It turns out that quick sand, burglars and house fires are far less of a risk in adult life than I'd anticipated. Phew!

[Limth]

As a child, I felt certain I'd witness at least one untimely death in quick sand. Possibly my own.

I also felt certain I'd be burgled in the middle of the night on multiple occasions by a duo of tiptoeing men, one of whom would be wearing a stripy top.

And I felt sure that, at least once in my life, I'd wake in the night to a room filled with smoke as my house burned down around me. I still won't let my dog sleep downstairs just in case of fire.

These eventualities were so ubiquitous in children's media - I was born mid-80s - that I was sure they were just eventualities. In fact, almost obligations - these things were so ubiquitous to be almost legal mandates - that everyone had to experience a house fire, burglary and a brush with quick sand death at some point.

What things from your childhood turned out to actually be far less of a risk than you'd thought?

I used to worry about floods, the kid that overwhelm a whole floor of your house, and didn't realise that not everywhere can get flooded. I've mostly lived in places that could never have a serious flood

Well @Dontlletmedownbruce funny you should mention the rat thing. Years ago I went on holiday to Greece. An horrendous storm and torrential rain started during the night which somehow resulted in a rat sitting in the toilet bowl of the hotel bathroom. It was nearly 40 years ago and I still look down any toilet before seating myself upon it. I also like toilet lids down when toilets not in use.

Quicksand from various episodes of Lassie, Bonanza etc.
My worst fear was actually being compelled to become a glue sniffer and dying in a pool of vomit. This was after watching an episode of Juliet Bravo on the subject.
And Threads made me fear nuclear war (mainly because it made you vomit)

Just read the thread and OMFG wells!
There was a very unfortunate news story in the late 70s about a child that had fallen down a well and the strategies to rescue him. I can very clearly remember the graphics on Newsround.

My Ds had a recurring nightmare about a flood that could go uphill. terrifying.

And another per PP - toxic shock syndrome, also an issue on Juliet Bravo. I seem to remember a female officer nearly dying in a skip due to not changing a tampon!

There was a (since discredited) theory that the mobile phone signals could set off a fire.

I pointed out to Sainsbury's not very long ago that they had a big sign saying:
"Warning: Danger of fire: Do not use your mobile phone"
Then underneath it:
"If disabled please call <phone number> for assistance."

I asked them if they believed it was dangerous, was it less dangerous if you were disabled or were they trying to get rid of anyone asking for assistance. The assistant fell about laughing and removed the top signs.

I remember baby Jessica. Just googled and that was 1987. She was just 18 months old.
Happy ending thank god.

Sulphur dioxide 'traps' were added to most factory chimneys.
Most coal fired power stations closed down (coal has the most sulphur in it of all the fossil fuels).
Catalytic converters on vehicle exhausts.

Basically, sulphur in fossil fuels burns to make sulphur dioxide. If that dissolves in the clouds, it makes acid rain.

Europe/Russia have much less acid rain now than the '80s, although some areas of China still have a lot.

This. Irrational fear of electricity since, including plug sockets as a result. The message was strong with that video (I'm 35, and can remember watching it aged 10 vividly). Although to date static shock is the closest I've come to being zapped.

Df was a teeny bit obsessed with that to a point when we went away we sometimes used to have a little pantomime of pretending to go and leaving him behind encouraged to do lots of noisy waving, if he thought someone was watching.

I still do this 😂

For me it was getting trapped in a discarded fridge or falling down a well! There was a PSA type ad on TV (60's) showing the dangers of playing in discarded domestic appliances and Skippy was constantly getting some child (usually Timmy) rescued from a well!

Getting electrocuted while retrieving a Frisbee from an electrical substation.

Did you grow up playing the sims by any chance?

Love this thread- it’s unlocked memories I forgot I had!

Quicksand was definitely a worry, as was spontaneous human combustion after reading all about it.

However I also worried about dying inside a silo with all the grain on top of me after watching something farm related in primary school which kept doing flashbacks to the past and a little girl died in one. Pretty sure it was a drama and not a historical show but it really scared me.

and the last one was a worrying about losing my leg after watching the 90s show 999 where a fisherman got caught on something on his boat, got pulled up and severed his leg on his boat!

Oh my goodness, I laughed at this!

These were my two exact fears!

My cat paid no heed to warning signs on substations. There was one surrounded by an ordinary wooden fence, and she would lie on the equipment inside, presumably because it was warm. She lived to the grand old age of sixteen.

I had “The Blue Peter Green Book”, which was full of stuff to frighten children in 1990; acid rain, CFCs in aerosols causing the hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, evil polluting cars, dogs and cats who reproduced in reckless numbers (advocating neutering), beauty and the beast (testing products on animals).

But no mention of “climate change” - it wasn’t a buzzword yet. It was still “the greenhouse effect”, and some of the Greta Thunbergs of the future probably got angry about the selfishness of our tomato growers, with their evil greenhouses.

Someone on one of the neighbouring farms to us did drown in a grain silo.

My parents were really hot on farm safety, to the point I've only actually been in a tractor about 3 times in my life, despite them being all around me every day until I left home.

I was just saying to my parents that I expected quicksand to play a bigger part in my life than it has! I used to be terrified of being sucked into it and if I remember rightly there used to be guidance about what to do if you did fall into it! Where did it all go? 😂

As far as I remember, the guidance for escaping quicksand was: not to struggle, as this makes you go down deeper. Instead, to throw yourself flat, and crawl out.

Enid Blyton's equivalent to quicksand was "marshes", and two of the Famous Five books have scary "marsh" scenes: Five go to Smuggler's Top, where Timmy is nearly sucked in at the end. Also "Five on a Hike Together", where the villains get sucked down as they are chasing the Five.

There was a childhood moment in which a welly and my brother's foot parted company, in very sticky mud. He was quite scared then (aged 5).

I have never been asked to get in a car with a strange man.
I had my script prepared for years for how I was going to decline the offer.

I’ve been ice skating three times and this is all I could think off, in fact it’s the first thing I think of when I’ve skating is mentioned. I doubt I’ll go again 😂

Oh I’d forgotten about most of these! What I have noticed is that my house in no way resembles Blackpool illuminations if I leave an upstairs light on!

I’ve never been attacked by all the friends of a money spider after accidentally killing one- I was always told that!

I’ve never caught a chill from sitting on a cold wall or wearing an outdoor jacket indoors and then going outdoors again (was always told ‘you’ll not feel the benefit of that outside!).

Pretty sure I’ve never frowned and had my face stay like that because the wind changed.

My hair is bone straight despite always eating my crusts.