Growing up Then & Now.

This topic has been inspired by a book I've just read called ABDUCTED.You may remember the story about two 10yr old girls from Hastings,back in 1999.Tortured and raped for three days it truly is Horrific.Which begs the question.Were we when growing up way back when(for me mid 60 s)in as much danger as the kids today?.For instance,we would go missing all day,playing,bike riding even hitchhiking.My mam used to take my 3 sisters & me on buses ans strangers would sit us on their knees!OMG can you imagine that today.SO what are your memories of growing up, and did you ever think about the dangers out there.Are there more sico's/peado's now than there was then?     

I can't really speak for myself but stories I've heard from people over 40 about how when it was hot you could just leave your front door open or sleep on the porch these days if you did that you could get robbed or your head kicked in. IMO drugs have played a big part in the change in society.

Interesting topic, Joey.

I don't have any statistics about crime rates and so on, so can only really go from gut feeling on this one.

I'm not sure if the number of sickos, perverts and child abusers have increased, or if things have simply come more into the public eye than back then. Certainly, those kind of criminals existed, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley being a prime example.

I wonder how many children and teenagers who were thought to have run away were actually abducted? Improvements in police technology, interaction between the different departments all over the country, the pooling of information and so on have surely improved the number of cases that are solved.

That being said, I remember sneaking out of my parent's house as a lad, maybe only about 10 years old, and I used to meet up with friends and muck about during the night, without a care in the world. Days spent wandering around the countryside in the middle of nowhere, nights camping out, without fear of anyone or anything.

Can I really say my kids will grow up in the same, carefree way? I know I'll be overly protective of them, whether or not there's more danger I don't know, but the more horror stories we hear about other people's kids the more we fear for our own.

I just wish the police could do now what they done then and give the little s**ts a crack round the ear because there's just no respect,more later.

I was born in 78 and during the late 80s / early 90s, I was rarely at home. At the weekends I would walk over to the rec to play football or Fighting Bulldog. Without a word to my parents (we didn't have mobiles and no way was I walking home), I would regularly wander off and end up a mile or 2 away, jumping a brook, building a dam, fashioning a rope swing from a tatty bit of string, making a campfire or lobbing bricks through the windows of a disused factory. We'd think nothing of bodging together a go-kart from scraps of wood and wheels from a pram then hurtle down a steep hill with no method of braking other than a) aim for grass, b) aim for something solid or c) jump off. Not for one minute did we consider donning knee pads, elbow pads or cycle helmets. I'd always go out on the instruction that I had to be home before dark but I rarely did.
In the week, I'd come home from Primary school and often find that nobody was home. It didn't matter, I'd just knock on a neighbour's door and have tea there. It didn't matter which neighbour it was, I could just pick one from the row of terraced houses and they'd always welcome me in. Occasionally my mum would knock on and ask if I was there but more often than not, she wouldn't know where I was until I wandered back home.
My parents used to tell me tales of how when I was 4 or 5 (1982-3 ish) we lived on a crescent with a green in the middle. All of the kids would leave their toys / bikes / scooters out on the green for days on end and they'd never go missing.

Things have changed and when you consider that I'm only talking about a couple of decades ago, they have changed quickly, it's very worrying.
I have 2 kids now, a daughter who's nearly 9 and a son who's 7. I wouldn't let them walk anywhere on their own and want to know where they are at all times.
Yes, I'm sure this is partly due to the media we're bombarded with, telling us tales from all over the country of sick bas**rds snatching kids and abusing them, hacking them up or taking indecent pictures for their fellow pervs. I do, however feel that the internet has played it's part in creating these people, or at least encouraging them. They can now find like-minded people very easily and before long, their sick fetishes start to feel almost 'normal' and 'acceptable'. Porn is on tap, it's no longer something they get a rare glimpse of when they dare to reach for a VHS from the top shelf, they can spend as long as they like indulging their fantasies and thinking what they would like to do to one of those girls they see by the roadside, girls like my daughter. I have little doubt that there ARE more of these people about now.
You're right, drugs have made things worse and that was inevitable but it's not the whole story. The real problem is the breakdown of family discipline. My dad never knew about me lobbing bricks at that factory but I know what would have happened if he did... smack. What would happen nowadays? Firstly, the parent would deny that his little angel had done it and secondly, demand that the factory is demolished for the safety of his little lamb.
Young kids will now shout abuse at adults and if you react, you risk a kicking from a gang of them. If I had tried that as a kid, I would expect a clip round the ear from the adult or, worse, an "I know your dad".
I'm not 100% sure why this has changed so much but I do know that kids are over protected by a government that interferes with family life far too much. We've seen the other extreme where they have done nothing and cases such as 'Baby P' arise but that is a rarity. From day to day, parents should be able to discipline kids as they see fit but now we can't lay a finger on them. They can get away with anything because they know the worst you can do is unplug their Xbox. What lessons does that teach then for when they're old enough to go out on the streets? Not even the police have power over them. An ASBO? So f***in what!
And that brings me to the final point, 'The Streets' (not the band), a self-fulfilling prophecy. There has been a significant change in British culture that I'm sure our American fans will have seen in years gone by. Take Rap / Hip-Hop music for example. Don't get me wrong, I like some of it and I'm hardly Mary Whitehouse but F**k me, every other song is about making fast money, getting bitches and being hard as nails. You are not a credible artist unless you've done time. I know that some people will be reading this and grinning to themselves, thinking, 'damn right, that's good sh*t' but if you step back and look at what's happening, the connection is undeniable. A LOT of teens now aren't interested in hobbies or sports or getting into a good job, they are out on 'The Streets' mouthing off at people and swaggering around, expecting riches to come their way one day like they have for their idols, it's a route that easily and commonly leads to drugs and crime. It has been said that kids grow up too fast these days but they're still as easy to influence and things like music and the associated culture soon rub off on them. Then all you hear is tales from teenagers who've had to make it on 'The Streets'. They didn't have to. Aside from the odd unfortunate kid who gets turfed out, they could all stay at home and watch telly or have a kick about with mates, instead they take themselves out onto the streets and the problem grows.

