Whatever Happened To Being A Kid

After reading news headlines over the past couple of years, I really have to question being a kid and how kids are raised and treated.

Growing up then

You must first understand that I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. And the first bastard that makes a comment about tye died clothes will get a punch in the jaw. Back then things were different. We never had ADD, CNN, ADHD, Dr. Phil or Hyperactivity. This didn’t evolve until after I grew up and didn’t get to use it to my benefit. I’ll tell ya what we did have......BELT.

Oh Hell yeah, black or brown, a very limited choice. And they only came in leather. No cloth or plastic pansy assed shit for us! To this day, I would not call that abuse or ever say I was abused.

It was what we used to call disciplined, something that doesn’t happen today. We never had a time out, stood in the corner, loss of a video game and stuff like that. We were kept in line. We didn’t throw tantrums in a store and have no recourse. Parents were allowed to spank their kids without fear of having the law called in to remove the kids and arrest the parents.

And guess what?! I’m pretty normal in my eyes.

We never sat around the house all day and night playing video games. You younger people might want to sit down for this....we played OUTSIDE. We even had a house with green grass and some dirt that we called a backyard. And we used the shit out of it. We built treehouses, made forts, played ball, and generally ran around. We didn’t see alot of fat kids then. We got them in High School. We rode our bicycles and roller skated with no helmets.....if I ever got hurt, I must’ve hit my noggin hard enough to not recall it.

We never used car seats in my day. We stood up in the back seat and slapped our brothers and sisters and behaved ourselves. Parents had longer arms back then and they could reach back and crack you to bring you back to control. If that didn’t work...a nice jab to the brake pedal would get your attention. Back in the day, alot of cars didn’t have seat belts in the back anyhow. Riding in pickup trucks?! Forget about it. We sat in the bed many times and enjoyed the fresh air and didn’t have to hear our parents jabber on about grown up shit. And I never, ever heard of any kids falling out of a pick up truck bed.

Did I ever think of calling someone to remove me from these dangerous and abusive environs? NO. This was normal life.

Growing up now

Kids today are homeschooled, coddled, over priveleged and pampered. And childhood obesity is thru the roof. We can blame fast food and microwave food for alot of this. Today a kid doesn’t get to be a kid. I can’t speak at length to this because I am not living it now. I just go by what I see. It is getting really hard to go anywhere without hearing someone’s little crotch fruit throwing a fit and dominating the parent-child dynamic. Kids can’t be corrected in public for fear of being visited by child services. At home, you have to worry about someone who wants to play nanny. You have kids sitting in front of a tv or computer or playing a "video game". Then you have Dr. Phil telling you how to raise your kids.

Kids today cannot even spell and the constant text messaging is only making it worse. The classes they are getting in school are mere shells of what they used to be. And gym class?! It is called physical education for a reason. We used to have the class outside and pick teams and sometimes I would get picked last. And I am still alive. We used to play tag and kill ball. Try it today.

And for the record, I am not telling anyone how to raise a child. I’m making some obsevations and welcome any feedback....good or bad.

By the way, here is a newsflash...Dr. Phil is not a doctor. He lost that credential a long time ago. He is a doctor like Al Sharpton is a reverend. Sorry to burst that bubble, turn the fucker off...just be a parent.

And what is with the ever growing examples of little kids being handcuffed, tasered and arrested for stupid shit? It is shocking! Read thru this list and be as appalled as I am. It’s happening all over the country at an alarming rate by people who you trust your kids to everyday.

FLORIDA - It was a typical scuffle between two youngsters - some name-calling, a slap on the face, a punch to the stomach. After it was over, however, Tallahassee police handcuffed the 8-year-old boy who picked the fight and took him to a juvenile facility Monday night, charging him with misdemeanor battery and criminal mischief. "This was children’s stuff, a disagreement between two neighborhood kids," said attorney Kathy Garner, now representing first-grader Isaac Sutton, who turned 8 last month. The boy’s case was made public by his mother, Pamela Kelly. "He just needs a good talking-to," Garner said Tuesday. "This doesn’t need to be handled in the judicial system."  Assistant City Attorney Rick Courtemanche, the Tallahassee Police Department’s legal adviser, said the arresting officer decided there was enough evidence to arrest the 4-foot-10, 70-pound boy. And city policy requires officers to handcuff juveniles when taking them to the county’s Juvenile Assessment Center, he added.

NEW YORK - The New York Civil Liberties Union today condemned the treatment of a 13-year-old girl who was arrested after she wrote the word "okay" on her school desk. According to news reports, Chelsea Fraser was handcuffed and placed under arrest in front of her classmates at the Dyker Heights Intermediate School on March 30. Police demanded that Fraser empty her pockets and take off her belt before handcuffing her and leading her out of the school and into the back of a police car. Fraser faces charges of criminal mischief and writing graffiti.

SOUTH CAROLINA - A South Carolina woman decided her son was so out of line when he stole the Game Boy Advance she had purchased as his Christmas present that she had the 12 year-old arrested. He was charged, as a juvenile, with petty larceny.

FLORIDA - Police used a stun gun on a 6-year-old boy in his principal’s office because he was wielding a piece of glass and threatening to hurt himself, officials said Thursday. The boy, who was not identified, was shocked with 50,000 volts on Oct. 20 at Kelsey Pharr Elementary School.

COLORADO- An eight-year-old Colorado boy is suspended from school for sniffing a permanent marker. The third grader colored a stripe on his shirt with the marker... and then smelled his shirt. The teacher sent him to the principal, and the third grader was suspended for three days.

FLORIDA - A 10-year-old girl brought a knife to her school in Ocala, Fla., last week and used it in the cafeteria to cut her steak; she now faces a felony weapons charge. Teachers at Sunrise Elementary School told Marion County sheriff’s deputies they seized the 4-1/2 inch steak knife last week when they saw the female student, aged 10, using it in the school cafeteria to cut the steak she was eating, Ocala.com reports. The teachers called police.

MASSACHUSETTS - The parents of two boys in Whitman, Mass., are upset their kids were arrested and shackled by police for illegal skateboarding. The parents say the boys were shackled before being taken to a juvenile court, the Boston Herald reported Wednesday. "It’s absurd," Stephanie Saltzman said. "My son is 12 years old and all he was doing is skateboarding. I mean, you gotta be kidding me." Saltzman’s son, Josh, and 14-year-old neighbor, Ryan Maxwell, were arrested last week when a police officer caught them skateboarding on a street. A town bylaw prohibits using skateboards or other devices to "coast or slide" along public streets. Town officials did not comment but said police would not arrest kids unless their actions were more severe. The arresting officer declined comment. The boys said they were only skateboarding in front of their homes and they complied with the officer without protest.

The only thing I can say is.....WOW