many ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Fool & His Borrowed Money Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Throughout the development of man, stupid people have done stupid things and either learned from the mistake or died. The result has been the thick learned and the thickest died out. By stopping people doing stupid things we are going to end up with a world full of stupid people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minos Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Throughout the development of man, stupid people have done stupid things and either learned from the mistake or died. The result has been the thick learned and the thickest died out. By stopping people doing stupid things we are going to end up with a world full of stupid people Too late !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashedOutAndBurned Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. I read this and realised its not just HPI that the Poly's have messed up!!! Why do they have to Meddle?? It puts a lid on self learning!! I had a mate who was an army-fantasist when I was a kid reading gun catalogues and Soldier of Fortune type magazines. He was quite bright and would empty the gunpowder out of a box of shotgun-cartridges, create timers and make crude bombs. A bunch of us would just ride our bikes into the country and blow craters in the ground for the heck of it. Could've lost eyes, hands god knows what. But we were basically just nice lower middle middle class kids interested in seeing things go bang. Could you imagine what the apparatus of today's NuLabour state would have made of us if we'd ever been caught? We'd have had six social workers each, we'd be DNA logged and tagged, had our backgrounds checked for history of extremism and be sent of a programme of psychological therapy to mend us of our violent ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParticleMan Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats...: This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. But today's regulators and bureaucrats, the ones busy pulling the rope up behind them, are this same generation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashedOutAndBurned Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Throughout the development of man, stupid people have done stupid things and either learned from the mistake or died. The result has been the thick learned and the thickest died out. By stopping people doing stupid things we are going to end up with a world full of stupid people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAYnc_-ddlw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredEitherWay Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. I read this and realised its not just HPI that the Poly's have messed up!!! Why do they have to Meddle?? It puts a lid on self learning!! You must have lived near me. Sounds just like my upbringing... except the go-kart. Never had one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredEitherWay Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Life is full of risk. In fact, I don't know anyone who has got out alive. I plan to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryWeston Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 (edited) According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and 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. I read this and realised its not just HPI that the Poly's have messed up!!! Why do they have to Meddle?? It puts a lid on self learning!! Good post, i did all these things when growing up and had a lot of fun, i was also driving tractors, rotavating, ploughing, baling hay, collecting silage in the fields when i was around 12 / 13, left to get on with it for hours at a time i loved it. and sometimes on a weekend we used to tear about around fields in an old lada and an old moped we had, better than any theme park ive been to! Edited August 8, 2007 by HenryWeston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its time to buy Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 You only have to read the paper today [the express] Council workers were not allowed to use ladders to put up safety speed signs in the road to prevent accidents, because none of them were qualified in using a 4ft ladder safely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its time to buy Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Theres also a number of things I remember - Model boat show cancelled for good because of health and safety [spectators might fall in the water] - Carnival cancelled - cost too much to insure the children, [incase they might fall and hurt themselves] - Conkers banned in school [or they have to wear safety equipment] Just what makes this country great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryWeston Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 You only have to read the paper today [the express]Council workers were not allowed to use ladders to put up safety speed signs in the road to prevent accidents, because none of them were qualified in using a 4ft ladder safely i worked for a local authority for a while a few years ago, it was like a different world no one could do anything unless they had been trained to do it, i remember one guy couldnt even work out how to unhitch a small trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ae589 Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Reading this makes me think of the vitriol handed out to Madeleine McCanns parents: they left her upstairs in a hotel room they could see, with her siblings, while they ate downstairs, and were vilified by many. When I was 9, I used to come home twice a day at the weekend - for lunch and dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bart of Darkness Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Throughout the development of man, stupid people have done stupid things and either learned from the mistake or died. The Darwin Awards. I plan to! Or die trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azogar Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 (edited) Good post, i did all these things when growing up and had a lot of fun, i was also driving tractors, rotavating, ploughing, baling hay, collecting silage in the fields when i was around 12 / 13, left to get on with it for hours at a time i loved it. I'm getting a garage built at the moment by a friend of a friend - his 8 year old son was driving the tractor and trailer in the garden to dump the spoil! He was brought up a farm and started driving machinery at 5! From my own experience - I walked a mile to school from the age of 5, had a paper-round at 10, would do shopping errands for my mum in the high street at 8 etc etc Would I let my son do the same? no way (unfortunately) Edited August 8, 2007 by prophet-profit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minos Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Reading this makes me think of the vitriol handed out to Madeleine McCanns parents: they left her upstairs in a hotel room they could see, with her siblings, while they ate downstairs, and were vilified by many.When I was 9, I used to come home twice a day at the weekend - for lunch and dinner. Not quite the same is it - leaving two two year olds and a four year old on their own. Still, it was their choice to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its time to buy Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 i worked for a local authority for a while a few years ago, it was like a different world no one could do anything unless they had been trained to do it, i remember one guy couldnt even work out how to unhitch a small trailer Dont laugh. I unhitched a trailer without a HS Part [1a] qualification in Trailer mechanics. Consequentially, I lost the use of my two fingers as my hand got trapped. The trailer then rolled back knocking me over and broke my leg. Not only that it rolled down the hill picking up speed, crashing into a supermarket full of people, injuring 57 shoppers, and damaging 2 Asda trolleys and 3 cars on the road - one of which was a rare priceless Ferrari F40. You see if all these rules werent invented, there would be no Frank Spencer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryWeston Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 I'm getting a garage built at the moment by a friend of a friend - his 8 year old son was driving the tractor and trailer in the garden to dump the spoil!He was brought up a farm and started driving machinery at 5! From my own experience - I walked a mile to school from the age of 5, had a paper-round at 10, would do shopping errands for my mum in the high street at 8 etc etc Would I let my son do the same? no way (unfortunately) why not, do you live in the city ? maybe its different there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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