Things that were normal but wouldn't fly these days

[ChopSuey2]

Not really an AIBU but we totally derailed another thread. Following on from the thread about TV programmes that may or may not have been appropriate for young children, I'm wondering what things were totally normal in your childhood but would not be considered acceptable today.

Some of the ones I have been reminded of from the other thread include

• travelling without a seatbelt, in the footwell, in the boot, in the back of a van on a cardboard box
• graphic public safety videos at primary school
• watching graphic true crime under the age of 10
• smoking in cars and homes with kids, smoking in pubs and taking kids to pubs late at night
• playing out under the age of 10 with parents not knowing where their kids are precisely

Going camping in Dads estate and us 3 kids being piled in the back with all the luggage. No seatbelts and seats were folded down.

5?! Jesus!

It's crap parenting. Historically, parenting really has been shite.

Travelling on a mattress in the back of my uncle’s workvan and almost going flying going round corners - it’s wild to think about now!!

Crap parenting.

Oh and babies in bassinets being placed on the backseat of the car

I think some things are better now and some things were better then.

In primary school, the headmaster (who was very well regarded) used to let pupils sit on his knee whilst he played the piano. When we went on school trips, he used to insist on tucking us in.
Years later, long since retired, he was up in court because he was in a department store and a little girl (who somehow had become separated from her parents) needed a wee and he took her to the toilets 😳I am unsure of the details, but there was some sort of allegation as he was arrested. I don’t think he did a custodial sentence because of his age.
My mum (and other local people) were absolutely outraged when this happened, and swore it must’ve been some kind of misunderstanding. I’m not convinced, however….

So the rise in mental health problems amongst teenagers is I think related to modern parenting.

@JustDanceAddict
OMG i was taught eenie meenie miny mo catch a nipper by its toe.
I am 58 and ive only just realised that wasnt the word.😮

Re your last paragraph - I feel that’s happening today with the female pop stars. All feeling they have to be practically naked (female empowerment you know) while the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi look like they’ve just come in from the pub, complete with beer stains.

Re: women there only eye candy.

Boxing. Present day. Watch the promo weigh ins. There's always young women just stood in the background grinning inanely purely as ornament.

While all around them there are men in suits - all earning ££££££ and of course the male boxers, also earning £££££££££.

The ''ring girls'' as well. Climbing into the ring and flouncing round just in case we can't count the rounds Bit less flesh on show these days, but really? Still?

Yes I was taught this with the original words! It was said so often. As I said it so much, I am scared that if I get Alzheimer’s I will repeat it.

Agreed. There used to be far more female pop stars who were fully clothed and looked fairly normal pretty.

Our childhood GP used to ask me to collect his cigarettes in return for a sick note. He also asked me if I would drop the prescriptions over to the chemist for him as I was passing 🤣

Dp's friend (from university had a 13 year old girlfriend who used to come at stay they got engaged on her 16th birthday, the day they graduated, and are still married 35 years later! But 13 ick!

The head teacher at my primary school came running out of the school when we were getting into my aunts car. He didn't know who she was and was worried we were going off with a stranger. This was early 80s, maybe even very late 70s!

@BellePeppa

Re your last paragraph - I feel that’s happening today with the female pop stars. All feeling they have to be practically naked (female empowerment you know)

That's been going on for a few decades unfortunately. I have always followed Olivia Newton John since her early days in the 70s. In interviews etc she's said many times that she refused to go along with that kind of sexualisation and told her record companies, producers etc that she'd not do it. In one of her earliest movies as a teenager, the producer wanted to do a scene where her clothes vanished and she was left in underwear - she simply refused to do it, and they changed the scene! She also said a "men's" magazine had offered her a million dollars to pose naked but she'd refused saying it was "vulgar". She was very conservative with her outfits, dress sense etc., and managed to be successful without baring all, even managing a sexy/sultry look whilst fully dressed! It's been suggested her reluctance to bare all led to her declining career when the likes of Madonna appeared as her competition who'd think nothing of an over-sexualised act (to make up for lack of singing ability).

I think it's related to a rise in mental health awareness. There was tons of poor mental health in teens in the 90s and early 00s, frequently due to shit parenting.

There is far more anxiety around now due in part to poor parenting norms.

My mil thought (probably still does) think it was ok to drown kittens so long as their eyes hadn't opened yet!

She also used to leave her toddler daughter alone in her cot while she walked to collect my DH from school for lunch then walk him home. It was ok though because her neighbour would listen out for her - how she could possibly hear her through the stone walls I don't know. And the threat of a fire just never entered my mil head!

I love it when Bananarama (pre-SAW makeover) pop up on TOTP reruns: all bad roots, baggy dungarees, DMs, spots and last night's eyeliner. The last girl group I really, really wanted to be in.

When I was at College the local pub didn't serve ladies with pints but they would serve you two halves at the same time! A lot of pubs that did serve pints wouldn't give a lady her pint in a handled glass, it had to be a straight sided glass, the sort that can get very wet and slippy.

Mothers always wanted their babies to be boys!

We used to have stemmed glasses for women at the pub I worked at in Croydon. We were supposed to suggest a half pint as well. But they weren't popular so we had stemmed goblets like the proper Stella pint glass