Have we wrecked kids?

have we wrecked our kids? said every generation for the last 5,000 years and probably longer.

Some of the crazy kids slid down the playground's big steel slide during the winter on their feet so that they could hit the bottom at full speed and slide on the ice that was at the bottom. That slide just happened to have perfect alignment with the monkey bars, and the goal was to be able to slide all the way through the monkey bars. Not too many of us were brave enough to try, but of the few that were, glory was had. That is until one had an ABC Wide World of Sports Agony of Defeat moment and split his head wide open. That pretty much ended that.

The other fine playground athletic events involved the big swing sets. There were 2 main challenges: 1) try to swing level to the top bar, 2) try to jump off the swing to see how far you could go. The swingsets had hardpan under them (the idea of a soft landing hadn't occurred to the adults) and the playground was asphalt. The swingsets were just far enough away from the edge of the asphalt that you couldn't quite make it there with the jump. Nobody was brave enough to jump off just before reaching the 1/2 way point to being level with the top bar, we always wimped out and jumped at about 1/4 of the way to being level with the top bar. Good thing. All we suffered was the occasional road rash when we landed wrong.

We had a Rainbow Play system swingset for our kids with the fort and slide. When my older kid was 6 he climbed out of the fort onto the swing bar and tried to jump off the swing bar using a plastic bag as a parachute. He broke his leg. Another time he got hit in the head with a golf club being swung by my younger kid. My younger kid broke his collarbone in half doing a faceplant on a "table top" during warm up runs in a boarder cross meet (snowboarding meet). Between Hockey, football, and big time wrestling imitations, and snowboarding my kids didn't miss out on any opportunities to hurt themselves. Both now have a very high tolerance for pain.

Code_Warrior wrote:...Between Hockey, football, and big time wrestling imitations, and snowboarding my kids didn't miss out on any opportunities to hurt themselves.  Both now have a very high tolerance for pain.

... and if anybody actually read the studies... perspective.

Code_Warrior wrote:
We had a Rainbow Play system swingset for our kids with the fort and slide.  When my older kid was 6 he climbed out of the fort onto the swing bar and tried to jump off the swing bar using a plastic bag as a parachute.  He broke his leg.  Another time he got hit in the head with a golf club being swung by my younger kid.  My younger kid broke his collarbone in half doing a faceplant on a "table top" during warm up runs in a boarder cross meet (snowboarding meet).  Between Hockey, football, and big time wrestling imitations, and snowboarding my kids didn't miss out on any opportunities to hurt themselves.  Both now have a very high tolerance for pain.

 

Who hasn't tried parachuting with ridiculous shit off of great heights as a kid? I remember thinking a large umbrella was more than adequate of a device to gently deliver me to our cement driveway from a 7 ft high retaining wall. Might even be able to float all the way across the driveway to the other side if I got up enough speed before leaping, right?

Nope.

goodbar wrote:

 

Who hasn't tried parachuting with ridiculous shit off of great heights as a kid? I remember thinking a large umbrella was more than adequate of a device to gently deliver me to our cement driveway from a 7 ft high retaining wall. Might even be able to float all the way across the driveway to the other side if I got up enough speed before leaping, right?

Nope.

I once challenged a grizzly bear over a salmon. Putin and I beat the shit out of that thing. Maybe it was a bass. A delicious bass.

goodbar wrote:
 

Who hasn't tried parachuting with ridiculous shit off of great heights as a kid? I remember thinking a large umbrella was more than adequate of a device to gently deliver me to our cement driveway from a 7 ft high retaining wall. Might even be able to float all the way across the driveway to the other side if I got up enough speed before leaping, right?

Nope.

  My cousins used to jump off the roof of their garage into their 4' above ground swimming pool. They never got hurt. To this day I don't know how they avoided breaking their legs. I don't think my Aunt or Uncle ever knew they were doing that...

Code_Warrior wrote:
  My cousins used to jump off the roof of their garage into their 4' above ground swimming pool.  They never got hurt.  To this day I don't know how they avoided breaking their legs.  I don't think my Aunt or Uncle ever knew they were doing that...

**** yeah! I used to do the same thing at my house.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

Cracked my head open playing football during recess by running head-first into an 8' diameter piece of concrete drainage pipe that served as a piece of playground equipment. No such fun as running through a piece of drainage pipe on today's elementary school playgrounds.

I banged the home ec teacher.

Turtleneck wrote:

I once challenged a grizzly bear over a salmon. Putin and I beat the shit out of that thing. Maybe it was a bass. A delicious bass.

As a child I once cross bred a goldfish with a hammerhead shark in a successful effort to create the shiniest, fiercest domestic fish known to man. I lovingly reared it to the age of two whereupon I slaughtered it...but not before releasing its spirt to heaven in a far eastern tribal ceremony with my parents and younger brother in attendance. The remains of that glorious fish made a delicious main course with tater tots as a side, paired with a nice Ecto-Cooler (1986) Hi-C juice box.

goodbar wrote:

As a child I once cross bred a goldfish with a hammerhead shark in a successful effort to create the shiniest, fiercest domestic fish known to man. I lovingly reared it to the age of two whereupon I slaughtered it...but not before releasing its spirt to heaven in a far eastern tribal ceremony with my parents and younger brother in attendance. The remains of that glorious fish made a delicious main course with tater tots as a side, paired with a nice Ecto-Cooler (1986) Hi-C juice box.

That reminds me of a great boyhood story. During my vision quest, I encountered an old man from the realm of the wild spirits. He warned me of great danger ahead, but I ignored him with youthful arrogance. He pleaded with me before becoming an intentional obstacle to my transition into manhood. First his dance brought a fierce rain, then blazing fires, and finally winds that uprooted trees. I survived it all and continued to walk the path of my father and his father before him. I could not foresee greater danger than the power of nature harnessed by the old man. Anyway, after some time, I got bored and went back inside to play video games.

I found a can of fart spray and a 12 inch lock blade on the playground at my school. I sprayed the can out on a particularly windy day from the most upwind point on the playground to hilarious effect, and I had the lock blade until for a couple more years before I broke it chipping ice with it.

Just saying.

And I'm drunk

I was just learning to play golf. I was I think 14, 15 maybe. My dad bequeathed to me his clubs, which included one of those big ole "wooden" 1 woods with the saddle shaped metal plate on the bottom of it. I think it was a Wilson. He set me up in our unfinished basement (10 ft ceilings) with a rug and plastic tee setup so I could hit plastic golf balls into the net.

I was a baseball player at that age, so I used to swing hard and hit the shit out of the ball. Probably hit it further at 15 than I do today.

Across the street neighbor came over to hang out one day while I was practicing. Stood behind me. I can still picture him there (Dante), with his hands behind his back, waiting to watch me hit my practice shot.

I guess he was a little close because on my follow through, I hit him right square in the fucking jaw with that driver.

I freaked the **** out and started screaming for my mom. I got him up the basement steps, blood dripping everywhere. I don't remember if my mom or his mom drove him to the ER at our local Providence satellite, but I remember visiting and apologizing profusely.

Within the coming months, they sued us or their insurance sued us or something. We stopped being friends. I never spoke with him again due to some kind of litigious feud between our families/insurance companies. I have heard that his jaw/mouth is disfigured to this day. He was a nice kid. There were still blood stains on the wooden basement steps at my parents' house until they finished the basement and carpeted them a few years back.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I was just learning to play golf. I was I think 14, 15 maybe. My dad bequeathed to me his clubs, which included one of those big ole "wooden" 1 woods with the saddle shaped metal plate on the bottom of it. I think it was a Wilson. He set me up in our unfinished basement (10 ft ceilings) with a rug and plastic tee setup so I could hit plastic golf balls into the net.

I was a baseball player at that age, so I used to swing hard and hit the shit out of the ball. Probably hit it further at 15 than I do today.

Across the street neighbor came over to hang out one day while I was practicing. Stood behind me. I can still picture him there (Dante), with his hands behind his back, waiting to watch me hit my practice shot.

I guess he was a little close because on my follow through, I hit him right square in the fucking jaw with that driver.

I freaked the **** out and started screaming for my mom. I got him up the basement steps, blood dripping everywhere. I don't remember if my mom or his mom drove him to the ER at our local Providence satellite, but I remember visiting and apologizing profusely.

Within the coming months, they sued us or their insurance sued us or something. We stopped being friends. I never spoke with him again due to some kind of litigious feud between our families/insurance companies. I have heard that his jaw/mouth is disfigured to this day. He was a nice kid. There were still blood stains on the wooden basement steps at my parents' house until they finished the basement and carpeted them a few years back.

Did you break the club?

CrazySparty wrote:

Did you break the club?

He still has it. I didn't even know the full story until now. Last summer he made this big deal about breaking out "The Dante" on a seven hole carryover and pulled some shit out of his ass.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I was just learning to play golf. I was I think 14, 15 maybe. My dad bequeathed to me his clubs, which included one of those big ole "wooden" 1 woods with the saddle shaped metal plate on the bottom of it. I think it was a Wilson. He set me up in our unfinished basement (10 ft ceilings) with a rug and plastic tee setup so I could hit plastic golf balls into the net.

I was a baseball player at that age, so I used to swing hard and hit the shit out of the ball. Probably hit it further at 15 than I do today.

Across the street neighbor came over to hang out one day while I was practicing. Stood behind me. I can still picture him there (Dante), with his hands behind his back, waiting to watch me hit my practice shot.

I guess he was a little close because on my follow through, I hit him right square in the fucking jaw with that driver.

I freaked the **** out and started screaming for my mom. I got him up the basement steps, blood dripping everywhere. I don't remember if my mom or his mom drove him to the ER at our local Providence satellite, but I remember visiting and apologizing profusely.

Within the coming months, they sued us or their insurance sued us or something. We stopped being friends. I never spoke with him again due to some kind of litigious feud between our families/insurance companies. I have heard that his jaw/mouth is disfigured to this day. He was a nice kid. There were still blood stains on the wooden basement steps at my parents' house until they finished the basement and carpeted them a few years back.

I did something similar with my father's 5 iron in our backyard, but I was like 7 or 8. Girl from next door got too close behind me and I put the club through her cheek on the backswing. No law suit entailed, just kids being kids, of course it was the 60's.

One of the neighbor kids was thinking he was hot shit as he set up a ramp to jump his bike. I was working in the garage and watched as he slowly progressed up to larger and larger things to jump over. He made it over a mini trampoline which I thought was pretty damn impressive. A few minutes later I heard his mom screaming "Riley NO!" Little bastard talked his little brother into laying on the trampoline and he was just about to attempt the jump.

I used to work at a private liberal arts college about 10 years ago. An incoming freshman was interested in working in our office (PR, communications, marketing) and I talked with him about a possible student worker position. He seemed genuinely nice, knowledgable, and eager to work, so I hired him.

Soon after, I get a call from the admissions office and this kid's parents wanted to have lunch with me so they could find out who I was and what their kid would learn from working with me. Red flag.

The kid ended up being the most narcissistic, insubordinate, whining jerk of a kid who wanted his choice of projects and autonomy with said projects.

Echos Myron wrote:I used to work at a private liberal arts college about 10 years ago. An incoming freshman was interested in working in our office (PR, communications, marketing) and I talked with him about a possible student worker position. He seemed genuinely nice, knowledgable, and eager to work, so I hired him.

Soon after, I get a call from the admissions office and this kid's parents wanted to have lunch with me so they could find out who I was and what their kid would learn from working with me. Red flag.

The kid ended up being the most narcissistic, insubordinate, whining jerk of a kid who wanted his choice of projects and autonomy with said projects.

I blame the unions.

Turtleneck wrote:I blame the unions.

Strange. His dad was a lobbyist for the United Salmon Association.

Echos Myron wrote:I used to work at a private liberal arts college about 10 years ago. An incoming freshman was interested in working in our office (PR, communications, marketing) and I talked with him about a possible student worker position. He seemed genuinely nice, knowledgable, and eager to work, so I hired him.

Soon after, I get a call from the admissions office and this kid's parents wanted to have lunch with me so they could find out who I was and what their kid would learn from working with me. Red flag.

