Parents who really need to control their children

[greensinestro]

My mother used to leave the car running sometimes if she was going into the store for a couple of minutes. This was long before safety features were installed in gearshifts, like where you have to press down on the brake before putting it into reverse or drive. Plus, there was not a worry in the world about someone breaking into the car and taking off with me in it, simply because it was unheard of then. Would I do any of these things now? Of course not.

[Tigress]

Damn, I was the most boring person among my cousins and the "good kid." Yet the adults still thought my parents needed to keep me under their thumbs because I was into "the occult." Yeah, your kids are going around drinking, smoking and spreading their legs, yet I'm the bad one. Reading Dracula and books on Wicca will cause me to eat their souls.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

You sure it wasn't "1234?"

That reminds me, I have to go change the combination on my luggage...

Could be worse . . . someone could use, oh say "6969". . .

[ArenaBoy]

You sure it wasn't "1234?"

That reminds me, I have to go change the combination on my luggage...

Please tell me you weren't referencing Space Balls, I've had enough laughs for one day.

*snickers*

[solemnwarning]

This was long before safety features were installed in gearshifts, like where you have to press down on the brake before putting it into reverse or drive.

What's with all the safety features?
Auto transmission is easy, one pedal go fast, one go slow. No clutch, no manually selecting gear ratios, just speed up/slow down, I'm 15 and I know this much :\

[Pagan]

I still was not allowed to use any kitchen appliance when the parents were not home, which included nuking food in the microwave.

No microwave? Were you prone to making messes in the kitchen? I don't remember the microwave ever being off-limits to me. I was little when we got one when they were just coming out.

My Dad was a cop, and when he came home and took off his gunbelt it lay on the cedar chest at the foot of their bed. Loaded. Looking back that's kind of scary, and I certainly wouldn't do the same with my own kids.

It's not scary if you make sure that kids know that guns aren't toys. I always knew where our guns were, but I knew not to play with them. I even remember my mom (before she went back to work) putting the Luger on the bar in the kitchen a few times because we were having so much trouble with illegals coming up to carport door (not the front door).

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Shit, I was scared of even looking at my dad's guns. I was always scared of them blowing my head off. I wasn't scared to handle them when my dad was around though. He taught me how to shoot when I was 6 years old, but it didn't make me fear them any less.

If parents are going to have guns in the home, they should educate their kids on gun safety, not try to keep them safe by promoting ignorance.

[JustADude]

If parents are going to have guns in the home, they should educate their kids on gun safety, not try to keep them safe by promoting ignorance.

(Bolding mine)


There's a quote from Terry Pratchett's Soul Music that is quite appropriate to the situation:

"It's like not telling someone about self defense so they'd never be attacked."

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

You and I must be the same age or something. While I'm a guy and was not into baking cookies, I still was not allowed to use any kitchen appliance when the parents were not home, which included nuking food in the microwave. And the phone.....no calling Dad unless it was an emergency, and it had better be a dire one. We had Atari, which was not harmful at all like today's games.

To repeat.. whoever it was that said it before (I laze). No microwave?? Those are safe as heck to a fault. Open, put in, close, press buttons, cook.

And to the gaming... Games aren't harmful. Sure, they may have violence, but there is a reason they have an age ratings system like movies. And most that are violent (GTA for a major example) are good stress relief. Postal, Manhunt etc... Well, I've not played Postal (it's not available here in Aus...) But Manhunt gave me the shakes. Literally. For a game, I think it goes a tad too far. And I am on the Gamer side of video games.

My husband's son, however, (10 years) isn't even allowed to use the computer. He knows better as well. He has a bad habit of screwing it up and making it work sooo slooowly. He only goes on the internet for video game cheats anyway . . .

A lot of video game cheat sites (among others *cough*) can put spyware on a computer. The ones that do are fairly obvious as they are pretty much just collections of cheats without gaming articles.


As for guns in the home... Maybe this is the Australian in me coming out (I know there the idea is a lot more normal) but it seems very, very unsafe.

Logically I know (mostly) that you don't leave guns out in the open for people/children to have access to (at least I hope so, depsite what US news/rumour/Michael Moore tells us overseas people), but still... Logic be damned against rumour.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

We didn't even have a microwave oven when I was little - we got our first one in 1985 when my stepdad remodeled the kitchen (got our first dishwasher then too.)

I started learning how to cook when I was 6 . . . by age 10, I could cook an entire meal if I needed to and some evenings I did, as Mom worked 2 jobs usually and Grandma wasn't able to do much with one paralyzed hand.

We had a toaster oven too, as well as a stove. I knew how to use that too. Mr. Hoover and I were buddies by then too . . .

Computers? First one I got was when I was a junior in high school (a Commodore 64C it was.) By that time, I already had 2 typewriters (one manual, one electric.) I've always had a stereo in my boudoir since I was at least 5.

First VCR was when I was 16 . . . got my first cable box shortly thereafter (before that, it was basic cable in my room.)

Didn't see a cellphone until around the early 90's . . . got the first one back around 1996.

I was kinda spoiled, but at the same time I also had responsibilities at home from an early age. Today's kids don't know how to take care of everyday household stuff. My baby sister, to this day, still doesn't know how to use a washing machine or wash dishes. Heck, I don't think she even knows what a vacuum cleaner is, much less an iron.

I weep for the future.

[draftermatt]

Man, when I was a kid I played outside, or I watched TV. The internet wasn't big till I was like 12, didn't get a computer till I was 14. No video games till I was 19.

And I helped out and started cooking when I was like 9. My Brother-in-law is 11, and he can do most of that stuff too. Some people's kids...

My ass would have been beat, a lot, if I had callled someone trying to get access to something. Stupid.

Oh, and I caught a microwave on fire once. I put in popcorn, and didn't notice the spinny plate wasn't in there. I was like 15. So, it's not all safe.