I spent my childhood in the 60s and
70s. Obviously, life was different then. Was it better? Was it worse? Well, I’m
going to be the judge of that because I’m listing fourteen random areas of
difference and telling you if I think they were better, worse, or somewhere in
between.
1. Corporal punishment was allowed in school. I got
a swat once for teasing a girl in class. The teacher who swatted me in front of
my classmates barely caused me physical pain, but it embarrassed me—and my
parents found out and punished me because, in my day, the teacher was always
right. I didn’t want another swat or home punishment, so my behavior changed. BETTER.
2. We played vinyl records on record players—albums that scratched, skipped, or warped—and taped songs off the radio with portable cassette players. I remember building a “soundproof” fort and waiting for my favorite songs on the radio, hoping to record them without interruption from noise in the house. WORSE.
3. Research was done with encyclopedias, library sourcebooks, or microfilm. Yeah, trolling the library was no fun (and in those days
we were expected to be quiet). Topics were generally chosen based on whatever
letter of the encyclopedia was available. Loading or spinning through
microfilm was far too tedious. There was no internet! WORSE.
4. We had to get up to change the TV channel or to change
the antennae rotator or the volume. We only had one TV, so we also had to fight
for our shows or (horror of horrors) find something else to do. Nowadays, I’ll
scour the earth for the remote before going to the TV to change the channel or
volume. WORSE.
5. When a thermometer broke, we rolled the liquid-metal mercury around in the palms of our hands. We didn’t die. Now they shut down entire schools. PROBABLY WORSE.
6. We didn’t wear helmets. I learned how to ride a
bike by having my dad steady it until I got it moving on my own, and then he’d let
go and I’d ride until I fell either in the grass or on the cement sidewalk. We
didn’t have in-line skates, skateboards, or many of the other cool rolling
gadgets, so bike-riding was essential. We played hockey, rode motorcycles, and rode
bikes and roller skates without helmets. I’m only partially brain-damaged.
BETTER…MAYBE.
7. We played Jarts. You know…those arrows of death?
Actually, we were smart enough to not get in the way of other gamers’ throws,
and we let them land without having our skulls pierced. Maybe we had more common
sense than people of today, and maybe having the government monitor our safety
for us isn’t really all that necessary. Hey, there could be Jart helmets. BETTER.
8. We rode in the back of pickup trucks or on the top of the backseat in a convertible. Does anyone remember sitting in the backseat of a station wagon, looking out the back window at the other drivers? Do you remember having to sit on the hump because almost all cars had rear-wheel drive (which was great for doing donuts in parking lots in the winter)? There were no car seats, only occasional seat belt usage, and sooner or later, we all “drove” the car while sitting on our dad’s lap. I survived, believe it or not. BETTER…AND WORSE.
9. We built our own forts and treehouses. There was
a lot of pride in the achievement, and though they were horribly built, they
were ours. We made the plans, chose
and hauled the lumber scraps or branches, brought the tools, and made something
we were proud of. BETTER.
10. We climbed to the tops of trees, jumped fences, swung
on swing sets with legs coming out of the ground, trespassed in the woods,
designed our own bike jumps, umpired and refereed our own neighborhood ball
games, got in fights and solved our own problems, and left the house in the
morning only to come home when our parents called for us from the front door
for dinner (which we ate as a family). We did all of those things without a
cell-phone or a microwave. BETTER.
11. Visits to church, hospitals, relatives’ homes,
stores for shopping, etc. were made without smartphones and tablets. We were
bored…or we creatively found something to do. Maybe we took a book to read.
Maybe we interacted with people. We probably learned proper etiquette and
people skills. BETTER.
12. We attended drive-in movies. People hid in the
trunk so they wouldn’t have to pay. With our parents, we came in pajamas with
pillows and blankets, and we brought our own refreshments and strained to see
the screen in the fading daylight. As teenagers, we strolled around the “theater”
or sat in open hatchbacks with our friends. BETTER…OR NOT.
13. When we needed someone to hang out with, we went to their houses, knocked on their doors, and asked if they could come out and play. Most of my school friends in my day lived within six miles of my house, yet their phones were long-distance to call, and my parents wouldn’t let me call them, so I had to ride my bike to their houses. WORSE.
14. We were grounded differently. I was grounded to
my house or my room. Or sometimes I was grounded to my yard. I was never
grounded from my cell-phone, computer, video games, or iPod (or whatever music
source). When I couldn’t leave to play with my friends or have friends over, I
was miserable. These days, parents can’t get kids to leave the house. I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS BETTER OR WORSE—JUST DIFFERENT.
And that’s the whole point. Things
were different. Times evolve, rules of society change, culture differs, and standards
of safety adjust. Things are different now, for better or worse, but for some
of you, I’ve stirred your memories of “the good old days.” Do you think they
were better or worse?
