How we grew up

[formulanone]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

I'm sure the kids that died from head trauma, were thrown from automobiles, and were choked by crib slats can't vouch for how great the old days were.

[jwolfer]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

You wouldn't believe the carnage!

LGMS428

What was the carnage like?

Unimaginable.  Cracked open skulls everywhere

LGMS428

[Roadgeekteen]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

You wouldn't believe the carnage!

LGMS428

What was the carnage like?

Unimaginable.  Cracked open skulls everywhere

LGMS428

The carnage of the 70s! Did you live in Vietnam or something?

[ColossalBlocks]

I guess I'll bite.

I was born in April 1996.

I didn't get myself killed because I did a lot of stupid shit as a kid.

High school was awful (in Southeastern Missouri you get fake country boys, and the 'trend followers', and girls who dress, erm, to keep it PG 13 I'm gonna say '70% exposed').

Well, that's my upbringing (I had a very boring and stupid upbringing).

[bandit957]

When I was growing up, people were largely resentful of the stock market (even in this area). I went to a Reds game when I was about 14, and some fans were complaining because the scoreboard showed the latest Dow Jones numbers.

American society had something that some observers called the "great disruption" from the mid-'60s to mid-'90s. This "disruption" was actually a good thing. It really wasn't a "disruption." It was actually the natural order of things.

[Brandon]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

No more than today.  Imagine that, kids can actually do things on their own without a helicopter..er..parent always hovering around.

[iBallasticwolf2]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

No more than today.  Imagine that, kids can actually do things on their own without a helicopter..er..parent always hovering around.

Are you sure about that?
https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/
The child mortality rate has fallen drastically in the past 50 years.

[jeffandnicole]

In elementary school, my bus stop was about 1/4 mile away.  About 8 of us or so gathered there at a 'T' intersection.  The bus would come just past the T intersection where we were standing and we'd get on.  Then the bus would back up into the T, trying to avoid the telephone pole on the right side and the ditch on the left, then swing out left and exit.

Things that wouldn't be done today: Walking a 1/4 mile to the bus stop.  A bus with kids backing up on public streets.

For high school, my bus stop was a half-mile away.  I'd walk on a shoulder probably less than the width of your body for the final 500 feet or so. I'd cross over to a side street.  When the bus came, we crossed back over the street to get on the bus.

We also had an unusually quiet bunch of kids on the bus, especially in high school.  I still remember a substitute bus driver (who was also the school librarian) commenting that she swore something had to be going on because of how quiet everyone was.  Nope...we're just sitting there looking out the window or listening to our Walkmans (someone please explain to the 14 year old what a Walkman was).

Also in High School, our bus company was Walt's bus service.  Sometimes Walt himself would drive the bus.  The depot for the buses (which was somewhere off of NJ I-295's Exit 7) once got damaged in a tornado.  Our main bus driver (who's name escapes me right now) had an accident on the trial run just before the school year one year.

Amazing some of this stuff that I remember...I haven't thought about it for a few decades!!

[noelbotevera]

On the topic of school experiences/infant stuff...

Yes, I did use an infant seat. I was too small to use the seats in my family's Grand Caravan. Of course I wear a seatbelt - even though you can go decades without an accident, it's better to wear it if there's no accident than to not wear it if there is one.

My bus stop was maybe 500 feet away. About 10 people just gathered there, waiting for the bus to come at 7 AM (which also meant having to wait in 30 or 40 degree weather/while it was raining/during light snow).

When I was in elementary school, I had the option to walk the 3/4 mile to school, but my parents were home when I had to go to school (school started at 9 AM, parents arrived home at 7, maybe 8 AM if they were unlucky). I decided to just simply ask my parents for a ride to school (took the bus home). Oh yeah, I also had to cross a road with cars traveling at 50-55 MPH (PA 995) in order to get to school. No kid would dare do that today. Did I mention I'd do all of this alone?

I never biked, partially because I never knew how to in the first place, and mostly because I could just walk everywhere I needed to go (school and a friend's house), unless there was some strange circumstance where I had to ask for my dad to drive me somewhere.

