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I think "we" have changed over the years, more than the culture. Born in the '40s? We weathered the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90's, 2000-2010, and then, sometime after that, began to struggle with change, or maybe we just got sick and tired of change. There's nothing wrong with that. We're making our last stand.
I think "we" have changed over the years, more than the culture. Born in the '40s? We weathered the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90's, 2000-2010, and then, sometime after that, began to struggle with change, or maybe we just got sick and tired of change. There's nothing wrong with that. We're making our last stand.
One big cultural difference is how independent children used to be.
There are many reasons for this, but one big one is that families often had only one car, and the husband drove it to his job. Therefore, you walked to school or took a bus. If you had after school activities, you had to find your own way to get there. I had a few activities and also liked going downtown to programs at the art museum. I walked to many of these activities, and also regularly took the train and rode buses. I can recall wanting to buy a particular sweater. I not only worked babysitting jobs to pay for it, I then took two buses to get to a mall about an hour from my house when I finally had the money saved up. It wasn't a big deal, it was just what you had to do if there was no car at home during the day. And taking a bus was just the first step; once you got to the bus stop you had to figure out how to get from that stop to the event. You had to use your brain. You had to be able to read maps and remember detailed instructions, since there were no i-phones or gps to guide us. I think this fostered a real sense of independence.
Since my mom didn't have her own car until I was 10 or 11, all us kids were frequently sent to the store to pick up some needed item, especially if mom discovered she needed something while she was making dinner. This developed another whole set of skills in us at very tender ages (not to mention the ability to get to a grocery store, buy whatever it was, and then get back home quickly).
Sometimes, bad things happened to kids. We were carefully taught how to be aware and cautious, and we did occasionally hear about things. I'm sure that must have been very stressful for our parents, but what else could they do? It simply wasn't practical for them to be helicopter parents, so instead we learned how to develop common sense and a few self defense abilities. It was certainly a different culture than what we have these days, and personally, I think we benefited from being so independent.
Last edited by Piney Creek; 06-19-2019 at 03:27 PM..
One big cultural difference is how independent children used to be.
There are many reasons for this, but one big one is that families often had only one car, and the husband drove it to his job. Therefore, you walked to school or took a bus. If you had after school activities, you had to find your own way to get there. I did a lot, and walked to many of them. I regularly took the train and rode buses downtown as well as to places on the other side of town. Once I got there, I had to figure out how to get to the event from the bus stop. We had to be able to read maps and remember detailed instructions, since there were no i-phones or gps to guide us. I think this fostered a real sense of independence.
Since my mom didn't have her pwn car until I was 10 or 11, all us kids were frequently sent to the store to pick up some needed item, especially things for dinner. This developed another whole set of skills in us at very tender ages.
Sometimes, bad things happened to kids. We were carefully taught how to be aware and cautious, and we did occasionally hear about things. I'm sure that must have been very stressful for our parents, but what else could they do? It simply wasn't practical for them to be helicopter parents, so instead we learned how to develop common sense and a few self defense abilities. It was certainly a different culture than what we have these days, and personally, I think we benefited from being so independent.
Wow, what a great post -- brought back the same kind of memories for me, and I am in total agreement with what you wrote.
(I am so glad I started this thread now. Thank you, everyone!)
"...so there were significant accommodations made for smokers everywhere..."
even in church.
the smokers sat on the two back pews.
yes, they smoked DURING the services.
There have been a few posts about teaching students to learn to live their life. I completely agree. When I was in high school I had to take an economics class. This wasn't memorize the facts.
For a semester, we were required to be married to another student. We were given a set amount of money each month and were required to create and track a budget to that money. We were required to invest a portion of it into the stock market and track our accounts on a daily basis. Midway through the semester, we were married and added a baby to the mix. Same amount of salary, but new budgetary requirements. One of the most important classes I ever took, including college.
THE most useful course that I took that is no longer a standard in high school . . . Typing.
One other item I've not yet seen here, tho some related, and it's a relatively new phenomenon. Destination weddings. I've attended three niece/nephew weddings in the past three years. All were destination weddings nowhere near where any of the participants lived. Including one in Jamaica. Two more on calendar for next year.
One big cultural difference is how independent children used to be.
There are many reasons for this, but one big one is that families often had only one car, and the husband drove it to his job. Therefore, you walked to school or took a bus. ...
Sometimes, bad things happened to kids. We were carefully taught how to be aware and cautious, and we did occasionally hear about things. I'm sure that must have been very stressful for our parents, but what else could they do? It simply wasn't practical for them to be helicopter parents, so instead we learned how to develop common sense and a few self defense abilities. It was certainly a different culture than what we have these days, and personally, I think we benefited from being so independent.
This is a great point and very true.
My parents always had only one car (my dad's.) Granted, we were only a 3-person family but my mom always worked a part-time job starting when I was in grade school and so she had to take buses in order to get there and back. My mom never got a drivers license because my dad told her he'd never allow her to drive his car. There was probably more than a little truth to that, because she was very easily rattled and had little self-confidence in most things, so he was afraid she'd get into a serious accident. When I got my license at age 18 my dad bought me a eight-year-old car from a co-worker for $400, and after that I drove myself wherever I needed/wanted to go. Ah, freedom! LOL
My one-way walking distance from home to elementary school was 1/2 mile, and to my junior high school it was just short of 1 mile. The high school was 1.5 miles away which meant I was eligible to take the school bus (one-mile minimum) during those years. Not a dangerous area but there was traffic along the entire route. At least there were sidewalks along 90% of them though.
Last edited by BBCjunkie; 06-19-2019 at 05:09 PM..
THE most useful course that I took that is no longer a standard in high school . . . Typing.
You're kidding!?!! I wonder how long ago they eliminated it...
I guess they assume that kids today learn how to "keyboard" from having access to a computer during their grade school years, but still.... good gosh, I remember our teacher giving us typing tests (words per minute and accuracy) every single class. The best I ever did was 72wpm, usually averaged between 60 and 65.
I bet if you showed today's teenager a stat like that ( 60 wpm ) they would have no idea what wpm stands for, if they no longer teach typing!
When I was in high school (mid/late 60s) Typing and Office Practice were two separate classes (as was Shorthand.) "Office Practice" covered shorthand briefly but focused more on things like filing, using a dictaphone, taking phone messages properly and general telephone usage, making copies, and the correct formats for composing business letters. I remember one day our class was taken to a local business on a field trip to learn how to operate a switchboard; that was fun.
"keyboard skills" were dropped during our Son's Senior year.
Just curious, about how many years ago was that?
This subject got me wondering about "retained skills" so I just took an online typing-speed test: Did 70 wpm on the first try. Well, whaddya know, looks like I've still got it
At least that's one thing I can now truthfully say that I can still do as well now as I did 50-plus years ago, LOL!
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