>According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
>kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived,
>because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint
>which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine
>bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
>
>
>When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and
>fluorescent 'spokey dokey's'on our wheels. As children, we would
>ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger seat
>was a treat.
>
>We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it
>tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank
>fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were
>always outside playing.
>We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and
>no-one actually died from this.
>
>We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went
>top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After
>running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the
>problem.
>
>We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we
>were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one
>minded.
>We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No
>99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
>phones, no personal computers, and no Internet chat rooms. We had friends
>we went
>outside and found them.
>We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball
>really hurt.
>
>We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law
>suits. We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from
>other parents.
>
>We played knock-and-run and were actually afraid of the owners
>catching us.
>
>We walked to friend's homes.
>
>We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or
>daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
>
>We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
>
>We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
>
>The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law unheard of.
>They actually sided with the law.
>
>This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem
>solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of
>innovation and new ideas.
>
>We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
>how to deal with it all.
>
>And you're one of them. Congratulations!
>
>Share this with others who have had the luck to grow as real kids,
>before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.
>For those of you who aren't old enough thought you might like to read
>about us.
Old?
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