My bus rides have always had loud kids, so I'd just tune out the noise, up until I got a phone and could play music over some headphones I had. One of these days, I'll probably dig out my mom's Walkman, find cassettes of bands I like, and listen to music that way. It's really just because Walkman's are way more compact than cellphones.

[GaryV]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

No more than today.  Imagine that, kids can actually do things on their own without a helicopter..er..parent always hovering around.

Are you sure about that?
https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/
The child mortality rate has fallen drastically in the past 50 years.

Due to far fewer deaths from disease, not from accidents.

[iBallasticwolf2]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

No more than today.  Imagine that, kids can actually do things on their own without a helicopter..er..parent always hovering around.

Are you sure about that?
https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/
The child mortality rate has fallen drastically in the past 50 years.

Due to far fewer deaths from disease, not from accidents.

You may be right, but the safety regulations that have been created in the past 50 years have saved many lives, like not letting companies dump toxic waste in the water or banning lead paint.

[jp the roadgeek]

While we're on the topic of children in car seats, I've noticed a lot of differences between when I was a kid and now.  When I was a kid, you would ride in a car seat until you were 3 or 4, then graduate to a regular seat.  Mandatory seat belt laws didn't exist until I was 10, but I'd usually be forced to wear mine anyway. And most back seat seatbelts were just the lap belt, not the shoulder belt.   I've noticed nowadays that kids tend to ride in the back seat until they are almost a teenager, despite the front passenger seat being empty.   I started "riding shotgun" when it was just me and the driver when I was 5.  I also used to ride in the back of trucks as well.  Never got hurt at all. 

[Brandon]

On the topic of school experiences/infant stuff...

Yes, I did use an infant seat. I was too small to use the seats in my family's Grand Caravan. Of course I wear a seatbelt - even though you can go decades without an accident, it's better to wear it if there's no accident than to not wear it if there is one.

Seat belts are also good for keeping one in one's seat while performing maneuvers with a vehicle.  No different than on an amusement park ride.

[vdeane]

While we're on the topic of children in car seats, I've noticed a lot of differences between when I was a kid and now.  When I was a kid, you would ride in a car seat until you were 3 or 4, then graduate to a regular seat.  Mandatory seat belt laws didn't exist until I was 10, but I'd usually be forced to wear mine anyway. And most back seat seatbelts were just the lap belt, not the shoulder belt.   I've noticed nowadays that kids tend to ride in the back seat until they are almost a teenager, despite the front passenger seat being empty.   I started "riding shotgun" when it was just me and the driver when I was 5.  I also used to ride in the back of trucks as well.  Never got hurt at all. 

Blame mandatory air bags for that.  I remember riding in the front seat when I was young.  That stopped when my parents bought a car with air bags.  I'm just the right age where the car where I couldn't ride in the front for years was also the first car I owned (the 1997 Honda Accord I only traded in three years ago).

[formulanone]

While we're on the topic of children in car seats, I've noticed a lot of differences between when I was a kid and now.  When I was a kid, you would ride in a car seat until you were 3 or 4, then graduate to a regular seat.  Mandatory seat belt laws didn't exist until I was 10, but I'd usually be forced to wear mine anyway. And most back seat seatbelts were just the lap belt, not the shoulder belt.   I've noticed nowadays that kids tend to ride in the back seat until they are almost a teenager, despite the front passenger seat being empty.   I started "riding shotgun" when it was just me and the driver when I was 5.  I also used to ride in the back of trucks as well.  Never got hurt at all. 

Blame mandatory air bags for that.  I remember riding in the front seat when I was young.  That stopped when my parents bought a car with air bags.  I'm just the right age where the car where I couldn't ride in the front for years was also the first car I owned (the 1997 Honda Accord I only traded in three years ago).

That, and small children (under the ages of 8 or under 50 pounds) have slipped underneath or over buckled seat belts (even in the rear) in some accidents. My children still use booster seats because it's safest until they're 4'6". I don't claim to be the world's best driver and neither can most anyone else.

I know...some of us survived car accidents as children, myself included (aged 5). We were travelling at 10 miles an hour and hit by someone going about 30. I was glad I was wearing a seatbelt in that accident, but they didn't make car seats for passengers of my size in 1979.

