What kids don't do anymore

Ted DuPuis said:
I'm not sure I see a problem with kids not doing a lot of this stuff. A good sum of it was frequently trespassing. If I caught any of the neighbor kids trespassing on my property I'd haul them off by their ears to their parents for a lecture on what a property line is (this lecture is coming from me for both kids and parents). Maybe people used to be friendlier, but my neighbors aren't for sure.

Now that's one thing that kids don't do anymore that they should - get hauled off by their ears and smacked when they misbehave!
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Your the land owner that was most fun to play with.

In the morning you'd find all your barn doors locked from the inside, the wires on your tractor crossed, the horns of your cows painted light blue.

Oh for the good old days when kids could be kids, when all the farm dogs knew all the kids in the area, when farmers put their hay up loose, (no bails) and every kid in the area had a riding horse.

When I was 12-14 I would shoe horses to make a few bucks to buy gas for my J-3, and once painted my girl friends horse hooves red to match the riders. I caught hell for that. she did some to me I had never had done before. (got my A$$ kicked by a girl.)
 
mantakos said:
Hide a porno mag under the mattress. Look at the ladies' underwear section of the Sears catalog, or at the "natives" in National Geographic. Kids these days just don't appreciate how much work went into seeing naked stuff back then.
-harry
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:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Amen!!!
 
fgcason said:
Drinking from waterhoses and washing out bad scrapes with pond water then keep playing.
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How 'bout spending all afternoon playing (in the middle of the street) in the spray of an open fire hydrant.

Or in the case of my neighborhood - I lived about four blocks from a small two engine fire house. One of the trucks, Ladder 14, was a pretty good sized aerial, and every so often during the summer they would bring it out to wash it/water the grass at the first station. I swear every kid in a mile radius somehow knew when this was going on. Some kids would be climbing all over the truck, helping wash it. Others would be playing in the grass as it was getting watered by the ladder top nozzle that they would open to a fine spray with the ladder at full vertical extension over the lawn.

mantakos said:
Hide a porno mag under the mattress. Look at the ladies' underwear section of the Sears catalog, or at the "natives" in National Geographic. Kids these days just don't appreciate how much work went into seeing naked stuff back then.
-harry
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:rofl: It's funny 'cause it's true!
 
Tom-D said:
Your the land owner that was most fun to play with.

In the morning you'd find all your barn doors locked from the inside, the wires on your tractor crossed, the horns of your cows painted light blue.

Oh for the good old days when kids could be kids, when all the farm dogs knew all the kids in the area, when farmers put their hay up loose, (no bails) and every kid in the area had a riding horse.

When I was 12-14 I would shoe horses to make a few bucks to buy gas for my J-3, and once painted my girl friends horse hooves red to match the riders. I caught hell for that. she did some to me I had never had done before. (got my A$$ kicked by a girl.)
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This from the guy who says that a kid's job is to study and get good grades...
 
Chosing sides for pick up games. No adult supervision, just us kids working it out. Baseball,Basketball, Football, whatever, we made the side, we made the rules, we negotiated the calls and managedthe teams assessing skills, drive, and other tools we use today in life and work.

Being gone from 9:00 AM to dinner time with no parental worries or supervision.

NO VIDEO GAMES, no texting, no play dates or adults telling us wha to do and micromanaging us in the name of ALLMIGHTY 100% SAFETY.
 
wabower said:
I can't remember the last time I heard about some kid peeing on an electric fence. Or making cootie-catchers in study hall.
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We used to have competitions to see who could hold the electric fence the longest.

We were convinced that it would make us immune to the electric chair.
 
Our favorite comic books contained eight pages, were much smaller than the normal Batman version.

mantakos said:
Hide a porno mag under the mattress. Look at the ladies' underwear section of the Sears catalog, or at the "natives" in National Geographic. Kids these days just don't appreciate how much work went into seeing naked stuff back then.
-harry
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Obi Heed Kenobi said:
We used to have competitions to see who could hold the electric fence the longest.

We were convinced that it would make us immune to the electric chair.
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And that, kids, is how one grows up and decides to become a lawyer. :D
 
Matthew said:
dodgeball?
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With basketballs. Or medicine balls. Or those little hard rubber balls that were about the size of a softball. None of these wimpy, over sized, low velocity rubber balls.

Obi Heed Kenobi said:
We used to have competitions to see who could hold the electric fence the longest.

We were convinced that it would make us immune to the electric chair.
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:rofl: That's great!
 
I don't think kids these days have abandoned stupid pranks. They've even come up with stupider ones. They play the hanging game, after all.
 
Of course, kids don't die from or suffer from polio, small pox, malaria, or a number of other maladies these days.
 
marbles

putting pennies on railroad tracks

Anybody here remember how to spin a top by winding it with string and throwing it just right?
 
Exercise, show restraint, fail at anything, have or show responsibility, learn right from wrong, play with friends outside all day on weekends, respect elders, listen to neighbors.....

The list goes on...

Good job parents!
 
Ooh - how about "wall-ball?"

Takes too much exertion for little fatty to run to a wall before a ball can get there....and god forbid someone hits him with the ball or he gets the "firing squad." It'd be harassment!
 
We used to steal err borrow building materials and build tree forts!! One we had was two stories tall with a stair case. It rocked!
 
SkyHog said:
Ooh - how about "wall-ball?"

Takes too much exertion for little fatty to run to a wall before a ball can get there....and god forbid someone hits him with the ball or he gets the "firing squad." It'd be harassment!
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Holy crap, I loved wall-ball! I forgot all about that. I vote that for Saturday night entertainment at the Fly-B-Q!
 
