22 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

30+ years ago, my parents controlled the TV... both in what was watched and the on and off times.

Mine did too.  Kids owned the TV on Saturdays until 12 o'clock, and then it was "Go outside and get some fresh air.  I'll call you for dinner."

21 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

Register for your porn sites with a mask. 

Success!!!
 

19 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

The kids now are growing up with psychological problems. Too much time playing and scrolling on their phones or watching TV

That's similar to what the oldies said when I was a kid.

That music!! Get a haircut!!

 

Same same but different.

21 hours ago, NotEinstein said:

This was 55 years ago - an alien environment for today's kids I suppose - making a camp out of discarded materials? Where's the 'like' button?

 
I lived in an era in the US where kids could walk around the neighborhood with BB/Pellet guns on our way to the woods, and used "Pop-Guns" to play "War" and "Cowboys and Indians," and actually shoot bows and arrows in the neighborhood commons.  Those were the days.

Now?

Any of those activities will get you shot by a "Shoot First Ask, Questions Later" America cop.

15 hours ago, Baht Simpson said:

Kids these days are stuck indoors on their phones or playing violent video games.

 

In my day we were outdoors enjoying some innocent fun.

 

That's classic.  We used to play "Machine Gun Nest" where one kids was the machine gunner and the rest of the kids "Charged The Hill."  The machine gunner would pick the "Best Getting Shot and Dying Act" and that kid would become the the machine gunner.  We also played with toy soldiers.  Subliminal violence, 'eh?

14 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

The reason is parents need to be able to contact their kids (to arrange pick up etc.) and vice versa.

I never had a phone at anytime during my school years considering I went to school in the 50s and 60s.  If the parents needed to get in touch with their kid, they'd call the school office to notify the child. 

13 hours ago, NickyLouie said:

I used to walk about a mile each way to grade school, no matter the weather — often trudging through six inches of snow.

 

High school was about 2.5 miles each way. I’d take the bus in the morning to make it on time, but most days I’d walk home.

 

After finishing homework, I’d be outside for the rest of the afternoon until evening — playing basketball, manhunt after dark, or tackle football in the snow once winter came. Sometimes, would walk a few miles to the public skating rink just for fun.

 

When we needed money, we’d go shoveling — walking all over town looking for uncleaned driveways or cars buried in snow, offering to clear them for five bucks each.

There was no social media, no cable TV, and no home video game consoles.

Our bodies grew strong and resilient — nothing like what you see in much of today’s generation, who too often seem soft, entitled, and quick to complain.

 

Yep!  Me too!  And I had a paper route, and cut lawns and washed cars for extra money. I was working from the time I was an adolescent. It builds character and responsibility.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I remember hours of boredom, endless days of wind and rain, being bullied by skinhead gangs at school.

TV didn't start until 5:30pm and there were only two channels, listening to music was pot luck with radio 1 and radio Caroline.

 

It wasn't that great!

 

 Whereas now, kids can fill every minute of every day without any need for good weather, and they don't need to ever leave their home and risk bullies, grooming, stabby illegals, etc.

I was brought up in my early childhood in England.  I obviously didn't live on that side of the tracks.  I was more likely to be physically abused by my own mom, so spending time outdoor was a joy.  The milk was delivered by horse-draw wagon.  Yep, I go that far back.  But I do admit, the weather was bleak.  

There's some progress over the years I guess.

 

"Of my city the worst that men will ever say is this:
You took little children away from the sun and the dew,
And the glimmers that played in the grass under the great sky,
And the reckless rain; you put them between walls
To work, broken and smothered, for bread and wages,
To eat dust in their throats and die empty-hearted
For a little handful of pay on a few Saturday nights."

 

-- Carl Sandburg

16 minutes ago, connda said:

I never had a phone at anytime during my school years considering I went to school in the 50s and 60s.  If the parents needed to get in touch with their kid, they'd call the school office to notify the child. 

Sure. Me too. But this isn't the 1960s, and that fact doesn't mean a kid shouldn't be easily reached more directly. What if the school said they can't find him/her?

On 10/13/2025 at 11:09 AM, emptypockets said:

That's similar to what the oldies said when I was a kid.

That music!! Get a haircut!!

 

Same same but different.

You prove my case. Thank you

On 10/12/2025 at 10:45 PM, HappyExpat57 said:

One of the biggest problems for kids is not having a safe place to play outdoors any more. When I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, there were tons of beautifully maintained public parks. We even had college kids earning credits for babysitting us during the summer break. I don't know of ANYWHERE in the world where this kind of care for kids is available.

Singapore. 

Social Media is the devil.   

9 hours ago, Fact said:

Social Media is the devil.