[EBH]

We grew up ‘unsupervised.’ Yep, and it was dawn until the streetlights came on. And even then it was to check in and tell them we’d be down at so & so yard playing night tag, catching fireflies etc.

We’d go visit the aunt who had a whole forest and river in her backyard and the parents would turn us loose.

I inherited this place and a friend was over with her kids. I inadvertently encouraged her/them to go outside and play in the woods.

The kids, both boys, were raring to go! Mom insisted we tag along to supervise...you never know who might be hiding in the woods....?! Or if one got hurt what level of ‘neglect’ would be leveled against her.

There is a book out called, “Last Child in the Woods.” Sure it is about another one of the phony maladies of our times...Nature Deficit Disorder. In a lot of ways though it is true. Our kids learn about their world from behind closed doors, multimedia, etc. Ask them if they know what lives in the creek behind their house and they wouldn’t know...they are not allowed to play there. They know about conservation from what someone else teaches them, not from their own observations of the natural order of things.

There in lies a special type of problem with that. Without time in the woods exploring, like we did when we were kids...they’ll believe any Albore that comes along....

No, were not afraid of the boogeyman, poison ivy, or scraped knees. We were told not to talk to strangers and held some of the responsibility for our own protection.

[Chickensoup]

There have always been child molesters. That was one of the facts of life and children packed around in groups in our neighborhood. If someone was funny with one of the children, they were driven out of town. We grew up not so far from the old days of tar and feathers.

[SE Mom]

How right you are..

I lived what now seems to be a privileged life as a little girl in a small fishing town on the New England coast (back then- the only liberals around were “token”).

We played outside every day in all seasons. We had freedom to explore. We weren’t afraid of the world or it’s people. By spending so much time outdoors we learned about nature...where a snake might hide, which spiders were ok (daddy-longlegs) and which weren’t (black widows)..

Each summer when my son was little we went “back home” and we’d go on hikes exploring the woods, fields and marshes .. Those times are now his favorite memories but he still doesn’t believe me when I tell him when I was little we did those same things without grownups..

[Hardastarboard]

My buddy and I used to take our uncased .22 single shot rifles on our bicycles to a retired teacher's house and shoot frogs out of his pond (as I remember they were so big I'm surprised a .22 would kill them). My mom fried up the legs for me after I skinned them.

I'd have a juvenile record if I tried that today.