Many recent cars have Passive Occupant Detection Systems in the front seat that will automatically turn off the passenger front airbag if there's less than 40-50 pounds resting on the seat cushion. I've placed a few heavy items on the front passenger seat before, and sometimes the seatbelt warning chime/air bag ON light lights up.

[JJBers]

I used to go to alot of places when I was very young, and is the only way I've been to Ontario, the Carolinas, and Nova Scotia.
A bit later, I really got into the GameCube, before I got my Wii in 2009, and in a video game sense, that was my whole life until 2011. Then I started using PC, and my 3DS, and I joined here in 2013.

[bandit957]

One of few bad things about growing up before the mid-'80s was that VCR's were very rare. So if you had to miss you favorite show, you were out of luck.

I'll never forget the time my mom scheduled a family portrait to be taken at 8 PM on a Friday - the exact same time as 'The Dukes Of Hazzard'. I was sore about that for years. And it was a bad portrait too.

[Scott5114]

In elementary school, my bus stop was about 1/4 mile away.  About 8 of us or so gathered there at a 'T' intersection.  The bus would come just past the T intersection where we were standing and we'd get on.  Then the bus would back up into the T, trying to avoid the telephone pole on the right side and the ditch on the left, then swing out left and exit.

Our bus backed out of a driveway once and got us stuck in a bar ditch. Some of the seniors had to get out and push.

Our bus driver's name was Marlene, who liked to do 65 mph on 45-mph county roads, and her catchphrase was "Sit down and shut up!" Sometimes she drove the bus barefoot.

[allniter89]

I was born March 17, 1953 at Westover AFB near Chicopee, MA. Dad married mom & enlisted in the Air Force in 1952 and so we began life as an Air Force family for the next 20 yrs.

Before I started 1st grade I had lived in Chicopee MA, Anchorville MI, Charleston SC, Rantoul IL,  & Agana Guam. I entered the 1st grade at an all Air Force brats school in Dover AFB, DE. It was 1959 & life was great! We lived in air base housing & it was super safe, everyone kept an eye on the kids & if you did something wrong a neighbor likely called your mom to tell her already. We walked 4 blocks to school; & I went to 1st-6th grade with many of the same kids.

Summertime was big time fun. We lived 2 blocks from the pool & also had a river a few blocks away for swimming, tubeing, homemade boat races, stone skipping & building dirt dams & many other adventures. I guess kids today stay in the house playing video games  I never see kids playing in a playground, baseball diamonds or even an open field. Our summer days were eat breakfast go out & play, if you wanted lunch go home eat then back outside then home for dinner then back outside. Near dark we had to be very near home but we could stay out & catch fireflys for awhile. sigh, good times

In July 1965 dad was reassigned to Elemendorf AFB near Anchorage, AK. Dad bought a new Mercury Comet & we began the roadtrip of a lifetime Dover, DE to Anchorage via Detroit, MI & Rockford, IL  to visit family. I wish I was a roadgeek then so I could have documented the trip with photos & a journal, we had photos but they were lost in a housefire. The Alcan Hwy was gravel then & we didnt have ac in the car so every time a vehicle passed us going the opposite we had to roll up the windows til the dust settled. After a day driving the Alcan dust completely cover the back of the car, you couldnt see our taillights, license plate or anything. It was a great trip thru the Canadian wilderness, we saw moose, caribou, bears, wolves, deer, eagles & more.
We left AK in 1968 & were assigned to bases in OH, NC, FL, & back to my always home Dover, DE.

