Growing up in the '70's and '80's, we were free range kids. Granted back then, it was a much safer world. Sort of. Didn't really have to worry about child snatchers, or the slave trade, or crazy wanna-be parents snatching you because they can't have their own kids.
During the school months, we lived way out in the sticks. Our closest neighbor was 1/2 mile, the closest store was 2 miles. Kind of hard to get into trouble but we managed. Riding bikes and crashing, climbing trees and falling, sledding down steep hills into a non-traveled road, sledding behind a pickup, getting inside 55 gallon drums and rolling down steep hills, skinny dipping in the pond, riding in the bed of pickups. No safety equipment of any kind............scratches, broken bones, scars (chicks dig scars), those were the days.........................
The summers we would spend in Houston. No supervision while the parents were at work. Armed with an allowance, and a 10 speed, it's amazing just what kind of trouble you can get into without your parents knowing just as long as we made it home before they got there. That and disconnecting the porno channel you learned to pirate so the parents didn't find out.
Looking back, it was a good thing that we had that kind of freedom. We got to explore, experiment, touch, and interact with the world around us. We learned to deal with different things and figure things out for ourselves without our parents guiding us. If we crashed the bike badly, or broke an arm, we learned to deal with it ourselves, learned to pick ourselves up off the ground, deal with it, and try again.
Now my brothers remember what hellions they were and keep a tight reign with their kids. UNTIL they come stay with me for a while. And they love it because I let them be KIDS. Swimming without the coast guard and life jackets, no EMS on standby, riding BMX bikes with no helmet, elbow or knee pads, take them racing in the cars, or off roading in the 4X4, letting them drive the tractor or bulldozer, taking the horses to the store by themselves, things we got to do when we were kids. Before you freak out, they're not totally unsupervised. The more dangerous things like the bulldozer, I'm there, but letting them learn on their own. They have a blast!! Their parents freak out!!
I can see where parents want to protect their kids, but C'MON!! Protect them from real dangers like kidnappers, not themselves. LET THEM BE KIDS WITHOUT YOU holding their hands for every little thing!! Things like making them wear full dress safety gear JUST to ride their bikes to the store and back is overkill!! Kids bounce very well.
When my nephews and nieces were living with me for a few years, I was hit with what I thought was an ODD school policy. My driveway is barely 8 car lengths long. You can see the house from the road. If I was not out there to pick up the kids, the bus driver would CALL me and not let the kids off the bus until I walked out of the house TO the bus!! When I was little, living way out in the sticks, our driveway was almost a 1/2 mile long. We got dropped off at the end, and walked home. Parents never met us at the end of the driveway, nor were they ever required to. I don't get it.
:irked:
