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Read this and tell me where we went wrong?

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R1Geezer | 16:30 Thu 03rd Feb 2011 | Society & Culture
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http://www.health24.c...lt.asp?postid=1948237
Ok it's an old one but almost every line resonates with me. I know you're getting old when you have a go at "modern kids" but have we ourselves created their cosseted lives out of some misplaced idea of protection?
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sorry nothing happens when i link to it
So true.

The problem is that now that children are no longer exposed to any of the kinds of situation mentioned, they have absolutely no idea how to assess risk accurately and deal with it.
When I was a lad, you learned to ride a bike partly by falling off it. Without protective pads, you soon learnt it hurt and you took steps to improve. Cycle helmets are a good idea though, before anyone has a go at me.
As a child born in 1948 the link brought back fond memories. In the certain knowledge that someone will have a pop at me, I think the one single thing that made a huge difference was having a non-working mother.
I was born in 1979 and I done all that stuff and more! Riding in tractor tyres down hills, sledging on steel trays and using a bush to stop myself, stream walking all day, climbing to the top of the silver birch trees on windy days, it was great! That's the sad thing, I don't think kids get to do all that any more for all kinds of reasons, although playstations dont help.
http://www.iayork.com...MAMortality20thC.jpeg

Childhood mortality graph for the 20th century just to illustrate what a pile of unmitigated rubbish that all is
If you want to argue the point from say the 80's on you might have a point - even 60's but the protection was well under way by then.

Even the small uplift at the end is nothing compared to the massive increase in children now that survive childhood compared to those born in the 30's and 40's even the 50's
so you're saying that (for example) those who don't get into cricket teams nowadays don't know how to deal with their disappointments?

Is there any actual evidence of this? As far as I can see, those who haven't made the England team have coped without whingeing; nobody's selected them rather than wound their tender egos. And yet they all seem to have been born in the specified period.

As for he overall picture, it's as jake says: the reason we now worry about asbestos used in buildings, and all the rest, isn't because we're wimps, it's because it kills people. Get rid of it and the mortality rate comes down... which seems to be what the graph shows. That's just an example. Lead paints, riding bikes without helmets, lack of seat belts... all the things the writer is bewailing... they all killed people, so we stopped them. Sounds like progress to me.
"happy memories"
Tell this to famillies affected by Thalidomide
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who said anything about mortality jake? You miss the point entirely, yes life was more dangerous, no doubt children wrapped in cotton wool as now do have a better survival rate.
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looks like it's turned into a spot the lefty contest!
sorry! i'm only saying this from a childs point of view, about the happy memories.
no offence meant
The point of this rather brainless post is that somehow children of that generation are better off because they weren't protectected by regulation.

The childhood mortality figures also show that they were also lucky and that many many of todays children would not have made it through to adulthood precisely because of that regulation.
Im sorry but this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read in my life!

"We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Chappies, Wilson’ s Toffees, Wicks Bubble Gum and some crackers to blow up frogs with."
wow fantastic there are some sweets that aren't available anymore???

"Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Steers, Nandos. "
...again its bad there are now numerous ways to clog up your arteriesas opoosed to one?

"First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos."
So you want to see pregnant women smoking........ok?

"As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags."
You have got to be kidding me by now?....you cannot possibly think its a good idea for a child to not wear a seatbelt in a car?

"Only girls had pierced ears!"
Yes all of societies ills can be drectly linked back to the fact that some blokes now have their ears pierced????

That is the weirdest thing I have ever read its almost nonsensical?
and dont you dare say I have missed the point! all of the above are in therefore it MUST be the point!
Why is it when anyone is a victim of someone making a mistake in everyday life there is always someone who wants to cash in ot it by making some kind of compensation claim? The worst culprits are those who try to claim off the NHS over something like a misdiagnosis. Where do they think the money comes from to pay them out? Other patients care and treatment of course!
The only justification for any compensation being paid is if the 'victim' suffers a loss of earnings and any other expenditure, that is all, nothing else.
Yes it's heartbreaking when anyone loses a loved one through negligence but why then do they want to claim thousands in compensation? It won't bring them back. They must think that everyone has a price and just see it as an easy way to make a fast buck.
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you miss the point completely sherminator, no point explaining you're in another world completely.
Geezer top, top article. So true.

Thanks for posting it made my day.
I read the article and posted but I have just read the thread.

Lighten up, it doesn't say that there haven't been medical advances or technological advances or safty advances. What it says the you can survive without the nanny culture.

I don't think it was directly meant as serious debate, but a light hearted look at the differences.

Some of you must lead truly miserable lives
Hmm - also, our parents would not have dreamed of trying to sue the coner shop if we choked on a sherbet fountain. The culture of litigation has a lot to do with what we do and don't let our kids do.
If a copper or a teacher clips a cheeky brat round the ear, they lose their job - now how do we get that particular genie back in its bottle?
Traffic was miniscule compared to today - OK, many drivers were boozed-up and none wore seatbelts - but most roads and streets weren't choked with cars, so it was much safer to let the kids wander and ride round on bikes.
So if people will kindly give up suing and driving, and also allow stranges to whack their kids, we might get back to normality......
My typing gets worse daily - 'corner' ..... 'strangers'...

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