The earliest major event I recall is the assassination of JFK . They sent us home from school after telling us what happened I was 10 yrs old. Then came the assassination of RFK & MLK  .
I remember 911 vividly, I was driving a truck & unloading in Houston, TX. I was in the bunk catching a few  FYI When they unload your trailer it rocks the entire truck, I hadnt felt the truck move so I thought they were done unloading me. I went to the receiving office for my paperwork & everyone in the warehouse was there watching 911 unfold. I got my paperwork & parked on the street to watch on my tv in the truck not knowing if this was the 1st of multiple attacks 

My dad was a drunk, cirrhosis killed him in 1980 at 50 yrs old. He was never there for me :banghead never threw a baseball, fished or told me about the birds & bees or spent any 1 on 1 time with me yep I'm bitter! John Lennons assassination hit me harder than dads death tho dad was sick for awhile & John Lennons was sudden & unexpected.
Mom was a housewife taking care of home & family. She was/is extremely over protective but very loving. I was the 1st born then she had 4 miscarriages  so that explains her over protectiveness. In my childhood I never broke an arm or leg, how many kids can say that?
She's 93 yo now & I care for her in my home. We get along great, its always been me & her.

On a lighter note the 1st cell phone I got was a big ole bag phone.
My 1st connection to the internet was WebTV. I used WebTV for about 6 yrs before I bought an old HP laptop from a friend.
I drove a truck otr for 20 yrs driving to/thru 48 states & Ontario, Canada. I mostly enjoyed the job but after 20 yrs it gets old so I retired in 2009 to care for mom.

[Brandon]

In elementary school, my bus stop was about 1/4 mile away.  About 8 of us or so gathered there at a 'T' intersection.  The bus would come just past the T intersection where we were standing and we'd get on.  Then the bus would back up into the T, trying to avoid the telephone pole on the right side and the ditch on the left, then swing out left and exit.

Our bus backed out of a driveway once and got us stuck in a bar ditch. Some of the seniors had to get out and push.

Our bus driver's name was Marlene, who liked to do 65 mph on 45-mph county roads, and her catchphrase was "Sit down and shut up!" Sometimes she drove the bus barefoot.

Miss Crabtree lives!

[kkt]

Born in the early 1960s in Oakland, California.  Early memories include Vietnam, Bobby Kennedy's assassination and the 1968 election, not so much the earliest moon landings due to not have TV but the later ones.  The panic scene in 1975 of the helicopters evacuating the American embassy in Saigon, thinking about all the young men drafted who died for nothing.  The Watergate crisis when in Berkeley practically every stop sign had NIXON spraypainted with a stencil below STOP.  Teargas from overactive National Guard troops sent by Saint Governor Reagan stopping a peaceful demonstration at UC.

Opening day at BART.

Trick or treating was great.  We went house to house.  Nowadays we have trick or treating at businesses starting about noon!  Just another advertising gimmick.  Where's the scary factor in that?  We didn't start until it was dark.

1st space probe landing, Viking 1, on Mars.  By this time we had TV and could watch live as agonizingly slow a single scan line was drawn across the screen and over 30 minutes or so (?) painted a complete color picture.

[1995hoo]

[JJBers]

We call them tricycles today...I didn't know how to use a bike until I was 8, now I'm obsessed with riding a bike.

[cjk374]

We call them tricycles today...I didn't know how to use a bike until I was 8, now I'm obsessed with riding a bike.

That is more than a tricycle....that is a Big Wheel! You could more stunt-type riding on a good concrete driveway with those than a regular tricycle.

[1995hoo]

We call them tricycles today...I didn't know how to use a bike until I was 8, now I'm obsessed with riding a bike.

Further underscoring the generation gap! A tricycle is smaller and much more upright than a Big Wheel. You "graduated," so to speak, from a tricycle to a Big Wheel to training wheels to a bike. My parents have a picture of me on a tricycle when I was 3. I seem to recall being one of the first kids on our block to learn to ride a bike when I was maybe 5 or 6.

I think the association of the word "tricycle" with little kids is probably one reason why three-wheeled recumbents for adults are referred to as "recumbent trikes," simply for marketing reasons. I tried out one of those at a bike shop a few years back. Super-comfortable and easy to ride, although they didn't have any big hills nearby. The riding position is much closer to a Big Wheel than to a kid's tricycle. I didn't buy one–too expensive and I wasn't sure how I'd store it in the garage–but if I were to start commuting by bike, that's what I'd get to supplement the folding bike I have now (which is good to keep for rainy days since folding bikes are allowed on the subway here during rush hour, whereas regular bikes aren't).