Would/do you let your kids walk to/from school these days?

[Alexx1401]

I was born in '71 and grew up in Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley at the height of the (IMO, BS) war on drugs. My "father" ran off to Colorado early on so when I was about 9 or 10 my mother would take me on what I would later call "sleaze tours" through all of LAs hot spots. She grew up streetwise and decided to pass her street smarts on to me. Some did not approve, but I can say that I am eternally grateful to her for doing this.

My best friends dad was a narcotics detective with an LACSD heavy offenders unit. He would take us both on similar tours.
Neither my mom nor my friends dad held anything back about what kind of orcs and goblins were out and about. We heard it all: hookers, pimps pushers, thugs, chicken hawks, you name it.

This unconventional education helped us to avoid trouble that may have been looking for us, I cant say it helped with the trouble we looked for on our own though.

Sadly, the sheriff was eventually indicted along with the rest of his unit for skimming drug money and weapons, among other things. I guess that was mine and my buddies final lesson.

In health care I regularly have to deal with the dregs of society who have destroyed their life with dope. Some of them are old enough that I do not care. A LOT of them are very young and it makes me so sad. When we have to fight with them I often wish instead of jail we could parade them through the schools. Starting in grade school. Look kids, see this bag of yuk standing here? Here is what she looked like a few years ago, show a FB or school photo, pretty. Now she roams the street giving a blow job to any and all for $10 to buy more drugs. I can't believe it would not scare a few of them from ever trying the damn stuff. Top off the little show and tell with some morgue shots of the ones who died before they saw 25th birthday.

 

[teflon6string]

1962-1969 walked 2-3 miles to and from school, some of that through the woods.
1966 Mr. Cook near the school was a known "wagger," which we hoped to see for a laugh.
1968 rode bicycles with a buddy from Portland to McMinnville and back.
1967-1970 rode a beat-up school bus all summer to pick berries - somewhere.
1965-1970 delivered newspapers in the dark.
1967-1970 rode bicycles to downtown "record" and head shops.
1966-1969 (age 11-14) rode minibikes everywhere, day and night.

This was in Portland. Would any of that fly today? Hell no!

 

[Ura-Ki]

1962-1969 walked 2-3 miles to and from school, some of that through the woods.
1966 Mr. Cook near the school was a known "wagger," which we hoped to see for a laugh.
1968 rode bicycles with a buddy from Portland to McMinnville and back.
1967-1970 rode a beat-up school bus all summer to pick berries - somewhere.
1965-1970 delivered newspapers in the dark.
1967-1970 rode bicycles to downtown "record" and head shops.
1966-1969 (age 11-14) rode minibikes everywhere, day and night.

This was in Portland. Would any of that fly today? Hell no!

I was right behind ya a few years! Moved to S.E. PDX ( Felony Flats) in 79 at the age of 10. Walked the three blocks to school every day, rain of shine. Lived right next to the Portland Adventist hospital, so there was a very large open field for us to play in and do all sorts of naughty stuff. Had a paper route, started at 5:30 am, and finished just in time to drop my delivery bag at the paper shack and get my pay vouchers stamped by the foreman, then off to school! Bought a used 74 Honda Mini Trail 50 and we Tore-It-Up on that thing every chance we got! Seemed almost once a week we had to outrun the coppers and hide with the Mini, usually by jumping off the bike and hoisting it over some neighbors fence/hedges! This went on until 86 (mostly) as I had bought my first car and discovered Girls, so, the paper route and mowing lawns had to slow, I still did the papers on weekends, and mowed lawns all summer long, but dammit, I had freedom, and I was gonna go out and enjoy it!
We would ride our bikes all the way from Portland to Sovies Island ( where the boat was tied up) leaving the house around 4:00 a.m. and get to the boat just after sunrise and be on the water fishing in no time flat! Skipped a lot of school when the springers were running! We later took the Mini and that really made the difference in time, we could make it to the boat well before sun up, and be cooking breakfast while motoring out to the main channel to start fishin! Those were some of the most fun times I ever had!
Later, before graduation in 1988, took my future Wife out on our first date, (To Burgerville) in my new muscle car, it was a short drive, the gas tank was less then 1/4 full, (about 20 miles worth), but we didn't care, the sterio worked, the seats reclined all the way back, and it was all good, but my lips were sure sore after!