It does seem that the idea of earning self esteem and pride went out a long, long time ago. Now, everyone gets a medal or trophy so that no one feels left out.
 
Street Hockey

Pickup baseball

Pickup basketball

Pickup tackle, no pads football

Build bike jumps with "borrowed" construction materials

Play chemistry with various sundry household chemicals

Build model rockets

Take everything apart that was held together with screws
 
Talk to the missus about the healing time required for a fracture of the humerus if you decide to engage in a game (with a grandchild) while wearing leather-soled shoes on an aggregate courtyard covered with light moss.

Matthew said:
dodgeball?
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wabower said:
Talk to the missus about the healing time required for a fracture of the humerus if you decide to engage in a game (with a grandchild) while wearing leather-soled shoes on an aggregate courtyard covered with light moss.
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Ouch.

This was supposed to be about what kids don't do anymore. Not about what those of us who are supposed to be old enough to know better do.
 
I thought maybe a reminder of the reasons we no longer do them might be appropriate, lest somebody starts feeling their oats.

Matthew said:
Ouch.

This was supposed to be about what kids don't do anymore. Not about what those of us who are supposed to be old enough to know better do.
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wabower said:
I thought maybe a reminder of the reasons we no longer do them might be appropriate, lest somebody starts feeling their oats.
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Heck - just listening to the sounds my body makes when I try to get out of bed in the moring is enough to remind me of my limitations.
 
Anthony said:
Chosing sides for pick up games. No adult supervision, just us kids working it out. Baseball,Basketball, Football, whatever, we made the side, we made the rules, we negotiated the calls and managedthe teams assessing skills, drive, and other tools we use today in life and work.
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YESYESYES!!! Adults have RUINED sports for kids! We had THE best times playing sandlot ball, touch football, with nothing other than peer-pressure rules! It was democracy in action! Later came Organized Sports which excluded so many and put incredible competitive pressures on those included. Lot more injuries now too.
 
Making a golf ball cannon out of a 4' chunk of car axle. Drop a lit cherry bomb into the axle, followed by a golf ball and watch as it's blown a hundred yards into the air. Also, launching lit cherry bombs with a wrist-rocket slingshot. Hunting sparrows with a BB gun and rabbits with a bow and arrow, both in town. Hanging out near the railroad tracks to wave at the occasional hobo in a passing box car.
 
Canadian beer cans used to be a perfect fit for tennis balls. We cut the ends off, taped about 4 together end to end. The bottom can was only opened on one end. Near the end, on the side of this can, a small opening is made with a screwdriver.
Insert tennis ball. Insert X number of drops of lighter fluid (this was before disposable lighters!) into this opening. Aim. Place match near opening. Fooomp! Put that tennis ball right over the house! We learned from it. Trial and error on tube length, various combustibles, trajectory control, explaining 'Fooomp' sounds to parents with a straight face...all useful in growing up to be a productive adult.
(these modern kids with their pvc 'potato guns'! Sheesh!)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'm not sure I see a problem with kids not doing a lot of this stuff. A good sum of it was frequently trespassing. If I caught any of the neighbor kids trespassing on my property I'd haul them off by their ears to their parents for a lecture on what a property line is (this lecture is coming from me for both kids and parents). Maybe people used to be friendlier, but my neighbors aren't for sure.
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You aren't *that* guy are you?

*That* guy usually brought a lot of trouble on himself.

My routine with the neighborhood kids is to play the Andy Griffin role - be the kid's friend, give them some idea of what is important to me and why, and put the kids in a position to make good decisions. The alternative is often to play Barney Fife and suffer the consequences.

If the neighborhood kids like you and your dog gets out, the kids bring it back. If the neighborhood kids don't like you, they let your dog out.
 
Kill the guy with the ball

For the uninitiated -- you toss a football in the air, grab it, and run like crazy in any direction until tackled and dog-piled.

Whoever wrenches the ball form your hands is the next tosser.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'm not sure I see a problem with kids not doing a lot of this stuff. A good sum of it was frequently trespassing. If I caught any of the neighbor kids trespassing on my property I'd haul them off by their ears to their parents for a lecture on what a property line is (this lecture is coming from me for both kids and parents). Maybe people used to be friendlier, but my neighbors aren't for sure.
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Check the Pennsylvania law on "trespassing"

You'll find it's a mish-mash of contrary rulings, which eventually results in the finding that unless you own a water treatment plant, no one can "trespass" on your property.

Don't ask me how I know this, but electric horse fence is far, far better than Posted signs.
 
After reading all these things maybe it's good that kids don't do them any more. :rofl:

But, as I mentioned, I'm sure they've come up with other things. Really I don't find kids now to be much different than back in the day.
 
I don't think the kids are much different, but the things they are allowed to do is like night and day. But that also might have something to do with how many you have to go back to get to your day. :tongue:
Everskyward said:
After reading all these things maybe it's good that kids don't do them any more. :rofl:

But, as I mentioned, I'm sure they've come up with other things. Really I don't find kids now to be much different than back in the day.
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Hearing those phrases that were preached to us daily;

Your eyes will stay crossed if you do that.

You better be home by the time the street lights come on.

It's all fun and games till someone loses a eye.

Act you age.

Quit pulling that girls hair.

Go find the dog, he got off his chain.

Be home by dinnertime.

and the one that I heard the most................




Wait till your father gets home .:yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes:
 
dmccormack said:
Kill the guy with the ball

For the uninitiated -- you toss a football in the air, grab it, and run like crazy in any direction until tackled and dog-piled.

Whoever wrenches the ball form your hands is the next tosser.
Click to expand...

Smear the Queer?
 
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