What Is The Big Problem

[Janice]

This really gets me. People these days are just making money off kids. I say leave the kids alone. When I was young, we did not wear seat belts or helmets on our bikes. We played out in our front yard at night. We even sat in open backs of pickups. There were no more accidents then as now. We had no one going to school shooting students or teachers. We watched gross horror movies too and it did not affect any of us. I think people are focusing too much on safety for kids these days. We made it ok. Why don't they focus on getting rid of adult book stores or internet stuff which all kids are watching?
Why don't they focus on the real things that are hurting our children.



Just venting.

[GalvestonDuck]

This really gets me. People these days are just making money off kids. I say leave the kids alone. When I was young, we did not wear seat belts or helmets on our bikes. We played out in our front yard at night. We even sat in open backs of pickups. There were no more accidents then as now. We had no one going to school shooting students or teachers. We watched gross horror movies too and it did not affect any of us. I think people are focusing too much on safety for kids these days. We made it ok. Why don't they focus on getting rid of adult book stores or internet stuff which all kids are watching?
Why don't they focus on the real things that are hurting our children.



Just venting.

Ditto that.

[JenBayles]

Seconded!

[azsnowman]

"AMEN!" Let kids be KIDS for Crips sake!!

My GOD, some of the things I did when I was a kid, it's a MILLION wonders that I'm STILL around!!

We have a WEIRD neighbor, she NEVER lets her girls out of her SIGHT, LITERALLY.....they CANNOT play with other neighborhood kids, she walks them to and from the bus stop (which is 100 yds down the street)....these POOR girls are AFRAID of their own SHADOW......the girls BTW are 15 and 10 yrs old.

Dennis

[kevin]

Ah the good old days. Actually students still shot up their schools. Youngsters still got into trouble. Drugs were still used and consumed. Not everything was good in the good old days. The only thing is, while now I have never seen any of the wicked stuff (as you also did not I assume), we cannot avoid it because of the mass media.

Internet stuff and adult materials of a sexual nature do not cause children to grab submachine guns and pump bullets into their peers. Neither do gross horror movies. This kind of youthful violence has been with us since Rome, when gangs of them would go around stealing, killing, and raping. When society allows violence to be tolerated it is there. We are a more violent age not because of sexual vice or lack of Jesus but because violence is glorified in the media and dealt with ineffectually in the schools.

As for riding your bike without a helmet, or sitting in the back of pickup trucks. Remains stupid. It was stupid then and is stupid now. Just because you survived it doesn't mean others didn't.

Just my thoughts.

[kevin]

"AMEN!" Let kids be KIDS for Crips sake!!

My GOD, some of the things I did when I was a kid, it's a MILLION wonders that I'm STILL around!!

We have a WEIRD neighbor, she NEVER lets her girls out of her SIGHT, LITERALLY.....they CANNOT play with other neighborhood kids, she walks them to and from the bus stop (which is 100 yds down the street)....these POOR girls are AFRAID of their own SHADOW......the girls BTW are 15 and 10 yrs old.

Dennis

I have to agree that is wrong. Yet to say people didn't die in the good old days is wrong. They did. From riding their bikes without helmets, from riding in the back of pickup trucks, and in their schools.

[azsnowman]

I rode in the back of MANY a pickup, sitting on the tailgate, in FACT, I STILL do......especially on SAR OPS!! Never hurt me none

Dennis

[wxcrazytwo]

Folks, we live in a world today that is much different then when we were kids. I fear when my kids grow up and have to deal with this crap. I think we have stretched thin the liberties provided to us by your forefathers. I say your forefathers, because they ain't mine.. Anyways, society today is less compassionate and resisting then yester year.

[chicagopizza]

I agree that it is a much harsher world than it was way back when. Kids are forced to grow up faster, I think. But, some things never change. I got bullied in school - oooohhh -I couldn't stand the girl- don't get me started (deep breath..count to ten.....but I would never have hurt her or anyone else. I wish there was a mandatory class on "being nice", but I think it comes down to who you hang with and what their priorities are.

As for the bike helmet thing, in my case, a helmet would have done me no good -I did some crazy stunt and broke my leg when I was a kid. I guess whatever makes the parent feel safe is their peroggative, but if you protect kids too much, they either rebel or, like another poster said, are afraid of everything.

[gtalum]

The OP is part right, but part wrong. Some measures make good sense. Seatbelts, for instance, are absolutely essential and it's absolutely moronic not to wear one. They save lives every single day.

Bike helmets are good for kids too. Every year hundreds of kids are killed by head injuries from fallin goff of their bikes. It's a small price to pay to wear a helmet to prevent that.

However, kids are babied too much. Even when I was a kid (born 1976), it was happening. Most of my contemporaries are lazy and whiny, and expect everything to be handed to them on a platter. The younger kids are far worse yet.

You have to look out for your kids and teach them how to be safe, but you also have to let them make mistakes and face the consequences, or else they never truly grow up. There's an interesting article about this in this month's Reader's Digest.

[GalvestonDuck]

Ah the good old days.
<snipped>
Internet stuff and adult materials of a sexual nature do not cause children to grab submachine guns and pump bullets into their peers.