 

[jackrv]

I was right behind ya a few years! Moved to S.E. PDX ( Felony Flats) in 79 at the age of 10. Walked the three blocks to school every day, rain of shine. Lived right next to the Portland Adventist hospital, so there was a very large open field for us to play in and do all sorts of naughty stuff. Had a paper route, started at 5:30 am, and finished just in time to drop my delivery bag at the paper shack and get my pay vouchers stamped by the foreman, then off to school! Bought a used 74 Honda Mini Trail 50 and we Tore-It-Up on that thing every chance we got! Seemed almost once a week we had to outrun the coppers and hide with the Mini, usually by jumping off the bike and hoisting it over some neighbors fence/hedges! This went on until 86 (mostly) as I had bought my first car and discovered Girls, so, the paper route and mowing lawns had to slow, I still did the papers on weekends, and mowed lawns all summer long, but dammit, I had freedom, and I was gonna go out and enjoy it!
We would ride our bikes all the way from Portland to Sovies Island ( where the boat was tied up) leaving the house around 4:00 a.m. and get to the boat just after sunrise and be on the water fishing in no time flat! Skipped a lot of school when the springers were running! We later took the Mini and that really made the difference in time, we could make it to the boat well before sun up, and be cooking breakfast while motoring out to the main channel to start fishin! Those were some of the most fun times I ever had!
Later, before graduation in 1988, took my future Wife out on our first date, (To Burgerville) in my new muscle car, it was a short drive, the gas tank was less then 1/4 full, (about 20 miles worth), but we didn't care, the sterio worked, the seats reclined all the way back, and it was all good, but my lips were sure sore after!

A little bit of history, circa 1954 - 1962, I went to Russellville and where the Adventist Hospital is now used to be Morningside Mental hospital. 102nd deadended at Stark. The Russellville Grange hall sat there.

 

[Mikej]

79 at the age of 10.

Holy crap man! You're just a KID!
I like this forum because a large number of people are in my age group. Mid 60s. I always figured you right smack dab in the middle with the rest of us. Or close anyway. You are an "Old Soul".
I always got along well with people older than me. Where I grew up was a fairly old community that was building up slowly with new houses built on farm land. There were a lot of older people that I went out of my way to make acquaintance with when I was young. I are one of those people now. But also good sized schools that were all within walking distance from our house.
Semi rural Utah/Salt Lake Valley was a good place to be a kid.

 

[mrblond]

Holy crap man! You're just a KID!
I like this forum because a large number of people are in my age group. Mid 60s. I always figured you right smack dab in the middle with the rest of us. Or close anyway. You are an "Old Soul".
I always got along well with people older than me. Where I grew up was a fairly old community that was building up slowly with new houses built on farm land. There were a lot of older people that I went out of my way to make acquaintance with when I was young. I are one of those people now. But also good sized schools that were all within walking distance from our house.
Semi rural Utah/Salt Lake Valley was a good place to be a kid.

Funny how that is.. I was pretty left leaning until I hit the big 40.. then instant grumpy old fart..and I was born in 72!

Now, I lived in the Haysvill area and walked to Haysvill Elementary.. never had much worry about creeps, even if the parents did not know each other, they new the kids and knew who did not belong.
Worst part was going from my friends place back home. had to cross a farmers field and he loved to use his salt gun.. think hurt if he got ya.

 

[Mikej]

Funny how that is.. I was pretty left leaning until I hit the big 40.. then instant grumpy old fart..and I was born in 72!

Now, I lived in the Haysvill area and walked to Haysvill Elementary.. never had much worry about creeps, even if the parents did not know each other, they new the kids and knew who did not belong.
Worst part was going from my friends place back home. had to cross a farmers field and he loved to use his salt gun.. think hurt if he got ya.

It does my heart good to have people here that are very close to where I am. Minus the aches and pains bubblegum I would think!

I musta been in a kinder gentler area. They were all Mormons? Maybe that was it. Heck, we used to hunt night crawlers on peoples lawns after dark when they'd irrigated. While they were sitting in their living rooms watching one of four channels on TV! we sold night crawlers too, so were were out a lot in summer.

 

[Unicykle]

I personaly think what is happening to this country is in large part due to the last few generations all having had more and more of the path prepared for them. 100 years ago responsibility came early you worked on the farm or had a job and i mean a real job by 10-14, hell my dad ran away from home at 14 was married by 16 and started a business before 18. Its no wonder these coddled babies are angry when shoved into the real world approaching 30, 100k in debt basically un prepared except with a completly unusable double masters in underwater basket weaving and a bachlors degree in gender studies... of course they want the government to step in and keep preparing the path for them.

I coddle my dog something terrible, shes a tottal spoiled rotten brat but the never intend to push her out into society to take care of herself.

 

[Flopsweat]

It does my heart good to have people here that are very close to where I am. Minus the aches and pains bubblegum I would think!