The kid ended up being the most narcissistic, insubordinate, whining jerk of a kid who wanted his choice of projects and autonomy with said projects.

So why didn't you just not hire the kid after the parents called? It would have been as simple as saying, "Sorry, but we no longer have this position in our budget."

Giant Moose wrote:So why didn't you just not hire the kid after the parents called? It would have been as simple as saying, "Sorry, but we no longer have this position in our budget."

Because I had already hired him, filled out the paper work, had a start date. The parents called after. Not so simple. We were in the process of firing him for insubordination and "borrowing" office electronics when he announced he was leaving for an internship with an MLB team.

Echos Myron wrote:

Because I had already hired him, filled out the paper work, had a start date. The parents called after. Not so simple. We were in the process of firing him for insubordination and "borrowing" office electronics when he announced he was leaving for an internship with an MLB team.

So the moral of the story is act like an ass, steal office electronics and get rewarded with an MLB internship. Dammit, I screwed up in college.

Giant Moose wrote:So the moral of the story is act like an ass, steal office electronics and get rewarded with an MLB internship. Dammit, I screwed up in college.

Something like that. Obviously MLB does not do background checks because the job I gave him had been the only job he ever had and our office never got a call.

At the same time I had a fantastic student worker who decided PR/Marketing wasn't for him, so he changed his major and is now at a top medical school. So not all kids are wrecked.

Echos Myron wrote:

Strange. His dad was a lobbyist for the United Salmon Association.

This story is starting to sound fishy.

Herbie Green wrote:

He still has it.  I didn't even know the full story until now.  Last summer he made this big deal about breaking out "The Dante" on a seven hole carryover and pulled some shit out of his ass.

Hey, did you forget to sign out of Herbie Green and sign back in as WhiteBoyHatcher? Are you doing this to avoid Dante?

When I was younger I pushed my friend off the top off one of those little plastic Playskool structures and he fell like five feet to the ground (grass surface) and broke his arm.

Giant Moose wrote:
So the moral of the story is act like an ass, steal office electronics and get rewarded with an MLB internship. Dammit, I screwed up in college.

You forgot have rich parents.

Rocinante wrote:
You forgot have rich parents.

Yeah, I think that is where the disconnect is.

I wonder if that is what accounts for some of the general "kids these days" feeling people have.

There are always people saying "that's what parents have been saying each generation" wrt to the pussification of kids over time.

Well, that's because they are getting to be more and more pussified each generation. It's a fact. And yes it is because of a fat lazy narcissistic society that "peaked" years ago.

And lawyers. **** the lawyers and the laws..

Sponge Worthy wrote:And lawyers. **** the lawyers and the laws..

Sorry to the lawyers on the board, but yeah, I think that's a good start.

Did anybody actually read the links on the first page?  It speaks of challenges, even small ones, and to the development of a kid's brain.  I think that plays into coping skills as well.

When I was in grade school, we used to love to stand on the swings, and see how high we could swing and leap off of them.  Crowds often gathered, and once, the teachers and the principal were in attendance.  They were observing, obviously with a bit of concern and being watchful.  So, my brain registered, "make it good, but don't go too far to get it shut down".

Where in today's "recess" is anything remotely as conflicting and challenging introduced into a child's decision making?  Everything has already been decided.  Oh, and we did get one broken wrist out of the performance.  The guy is now fine, served in the military, and even had a (non-credited) part in the last Anchorman 2 movie.

Sponge Worthy wrote:There are always people saying "that's what parents have been saying each generation" wrt to the pussification of kids over time.

Well, that's because they are getting to be more and more pussified each generation. It's a fact. And yes it is because of a fat lazy narcissistic society that "peaked" years ago.

And lawyers. **** the lawyers and the laws..

dude, they've found ancient Egyptian papyrus that contained a passage bitching about "kids these days." no shit.

In the last week of school this year, I let my 6/7th grade boys play a game outside. Forget what they called it, but it was obviously smear the queer. Just laughed at them playing it.

Think someone else came up to tell them they couldn't be tackling. PSH.