If you like me, are one of those born in the 1960s, CONGRATULATIONS if you made it with
all your limbs and fingers! We were lucky to grow up as free-range kids before the lawyers
and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and had
the occasional drink
while they were pregnant. There was no such thing as dangerous second hand
smoke as both our parents would light up in the car with the windows rolled up.
As young children, we remember the sounds of the air raid
sirens that would be tested to keep us aware that our little world could end
any moment. Maybe this is motivated us to live life fully, like there was no
tomorrow?
In the summer at a campground by the water (all 8 of us). We
would spend all day on the beach under the sun – without sun screen, making
sand castles that would marvel the imagination. At the end of summer, our skin
would be a dark golden brown, none of us got skin cancer (yet!)
We all ate whatever we were given and supplemented it with
blackballs, 2 cent grab bags, chips, kool aid, coke, Popsicles – lots of sugar
and we never got fat.
The four second rule did not apply, if we found something
good to eat like candy on the road, we would often eat it with a smile as long
as it still looked good. No one ever got sick.
We were put to bed on our tummies in baby cribs brightly
painted with lead-based paints.
There were no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on
doors or cabinets, and we used to sample every medicine in the open cabinet,
imagining we would invent something wondrous and helpful to the world. Put it
in a bottle and bury it in the backyard, hoping something magical would emerge.
And yes, when we rode our mustang bikes with high handle bars and banana seats,
if we wore anything on our heads it was baseball caps, not helmets. When we
made our obstacle courses and made our jumps, we just made sure we didn’t fall
off our bikes!
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster
seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding
in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We not only drank water from the garden hose, we drank water from the creek in
the back yard when we were thirsty. There was no such thing as pollution, at
least none we could see. When we did see litter and garbage, as kids we’d pick
it up because it seemed like the right thing to do.
We peed almost anywhere and anytime behind a convenient tree
or bush to give us privacy.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We couldn’t afford
homogenized milk so we had skimmed milk made from powder. We drank Kool-Aid
made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY? Because
we were always outside playing...that's why!
On weekends, we would leave home in the early morning and
play all day No one was able to reach us all day and that was normal.
We’d stay out late playing hid and seek, all the
neighborhood kids would join in, the games were epic and no one complained as
long as we were back home when the streetlights came on.
We’d play secret spy, going through the neighborhood without
being seen, slinking through back yards that rarely had fences or security
systems
We’d play ring and run or hide, people would come to the
door, knew we were out in the bushes hiding somewhere, and they would almost
never get worried or angry!
Being free-range was normal, safe and OKAY.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and
then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After
running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..
We would spend hours building forts in the back woods, in
the deep snow, in trees, underground, and no one ever seriously hurt – we
learned a lot about engineering and how to steal scrap wood at midnight without
getting caught. We spent maybe weekend and summer nights sleeping in the fort
with our friends.
We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video
games, no 150 channels on cable, no VHS or DVD movies, no surround-sound or CDs,
no cell phones, no personal computers, certainly no Internet and no chat rooms.
We didn’t need this stuff because we were having a ball outside!
We had jobs like paper routes, doing odd jobs, caddying and
stealing golf balls – only to sell them back to the poor unsuspecting adults.
We had friends, lots of friends, and we went outside and
found them! In the playground, and wherever there was something to do or see.
Some of us fell out of trees, got the wind knocked out of us
which was scary, got cut, broke bones and teeth, but there were no lawsuits or
recrimination from those accidents, only lessons learned the hard way not to be
repeated. Why? Because they were accidents and no was to blame and that’s how
we learned about limits and gravity.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, belts, switches,
ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand on our bare bum and no one would call
child services to report abuse. We would canned in our bedrooms, sometimes for
days. We’d find a way to get out the window and shimmy down the tree for
freedom.
Some of us ate worms, insects and mud pies and the worms did not live in us
forever.
We would have the occasional rock fight, snowball fights and play fights with
imaginary swords and guns, but no one ever got really hurt. We took turns being
the cowboy and the Indian – both were equally worthy.
We were allowed to have and even given pellet guns and BB guns for our 10th
birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and although we were told
it could happen - we never once put out anyone’s eyes.
We were fascinated by fire and would often burn the back
fields just to see the green grass that would eventually grow in and attract
wildlife. Sitting in trees lighting wooden matches and letting them fall one by
one until a small fire would start. Sometimes we couldn’t climb down from the
tree fast enough to put the fire out before it would get out of control and we’d
return home to call the fire department with our sneakers melted or smoking
from trying in vain to put the fire out ourselves. Only once did we call the
fire department out of genuine concern that it might spread to homes, we cared
about the consequences of our actions and learned cause and effect in real
ways.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on
the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and joined them and their families
around the TV or for dinner. Our parents never had to drive us anywhere!
We walked to school or rode our bikes and though it was far
away, we enjoyed the walk through the open fields that would change with the
seasons.
Halloween was the biggest kid event of the year, we’d plan and
make our costumes months before and trick or treating was executed with
military precision.
We would climb the highest trees and hitch hike to places our parents never
knew or wanted to know and we talked to strangers and trusted people as they
trusted us.
We would build awesome snow forts wherever we felt like it
and we would slide down a snow covered hill with a piece of cardboard or
whatever made us go fastest, we never worried about stopping as common sense
told us what was reasonable and safe enough.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was
unheard of. They actually sided with the law! We tested the law by stealing
packs of gum but justice would usually prevail and we would apologize and bring
back the loot.
We would hitch rides on the bumper of the school bus and ski the length of an
icy road for fun and competition – no one ever went under the wheels. Why?
Because we weren’t stupid, a little reckless maybe but we learned the limits of
gravity and what was fun and what was stupid and dangerous. We learned the
boundaries without anyone telling us with attached threats.
Our generation produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers, and inventors ever. The past 50 years have seen an explosion of
innovation and new ideas largely thankful to this freedom that kids had growing
up in the 1960s.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.
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