I musta been in a kinder gentler area. They were all Mormons? Maybe that was it. Heck, we used to hunt night crawlers on peoples lawns after dark when they'd irrigated. While they were sitting in their living rooms watching one of four channels on TV! we sold night crawlers too, so were were out a lot in summer.

I remember being appalled that people would buy worms when you just needed a garden hose and a little patience. We bought bait once in a while but worms? What am I, made of money?

 

[Ura-Ki]

Where we lived in S.E. there were a bunch of fruit trees lining the streets, Cherries, Plum, Apple, Pear, and lot of Nut trees, Mostly Walnut and Hazelnut. My brothers and I would climb these trees and "Harvest" everything within reach, and then go around the neighborhoods and sell what we had, most summers we could net around $500 total for the season, it wasn't easy, but it was fun, and afforded a few movies, fancy burgers, or new Nike's and trips to the video arcade and lots of soda pop from the Pop-Shop over on 82nd! Mall 205 was an actual mall back then, and it was one of the coolest, there was East Port, and Jensen Beach, and Lloyd Center Malls, and that was where IT was happenin, what ever IT was! For Us, it was ether 205 because it was so close, or East Port because that's where the Scale R/C Road Racing was, and We all got hooked! I raced many seasons all over the area, got quite good and even had sponsorships, but I couldn't keep up with the cost or the high tech of it and hung it up around 94! Now, nobody races carpet or parking lots in Orygun, that really sucks, I loved the road racing big time, but it's all gone now! Hell, I havn't seen a dirt track in years ether, that was always fun too!

 

[chukar]

As to the original question, yes I would let my children (if I had any) walk to school unescorted where I live currently. Of course that is all age dependent and location/distance of the school. In fact I see quite a few older kids walking unescorted to and from school on my way to work.

To continue the derailment, the above post made me have flashbacks. I grew up in outer SE (Rockwood to be specific) in the exact same timeframe. Pop-Shop!!! Holy crap did that bring back memories. The power of being able to pick out a case of cavities in whatever mix of flavors you wanted was awesome. Berry picking at Townsend farms during the summer. Eastport plaza getting a waterslide. Getting my first job at Organ Grinder pizza on 82nd. Light rail came along and I had free cash flow so I could catch a few shows at Satyricon and Pine Street theater.

 

[Mikej]

East Port because that's where the Scale R/C Road Racing was, and We all got hooked!

We had that at a mall in the Salt lake Valley too. Three huge different colored tracks . You tell the guy what track and lane you wanted and he'd set a timer I guess. You'd use your own car or rent one. I always wanted to do that but dad never let me. Too spendy for my blood at that age, or I though dad should have paid? Anyway, I had a buddy and we both had slot cars put-togther tracks at home. So we combined those on the ping-pong table and played for free.

 

[Mikej]

We all ran around freely back then. the '60s for me. Dad had the "Gong". I had to be in earshot of that gong, which was an axle/brake drum combo from an old truck I presume. He'd beat that with a ball peen hammer that hung by it on a cord and that was time to get home. Big trouble if I wasn't within ear shot. As we got older you needed to say where you were going and when you'd be back. Bicycle and "Thumbing" were standard modes of transportation.

 

[Flopsweat]

We had that at a mall in the Salt lake Valley too. Three huge different colored tracks . You tell the guy what track and lane you wanted and he'd set a timer I guess. You'd use your own car or rent one. I always wanted to do that but dad never let me. Too spendy for my blood at that age, or I though dad should have paid? Anyway, I had a buddy and we both had slot cars put-togther tracks at home. So we combined those on the ping-pong table and played for free.

That's what we did! My older brother went to the big tracks and had a very cool looking car weighted with clay. I only got to watch him a few times but he seemed pretty fast. That faded out when I got into customizing my bicycles and rode one of them on the dirt bike trails near the house. Then into cars, girls and keg parties. What were we talking about again?

We all ran around freely back then. the '60s for me. Dad had the "Gong". I had to be in earshot of that gong, which was an axle/brake drum combo from an old truck I presume. He'd beat that with a ball peen hammer that hung by it on a cord and that was time to get home. Big trouble if I wasn't within ear shot. As we got older you needed to say where you were going and when you'd be back. Bicycle and "Thumbing" were standard modes of transportation.

We had a foghorn. A real one. For years many of the neighbors had no idea what the noise was. Mom couldn't get half the volume out of it as Dad could, so when he was out of town, so were we, kinda. "I couldn't hear the horn." A lecture and a cold dinner. Totally worth it usually.

