My friend just mailed me this which I agree with and thought mumsnetters may agree too?
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
kids in the 50's, 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 'clackers' on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the front passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - tasted
the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, 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 play all day, as long as we
were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and
no
one minded.
We did not have Playstations 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, 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 and teeth, and there were
no
lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing
again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - we
learned
to get over it.
We walked to friend's homes.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and
although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many eyes
out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
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