First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride 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 did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little league, football and baseball had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

We did what we were told, most of the time, and were soundly corrected when we didn't -- we were held accountable. Imagine that.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, 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!

Great thread though Weeza, it is so sad that that 'freedom' is not there for our kids today. I am a guilty parent in the sense that I will not give my 9 y.o. child hardly any freedom - certainly I wouldn't dream of letting her out in the morning and return in the evevning without knowing what she's doing where and with whom at all times. I will not even let her walk down the road by herself.

Luckily, my child is not an x-box, nintendo type 'addict', but she certainly lacks the freedom I had. I have probably been 'brainwashed' into being so overprotective and therefore 'depriving' her of adventures,using her imagination more, and learning some things through experiences she's missing out on.

I have read that statistically,there is no greater risk to children now than 40 years ago in terms of abductions, abuse, etc. Yet, the media's constant coverage of these things make us feel there is a huge risk.

Traffic though is another story I guess, there is probably more.

she tried it,but couldn't cut it. thankGod...gary

After 33 years of following that advice, he has cirrhosis. He never drank in his free time, only very rarely at social gatherings.