When I was a kid....

AZTrailRunner

When I was a kid our playgrounds didn't have shade canopies over them, everything on them was made out of steel, and we played on them regardless of how hot the AZ sun made them!!!

How do your kids have it easier?

SinIsIn

Video games.. we played football and had adventures outside....

now I pay 49.99 for my kids to play football and have adventures on the ps3 =/

AreneeG31

My daughter who is in high school has a late start day every Wednesday to so called give them time to re-coop! WTH!! We didnt have a break during the week and we survived!!

wbgolden

If your school or organization was fund-raising, you got your *kitten* outside and started knocking on doors.

SmartFunGorgeous

When I was a kid, we had to share our phone line with the neighbor down the road (party line!) and it was long distance to call my friends, so I rarely got to talk on the phone.

Need I explain how much easier communication is for today's kids?!

flsunshine

the elementary school i went to had stacked tractor tires to play on- dont see that anymore

mommared53

We didn't have video games. We played outside and made up our own adventures.

TinaDay1114

My oldest son thinks he has it tough because I make him clean up his toys , make his bed, and clear his dishes after meals every day. I helped my mom clean the house, wash dishes, and do all the outside yard work when I was a kid.

AND wbgolden -- SO TRUE!! I remember doing that. Good training ground for learning how to talk to people you've never met before!!

rockabillymama

A teacher friend of mine told me that his highschool has banned correcting papers in red ink because it's emotionally damaging.

Pocket_Pixi

Don't have kids but I do have a brother who is quite a bit younger than me.

When I was a kid I didn't have a cell phone - I didn't get my first cell phone until I was almost 20! I also didn't get to take a laptop to school to do my notes, I had to do them the old fashioned way - pen and paper.

GorillaNJ

I think it everytime I take my kids to the playground... under their monkey bars and all those things it is about 6 inches of crushed rubber.. when I was growing up it was blacktop with crushed up glass! Guess who falls off the monkey bars more often....

Same with sports now... my boys play football on turf.. very similar to the turn in Giants Stadium... my football field hardly had GRASS on it between the 30 yard lines!

mommared53

When I was a kid, we had to share our phone line with the neighbor down the road (party line!) and it was long distance to call my friends, so I rarely got to talk on the phone.

Need I explain how much easier communication is for today's kids?!

I was trying to explain party lines to my son (he's 26) the other day. He couldn't believe it. :laugh:

Pocket_Pixi

the elementary school i went to had stacked tractor tires to play on- dont see that anymore

Mine had tractor tires for swings and buried vertically in the ground so we could climb on them and through them. No fancy equipment was necessary.

wbgolden

A teacher friend of mine told me that his highschool has banned correcting papers in red ink because it's emotionally damaging.

Good one. Kids don't fail now. Their success is merely deferred.

pinstripepirate

I wouldn't say for sure that all kids today have it "easier" than in previous years, I just think they have different problems and hardships to work through. Just throwing that out there.

voluptuous_veggie

When I was a kid, we were allowed to watch G-rated movies with "risque"-dressed characters...Little Mermaid, Alladdin, etc. without the fear of an internet moderator banning our enjoyment.

auntdeedee87

My friend has a little sister whose school is doing away with failing grades. Seriously?

LaDiablesse

When I was a kid there weren't any Chuck E Cheese or kids themed places. No ball pits (nasty things), & our school bus wasn't air conditioned.

mommared53

When I was growing up, we didn't have indoor plumbing. We used an outhouse. Now my son, who lives with me, has his own bathroom. We also had the wringer type washing machine and two rinse tubs to do laundry and we hung the clothes outside on the clothes line to dry, even in the winter. brrrrrrrr!!!

Fitnin6280

I got called because my son was "playing rough" with other boys. Aren't boys supposed to play rough? They are BOYS!!! Give me a break! No one was hurt, no one was crying, no one was bleeding, I am sorry but I am not going to turn my son into a little wimp just because a teacher thinks he was playing a little rough.

1goodymom67

My sister and I walked across town to the babysitter after school. The last time my kids walk to school I can't even remember!! They take the bus. Oh, wait my youngest walks. Walks up the stairs and there is his school room!! LOL

And we had mandatory PE like everyday!! Now it is a year in high school!! How did I survive?:sad: LOL

JoceyyySmall

Don't have kids but I do have a brother who is quite a bit younger than me.

