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katepoet · 10-19-2007, 04:40 PM

I think that we don't know the statistics for how many kids died or live with permanent disability. I am sure it was higher than today. Sometimes reasons may have been known, sometimes unknown and sometimes misdiagnosed.

I remember how serious strep was, how few antibiotics there were compared to today, how little we knew about how the immune system functioned.

So yes, I walked or biked to school almost everyday, we even hitch hiked back then, until a friend had to fight her way out of a car. Biking kept me slim and strong. We certainly had more time for gym class - every day. I did field hockey, band, had an after school job and felt like I had time to spare but today all my students are under pressure. But they have so much more on their plates and live so far from their friends. They can't just bike a few blocks to see each other. It's not safe to let small kids play in the empty lot up the block, even in small towns. But it wasn't really safe then, we just thought it was. There were more of us - we baby boomers so perhaps there were more around to be eyes. And moms worked at home with children - but they usually didn't have a choice. Men controlled the money and decision making for so many.

But raped girls were ashamed. (I heard a rape once but there was nothing I could do about it.) Girls could not pursue the myriad of options for careers we have now. Mothers going back to work had very limited choices. Women stayed in bad marriages because divorce was shameful. I remember the first friend whose parents were divorcing - she cried at school in the cloak room so many days. I remember the couple that stayed together but in separate bedrooms and the daughter who said she would have rather they had divorced than have stayed in the same house with their kids. always arguing.

I remember spankings were approved by Dr. Spock who has since recanted his stand. Kids got into fights every year at the Thanksgiving football game, under the bleachers, riots happened in the early 70's, a piano teacher who was probably a pedophile.

I remember lots of good, too, but how many died of SIDS before it even had a name, how many had lead poisoning limit their IQ, how many didn't have any choice about how they survived? How many lost eyes and fingers? This just wasn't the focus of the news like it is today so we hear too much of the details of each child's loss. It was there then, we just didn't know about it as much.

10-19-2007, 04:40 PM	#4
katepoet Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 992	I think that we don't know the statistics for how many kids died or live with permanent disability. I am sure it was higher than today. Sometimes reasons may have been known, sometimes unknown and sometimes misdiagnosed. I remember how serious strep was, how few antibiotics there were compared to today, how little we knew about how the immune system functioned. So yes, I walked or biked to school almost everyday, we even hitch hiked back then, until a friend had to fight her way out of a car. Biking kept me slim and strong. We certainly had more time for gym class - every day. I did field hockey, band, had an after school job and felt like I had time to spare but today all my students are under pressure. But they have so much more on their plates and live so far from their friends. They can't just bike a few blocks to see each other. It's not safe to let small kids play in the empty lot up the block, even in small towns. But it wasn't really safe then, we just thought it was. There were more of us - we baby boomers so perhaps there were more around to be eyes. And moms worked at home with children - but they usually didn't have a choice. Men controlled the money and decision making for so many. But raped girls were ashamed. (I heard a rape once but there was nothing I could do about it.) Girls could not pursue the myriad of options for careers we have now. Mothers going back to work had very limited choices. Women stayed in bad marriages because divorce was shameful. I remember the first friend whose parents were divorcing - she cried at school in the cloak room so many days. I remember the couple that stayed together but in separate bedrooms and the daughter who said she would have rather they had divorced than have stayed in the same house with their kids. always arguing. I remember spankings were approved by Dr. Spock who has since recanted his stand. Kids got into fights every year at the Thanksgiving football game, under the bleachers, riots happened in the early 70's, a piano teacher who was probably a pedophile. I remember lots of good, too, but how many died of SIDS before it even had a name, how many had lead poisoning limit their IQ, how many didn't have any choice about how they survived? How many lost eyes and fingers? This just wasn't the focus of the news like it is today so we hear too much of the details of each child's loss. It was there then, we just didn't know about it as much.