My daughter and son were born in 1986 and 1988. We lived in a small northwest Arkansas town with a population of about 12,000 back then. Yet, times had changed such from the 60's of my youth that they were supervised when they were outside. They either played in the fenced back yard or on the concrete driveway in the front. Leaving our property was not allowed.
What a contrast to the simpler days of our childhoods.
It was not uncommon for me to get out of bed in the morning, get dressed, and head out the door, not to return until dinnertime. And mom didn't have a problem with it, as long as I stayed out of trouble. The thought of keeping me home out of fear of being abducted or the like was unthinkable. After all, that sort of thing only took place in big cities, not little towns like Miami, Oklahoma.
The movie Stand By Me portrayed such a day in the life of the Boomer child. A group of kids traveled unsupervised several miles to see the body of a kid who had been hit by a train. While I never saw any dead bodies while growing up, I was free to go anywhere I wanted, as long as I was back before dark. In the summer, this might mean not returning until 8:30 at night.
There was plenty to do to keep a kid occupied. For instance, just a block away was an abandoned house. What a great place for kids to gather! We would use it as an army fort, rob it like a bank, or fight an imaginary fire as it burned to the ground. Writing on its walls was great guilty fun, as well.
Next to it was a big drainage ditch that had a small culvert that ran under the street to the other side. It was just big enough for a kid to walk through. Again, it was perfect for playing army, the game of choice for kids who watched lots of Rat Patrol.
A mile or so from the house was a small wooded area. I spent many summer hours there, getting bitten and stung by loads of little blood sucking parasites and not caring a whit. It was a blast playing in real trees like were available out in the country. Many an adventure involving Daniel Boone, the Cartwrights, and Indians was had there.
Another favorite gathering spot for us kids was the wading pool. The city had a small circular pool about two feet deep that was free and open to the public. I was free to go there any time I wanted. The city even paid a lifeguard to keep an eye on things, running on the sidewalk being the commonest violation to be pointed out with a sharp whistle.
I recall a beautiful blonde teenaged girl who worked lifeguard one summer. I think she might have been the first one I ever fell in love with, at the age of six. Her name was Cassie Gaines, and she was destined for tragic immortality. She became a vocalist with Lynrd Skynrd, and on October 20, 1977, was killed in the infamous plane crash.
The various moms of the neighborhood took it upon themselves to feed whatever kids happened to be at their home at lunchtime. We bounced around enough from home to home that it all evened out for them. Today, might require eight bologna sandwiches, tomorrow everyone would be eating at three houses down the street.
And our parents were never worried. They all knew the neighbors, and everyone trusted everyone else. Occasionally, I would be told to not go to a certain home. Later, I would find that would mean the mother or father was an alcoholic or the like. And I would never question the restriction. I had a lot of freedom, and kept it by behaving myself.
Alas, changing times removed that blissful freedom to go anywhere from my own kids. Nowadays, I imagine parents watch their children like hawks. But think back to your own childhood and you can likely remember a time when it was common to take off and play all day in various locations all over your town.
Comments (4)
I am lucky enough that I live in a neighborhood that I can let my 13 and 11 year old go pretty much where they want to all day. I do require them to check in by phone either hourly or whenever they change locations. I too remember long summer afternoons as a free range kid. Just like livestock I beleive the product is better.
Posted by Amy Chevalier | August 20, 2007 2:45 PM
Posted on August 20, 2007 14:45
I have the same memories as a kid born in '61, growing up in the '60s and '70s. The memories are the same, but the names are different. Our adventures were at "The Mulberry Tree", "The Lane" and "The Field". It's a shame our kids will never know that freedom.
Posted by rhonda | August 20, 2007 7:00 PM
Posted on August 20, 2007 19:00
I feel very strongly about this. I think the drastic decrease in outside play period, per video games, the net, DVD's, etc., coupled with the great
increase in supervision,
not unrelated to the same electronica(cell phone keeping in touch),
has/is creating a socially dysfunctional generation. You can see its effects already. Look at the road rage of young drivers, who don't have the social skills to deal with other drivers and cut folks off out of spite.
How about the lack of civility and manners everywhere? Okay, from the soapbox to my main point......Things were better then because of that greater degree of freedom in childhood.
I rode my bike a mile and a half to the library at age 7 unsupervised(and no silly pith helmet, or whatever they call
it). I got in fights occasionally. but that actually taught me the bounds of ego, or that your reality ends where the stronger fist meets your face. We got in trouble for small things like jumping and squashing MRS. BERG'S
vegetable garden or passing around playboy magazines found in the father's bedroom in the respective place we'd be hanging out in. Actually, that is a forgotten male ritual of a boy's childhood which to me was as important as getting a
drivers license. That
first glimpse and the
passing around of the mags was like a secret
skull-and-bones society
meeting. You somehow felt a little bit older when you walking back outside, a little more knowing. Another great
freedom was blowing off fireworks in the summer
unsupervised. We blew up junkyard appliances,
frogs, and other interesting things. The real bad kids dropped cherry bombs in mailboxes. This was during the Yippie and Hippie period, so hearing corner mailbox
boom sort of went with the territory. So, I think we grew up more normal, and worked out some social mores that we would take with us to adulthood. BTW, don't forget play didn't end at dark if you had streetlights. How many great couple of hours were spent under the streetlights in front of a buddies house with friends?
We had a lit up cornet park that was okay to hang in from dusk till about 10-11, but usually the older kids ran it then, and used it for smoking weed and making out. That was were I saw my first couple making out, and The whole thing baffled me at the time. A few years later it all made wonderful sense! Ahh, those were the days!
Posted by scott | August 21, 2007 2:50 PM
Posted on August 21, 2007 14:50
I felt I had the best of both worlds, where, as a grade school kid, I lived from 1960 to '65. The city limits ran down the middle of the street in front of our house. We had to burn our trash in a barrel since the city wouldn't pick it up. In front was the town & neighborhood, behind us were wheat fields, woods, a swamp, a small creek & the Walnut river. It so great! Our friends close by, but also so much to explore & play. Mom would always yell at us for going swimming in the river. Turns out, just upstream was the city water treatment plant. I guess it wasn't the healthiest water to play in, but it never did us any damage. My best friend & I got stuck pretty deep for while in what we thought was quickmud. Don't know if there really such thing as quickmud, but in our young minds we sure thought so.
Posted by CL1053 KS | September 2, 2007 3:24 AM
Posted on September 2, 2007 03:24