When I was a kid I didn't have a cell phone - I didn't get my first cell phone until I was almost 20! I also didn't get to take a laptop to school to do my notes, I had to do them the old fashioned way - pen and paper.

I have to take notes with pen and paper. If I take my laptop to school I DO NOT do work I'm 23 my little sister who just turned 17 and in HS does all her work on computers. They hall have their own little thumb drive they have to take with them to school and use to save work etc. It was ISSUED to them by the school! we were lucky in HS if we got to use computers even growing up it was super exciting to play educational games on the comp on friday afternoons.

iAMaPhoenix

When you left in the morning to go outside and play, and you would leave if you wanted to or not, you were not allowed back inside until just before the street lights came on.

Your drinking water came at the end of a water hose, if you were lucky.

A stick and a ball was as valuable as a PS3, Xbox360, and Wii combined.

The most popular kid was the one with the football.

We used our imagination to guess what color Spiderman's suit was on the 25inch Zenith floor model

About that floor model...we doubled as remote control for our parents...lol

NiciS72

All of the above as well as spankings. Nowadays kids will call the police on their parents if they touch them. I grew up in an Irish Catholic household and we got SPANKED HARD so it was tough to sit for a few days. Needless to say we didn't misbehave or talk back much.

OH and my favorite is all the kids wearing helmets and knee/elbow pads. We didn't have that when I grew up. You learned not to fall and break your body!

czechsmate

when I was a kid we were given "Jarts" (lawn darts) to go outside and play with...lol I remember having contests to see who could stay put with the other aiming for your barefeet from across the yard. Never had an injury luckily!

PhilipByrne

We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t' mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.

Or maybe that was a Yorkshire man?

auntdeedee87

Last month I had to explain the concept of a rotary dial phone to the teenager working behind the counter at the only open gas station in town-- It was after Irene and noone had power back yet. They had brought out this behemoth of a phone since theirs were ruined from storm damage and the poor kid was clueless.

That was my first real 'showing my age, here' moment.

iAMaPhoenix

When I was a kid, we had to share our phone line with the neighbor down the road (party line!) and it was long distance to call my friends, so I rarely got to talk on the phone.

Need I explain how much easier communication is for today's kids?!

I was trying to explain party lines to my son (he's 26) the other day. He couldn't believe it. :laugh:

Dang, I thought we were the only one. We would always eavesdrop on Ms. Arie's phone conversation and get the latest gossip...lol.

Pocket_Pixi

Don't have kids but I do have a brother who is quite a bit younger than me.

When I was a kid I didn't have a cell phone - I didn't get my first cell phone until I was almost 20! I also didn't get to take a laptop to school to do my notes, I had to do them the old fashioned way - pen and paper.

I have to take notes with pen and paper. If I take my laptop to school I DO NOT do work I'm 23 my little sister who just turned 17 and in HS does all her work on computers. They hall have their own little thumb drive they have to take with them to school and use to save work etc. It was ISSUED to them by the school! we were lucky in HS if we got to use computers even growing up it was super exciting to play educational games on the comp on friday afternoons.

EXACTLY!!! I got an hour class a week in the computer room and that was so that we could actually do research for papers. My brother is 17 and never has to hand in paperwork - emails his teachers the work and hands in a thumb drive. He thought I was crazy when I said "yeah but what about the rough draft, don't you need one of those?"

Shanna_Inc86

When I was a kid, we were allowed to watch G-rated movies with "risque"-dressed characters...Little Mermaid, Alladdin, etc. without the fear of an internet moderator banning our enjoyment.

:laugh: :laugh: LOVE IT and SO TRUE!

Pretty much America is being trained to raise a bunch of wimps...plain & simple. It won't be long before China is the super power b/c we've grown lazy and too politically correct.
My daughter does have a tv in her room, but she has to clean her room and help me clean around the house or she doesn't get to watch movies on it (I don't have cable)

Shanna_Inc86

And maybe its harsh, but I'm not teaching her that everyone is a winner when it comes to sports either. If you're not first, you're last.
Video games are not allowed in my house unless they are educational or like a WII that you're up moving around.
I've even been brain washing her about McDonalds and fast food that it is all poison and bad for you. Last night her evening snack was carrots and celery sticks and SHE wanted that.
Once she's in school, yes I will expect A's. Am I going to be willing to help her, yes.