Well, internet stuff hasn't been around long enough for us to know what it's doing to kids. But now that the crap is so rampant online, I'm sure it will be a matter of just a few years before we find out what its effects are. You do realize that there's some horribly hardcore, extreme stuff out there, don't you?

[vbhoutex]

Ah the good old days.
<snipped>
Internet stuff and adult materials of a sexual nature do not cause children to grab submachine guns and pump bullets into their peers.

Well, internet stuff hasn't been around long enough for us to know what it's doing to kids. But now that the crap is so rampant online, I'm sure it will be a matter of just a few years before we find out what its effects are. You do realize that there's some horribly hardcore, extreme stuff out there, don't you?

Hate to let you guys know it, but I saw some of the same horrible hardcore , extreme stuff, when I was in 7th grade(1962?)when friends brought it to school. NO, it is not right and it shouldn't be available on the net like it is, but it is not new.

Excellent post Kevin!! I agree with most of it.

And as someone stated, somehow I have survived all of the STUPID, MORONIC, DANGEROUS, IDIOTIC, CRAZY things I did when I was younger. That doesn't make it smart to do them though. And I know there is at least one in this thread that will tell you that wearing a seat belt would have killed them. I have been saved by them at least 3 times, including my wreck last year when my car was totalled. I would have been severely injured and/or thrown out of the car through a closed window if I had not had it on. So it just shows you that some of this stuff goes both ways. Best thing to do then and now is BE SMARTand THINK about everything you do or allow your children to do.

[GalvestonDuck]

More times than not, the seat belt will save you. Even if you have to release it to get out of car that's about to go under water, chances are the belt saved you from hitting the windshield and losing consciousness first, so you're able to act fast and get out. Doesn't do much good to try to get out of the sinking car if you've been knocked out.

[GalvestonDuck]

Hate to let you guys know it, but I saw some of the same horrible hardcore , extreme stuff, when I was in 7th grade(1962?)when friends brought it to school. NO, it is not right and it shouldn't be available on the net like it is, but it is not new.

Depends upon how you define extreme. Can't go into it here though. Too gross.

[gtalum]

Depends upon how you define extreme. Can't go into it here though. Too gross.

I saw som epretty hardcore stuff when I was a kid. Every bit as hardcore as the stuff I've seen on the web.

[Janice]

I know it is important for seat belts and helmets. It just wasn't an issue back then. What I am saying is we are spending too much time on these things. We have made laws and now seat belts and helmets are manditory.

What I am saying, what about the issues that are not addressed. If magazines and stuff on the internet are available to children, why?

These posts indicate that people are still making seat belts and helmets the top issue. Right, they should be, but why aren't we talking about other issues that our kids need addressed.

Why can't they work as hard getting stuff off the net and make it illegal to sell stuff magazines which are available to children. They sure make sure cigarettes are not available to children.

I feel sorry for parents these days. They have to watch their kids every minute while using the net. The perverts have more rights on the internet than our children.

[gtalum]

What I am saying, what about the issues that are not addressed. If magazines and stuff on the internet are available to children, why?

Why can't they work as hard getting stuff off the net and make it illegal to sell stuff magazines which are available to children. They sure make sure cigarettes are not available to children.

It's impossible to regulate the net in any meaningful way. Ask China.

As for magazines, it's already illegal for children to buy them. Not much else you can do.

Anyway, kids have been looking at adult material ever since adult material has existed. If the kid has had proper sex education from their parents, it's not a big deal.

[GalvestonDuck]

At one time, wasn't it proposed that all stuff sites have .xxx instead of .com? And that way, parents could put blocks on their browsers so kids couldn't have access to it.

Then again, part of the problem is adults who show kids adult websites. That's where it's really hard to regulate it.

[vbhoutex]

Hate to let you guys know it, but I saw some of the same horrible hardcore , extreme stuff, when I was in 7th grade(1962?)when friends brought it to school. NO, it is not right and it shouldn't be available on the net like it is, but it is not new.

Depends upon how you define extreme. Can't go into it here though. Too gross.

Exactly and what I saw was as gross as anything I have seen on the internet. And no I do not frequent those sites!!!!

[azsnowman]

More times than not, the seat belt will save you. Even if you have to release it to get out of car that's about to go under water, chances are the belt saved you from hitting the windshield and losing consciousness first, so you're able to act fast and get out. Doesn't do much good to try to get out of the sinking car if you've been knocked out.

WELL Duckie, in my case, if it weren't for the fact that I WAS NOT wearing a seat belt, I would not be posting this!! I was in a horrific car accident back in 1980, the pickup rolled 4 times, 2 times end over end, HAD I been wearing my seat belt, I would have been CRUSHED to death. The drivers side roof came down, pushed the dashboard, steering wheel to the floorboard, crushed the bucket seat........I rolled with it and came out with a torn left hand, minor brain damage but ALIVE.

NOWADAYS, you BET I wear my belt, #1, I HAVE to being da' FUZZ and ALL.......I've seen TOO MANY deaths this past month (4) as a result of NOT wearing a belt.

Dennis