 

[Ura-Ki]

That's what we did! My older brother went to the big tracks and had a very cool looking car weighted with clay. I only got to watch him a few times but he seemed pretty fast. That faded out when I got into customizing my bicycles and rode one of them on the dirt bike trails near the house. Then into cars, girls and keg parties. What were we talking about again?



We had a foghorn. A real one. For years many of the neighbors had no idea what the noise was. Mom couldn't get half the volume out of it as Dad could, so when he was out of town, so were we, kinda. "I couldn't hear the horn." A lecture and a cold dinner. Totally worth it usually.

Fog horn, that's funny!
We had the Dogs, usually our Big black Lab and a Newfie, and they always knew when it was time to go home, I don't thing anyone ever trained them, I think it was their stomachs doing a grumble that said it was time, almost exactly 7:30, or within a few minutes of it! Both dogs, you could set a clock by, ether feeding time, walk time, or play time, always within a min or two every single day!
We were latch key kids, mom worked and didn't come home until around 4.30, and Dad was usually at Sea for 3 to 6 months at a time, so, we had a system, when you got home, if the dogs barked, it was safe to go inside, if only one dog barked, it meant there was someone in the house and the other dog had them pinned, if no dog barked, you got the neighbor ( Deputy Sheriff) with his .375 Python to un lock the door and clear the house! We ce home one day and found a bunch of bloody paw prints all over the driveway and front porch, freaked out and got the neighbor, he went inside and cleared the house, said there was blood all over the inside! Apparently, the Lab had gotten into something and broken a glass and then cut his paw bad, he was laying down in the middle of the kitchen licking his paw, covered in blood, and the Newf was laying there whining and watching! Holy cow we were relieved, but then had to figure out how we were going to get the dog to the vet! Neighbor helped load the dog into the back of his truck and drove me and the dog to the family vet we always used, hour and a half later mom showed up to collect us and take us home, what's mess that was!

 

[Flopsweat]

Fog horn, that's funny!
We had the Dogs, usually our Big black Lab and a Newfie, and they always knew when it was time to go home, I don't thing anyone ever trained them, I think it was their stomachs doing a grumble that said it was time, almost exactly 7:30, or within a few minutes of it! Both dogs, you could set a clock by, ether feeding time, walk time, or play time, always within a min or two every single day!
We were latch key kids, mom worked and didn't come home until around 4.30, and Dad was usually at Sea for 3 to 6 months at a time, so, we had a system, when you got home, if the dogs barked, it was safe to go inside, if only one dog barked, it meant there was someone in the house and the other dog had them pinned, if no dog barked, you got the neighbor ( Deputy Sheriff) with his .375 Python to un lock the door and clear the house! We ce home one day and found a bunch of bloody paw prints all over the driveway and front porch, freaked out and got the neighbor, he went inside and cleared the house, said there was blood all over the inside! Apparently, the Lab had gotten into something and broken a glass and then cut his paw bad, he was laying down in the middle of the kitchen licking his paw, covered in blood, and the Newf was laying there whining and watching! Holy cow we were relieved, but then had to figure out how we were going to get the dog to the vet! Neighbor helped load the dog into the back of his truck and drove me and the dog to the family vet we always used, hour and a half later mom showed up to collect us and take us home, what's mess that was!

Something about your story reminded me of a scalp wound I got from a falling tree limb. It just wouldn't stop bleeding. I went home to get it looked at. There I was, standing in that doorway, Mom yelling come in here and let me look at that and me knowing that if I bleed on her carpet there will be Hell to pay. I don't even remember what I did about it now.

 

[Mikej]

"Latch Key Kids" I resembled that remark. But for the most part the doors weren't locked. The sliding door was the door we used most. No way to lock it 'cept for from the inside. Then dad at some point built to fully enclose the breeze way between the house and two-car garage. THAT slider had a key lock.

Dad designed and had a big part in building the house I grew up in. It was built shortly after I was born. 07/55. They were living in a motel at the time. When it came to building the garage dad built it himself. Our house was pretty rural then. Grandma had a couple, maybe three, acres and sold them the lot. There were field/pastures between houses that we pretty much could run free though. The house had a flat roof with a slight angle to it and was brick. With huge picture windows, and a full basement. A lot of the kids I went to school with walked past the house to and from school. They thought we were rich! In reality we had everything we needed, but the folks were extremely frugal. They worked their butts off, and invested ever penny. The only thing my folks ever bought on credit was part of the house. They both spent everything they could afford on War Bonds during WWII. That's what purchased the lions share of our home.


Thread drift!!! Sorry.
Not really. I haven't looked at these pics for several years, so I'm having a moment. The above are 2005, and that's Wifey and Dad, at 85.

 

[teflon6string]