by Valerie Zwald

Created on: March 05, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

It is not as if our parents knew any better - they didn't. Or maybe they did, but it wasn't important to care about those kinds of things back then. There were other things to worry about, like the cold war and gas prices and having enough aluminum foil on hand to insure good reception on the television. So somewhat obliviously or carelessly or perhaps intentionally (but without malice) our parents put we the children in the precarious position...of being children. Just the idea makes a person shudder, doesn't it?

We were sent outside to play in a world teeming with child predators and drug dealers and whatever nasties decided to wander our way. We did not have the protection of cell phones, GPS units, or micro chips implanted in our scalp....heck, we didn't even have bike helmets or knee pads. What we had for protection was the neighbor kid's dog (he looked mean but was really just fat and stupid - the dog, not the kid,) the loud bulbous horns on our handlebars (oooh-ooo-GAH!) and the knowledge that if a stranger offers us candy, not to take it. Oh, and apples could have razor blades, and we shouldn't lick stamps, the glue could be "laced" with something. Somehow just knowing all that seemed to keep us safe.....and paranoid about eating apples.
We also walked to school (or rode our bikes - oooh-ooo-GAH!) and it was public school, but that was okay. I guess we weren't prone to taking weapons to school. Back then kids just beat each other with their fists, and it seemed to work out just fine. Also, there were children being left behind right and left, yet somehow we all seemed to learn how to read. And do math. Except for the kids that weren't going to learn anyway, no matter how many federal programs were put in place so they could. Although now it is obvious that those kids should have been labeled and classified and medicated, all our teachers did was give them extra help. I am so glad we have progressed.
Of course, we were exposed to WAY too much violence back then. Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, Popeye......it is amazing we circumvented all of our anger issues. Our video games weren't violent, because we didn't HAVE video games. That is, until Pong came out, and it wasn't really violent, unless you are against the senseless pummeling of square balls. Someone should have put a stop to THAT!
Maybe the worst, most cruel part of being growing up in the way-back is that we weren't given much protection from ourselves. If we did something stupid, we had to admit to our actions and pay the consequences. There were no lawsuits, no attorneys intervening, no school counselors to explain to us WHY we are were so messed up. It didn't really matter why. No one cared enough to spare us from getting a spanking or being stood in a corner. Our teachers were allowed to criticize and challenge us without fear of losing their jobs for doing so. Imagine the bruising our little psyches took - how we grew up to become productive members of society is a mystery. Thank goodness times have changed, and OUR children will grow up to be the well-adjusted, happy and healthy adults we strive to be, but continually fail because we grew up without seat-belts and fluoridated water and satellite TV....If only we had been given those guaranteed ingredients for a good life....Maybe there is someone we can sue?

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