The Fun That Builds Good Health




From an incredibly weird pre-internet, pre-cellphone, pre-cable-TV world! Limbs in actual motion--outdoors! Witness the horror of "free-range children!"
     Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 30, 2015
     Category: Family | Children | Parents | Sports | 1950s





Comments
The dark ages in the US where children were allowed to, actually, play outside without a gaggle of adults hovering.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/30/15 at 11:12 AM
.. and also going unsupervised riding bikes far away, being "somewhere" on the block without reporting in, etc etc ..
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 01/30/15 at 03:41 PM
I grew up on a farm in the dark ages. The only real rules were to be home for meals and your chores must be done. I even made a scabbard to hold my .22 cal rifle so I could carry it on the bike. It was ugly, but waterproof, being made from the hide of a naugha.
Posted by BMN on 01/30/15 at 04:53 PM
I rode bikes with my friends all over and also by myself many places. From like 12 or 13 on and I never had a problem at all and I'm a girl.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/30/15 at 05:31 PM
@patty... But;But: You are Wonder Woman's evil sister! 😉
Posted by BMN on 01/30/15 at 05:38 PM
Didn't BD already tell you all I am eeeevillll?!? :lol:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/30/15 at 07:04 PM
BTW I think you are cross threaded honey.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/30/15 at 07:08 PM
Rules in my house during the "Dark Ages"

One hour of TV after dinner and homework but before 9pm. That usually meant no TV at all.
If it was light outside go play there.
If it was raining or snowing you could still go outside or inside board games or reading.
Being a free-range kid was encouraged.
Be home by dark.

A informal system of caring parents and nosey neighbors ensured accurate tracking of kids and reporting of misdeeds.

Neighborhood gangs were encouraged since the pack mentality ensures safety.

Myself and friends all survived these dangerous times and have the scars to prove it.
Posted by Gator Guy on 01/30/15 at 08:59 PM
and each family had three or four or five kids, so there was a neighborhood full of kids, instead of one little trophy child borne aloft on a velvet pillow. People had families, then.
Posted by lonely glen on 01/30/15 at 09:45 PM
My childhood was pre-computer/pre-Internet/pre-video games/pre-cellphones as well. But I'm sure if I and the other kids of my time actually had access to such things, we'd play with them just like kids today.
Posted by Courtney on 01/30/15 at 10:07 PM
@BMN: Did you really kill an endangered naugha?

@Patty: Are you trying to say that BMN is twisted? Inquiring minds want to know!

@Courtney: Sad to say buy you're most likely right. The only saving grace would have been chores either around the house or farm. Some of us even had 'jobs' around the neighborhood or family business. Paper routes were handled by kids on bikes not some illegal alien driving an uninsured car on a suspended licence. (Too much?) I caddied at the CC, sold ice-cream from a peddle cart, cut grass, washed cars, and helped out at the farm across the highway, etc.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/31/15 at 01:10 AM
@Expat ~ I know you like ducks. Did you mean twisted like this?
http://io9.com/5433056/female-ducks-have-evolved-a-vagina-dentata
Posted by BMN on 01/31/15 at 05:03 PM
After the second "just like Hank" I just wanted to slap Hank. I'm sure Jim would have loved it too. Luckily his dad spent a lot of time playing with him and lifting his mood. I think the real message behind this video is "Dads,spend time with your kids, especially the ones who don't enjoy football and model planes like everyone else".
Posted by Yudith on 01/31/15 at 05:30 PM
@BMN: Damn! Them'ar critters ain't'a messin' 'round! Hay babe, wanna 'duck' around back?
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 02/01/15 at 01:33 AM
I was raised by wolves, so this is all alien to me...
Posted by Jeremy M Brown on 02/04/15 at 03:24 PM
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