Things have changed and without a doubt, they have changed for the worst. I love my kids and in all honesty, dread the time when they start going out alone.

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Some interesting points raised, good post.

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Very interesting post Reprobate.

I feel a little silly actually commenting, seeing as I'm only 22, but there has been a huge shift in culture since I was a kid. I think the bad times were on their way in as I was getting off the streets and into some common sense.

Our street was always a boss little community when I was younger. All of the neighbours knew each other. Kept an eye out for each other. Always out on their steps gabbing to each other and filling each other in on the gossip. We used to play football at the bottom of our street when I was about 12 or 13. It was an effort in the terraced streets off County Road as you'd have to stop every two minutes to let cars past. But we were happy and safe. We'd have lads passing by who'd want a game of football. You'd play with them, and yes you'd get the occasional gang of dickheads who'd start fighting (such is youth) but on the whole it was pretty civilised. But that was 9 or 10 years ago.

This year, at the very same little stretch leading onto Carisbrooke Road, there's been two stabbings. A couple of shootings. All on the little part we used to play footy on as kids. The kids in our street don't play out. At least they barely leave their steps if they do. That, coupled with the fact that there are at least 3 houses full of smackheads. The neighbours barely know each other. There's the odd couple my Mam speaks to but it's usually about how bad the streets gone.

That's just one street. In a massive city. And Liverpool is just one city out of thousands and thousands where it is exactly the same story.

Sad isn't it?

Goal posts made of coats,girls with skipping ropes,hide and seek,skippin on and off buses.Going on the bus to Noggsie Green Baths with half the street.Bunkin on the ferry.Southport Funhouse(where I broke me two front teeth on the big slide.)Yeh don't see any/all of that anymore!

Some very good posts in this thread and a very interesting read by Reprobate.

I agreed with a lot of what you said, my Kids are both teenagers now, my youngest is 16, a lad, he doesn't hang around on the streets like a lot of kids his age, he's far more into his photography, wildlife and his x-box. I like to know where he is, it's such a worry these days, but you can't wrap them up in cotton wool, you have to let them go and experience things, you just have to hope that they are sensible, that you've brought them up the right way and that they know what's right and what's wrong.

Very difficult, the hardest job in the world being a Parent.

Goal posts made of coats,girls with skipping ropes,hide and seek,skippin on and off buses.Going on the bus to Noggsie Green Baths with half the street.Bunkin on the ferry.Southport Funhouse(where I broke me two front teeth on the big slide.)Yeh don't see any/all of that anymore!

Mate these were the days when kids would disappear on bikes with a sarnie, a bottle of water and an attempt to get to Southport.I can remember camping on the beach with a blanket and a tin of beans,thinking that i'd achieved something.Growing up on a council house estate meant that we used the street lights as floodlights, and when it snowed we were playing abroad.When the game was over we would go to our camp an light a fire.No computers and what was this television thing?

 Looking back on my time as a kid  I count myself lucky,we had no televisions in the 1940s and when we came home from school we would be out in the street playing football or some other game.Depending on the season we played different games at different times of the year.We had none of the drugs and rubbish that todays kids have to contend with and it makes me sad to see so many young lives ruined by that sh*t.I must admit I am in favour of the Chinese system of shooting anyone caught trafficking.
                                     I remember listening to the 1950 F.A.Cup Final against Arsenal on the radio and losing 2-0 it broke my heart,i also recall the joy of going to Anfield in those days and getting in for 9pence,it was a tanner and they put the price up.I remember a penny return on the tram from Page Moss to the Pier Head.Do I think things were better in those days the answer  would be they were harder but probably better.We have advanced so far with technology today but not all of it has  been for the betterment of the world.

Oh the good old days , petrol 70p a gallon, pint of Stella 28p, Flagon of Strongbow 50p and if you drank beer a pint of PMA 12p. where's my time machine.
And if you forgot your key, just put your hand through the letter box and get the spare one dangling on a piece of string on the back of the door.

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Very interesting post Reprobate.

I feel a little silly actually commenting, seeing as I'm only 22, but there has been a huge shift in culture since I was a kid. I think the bad times were on their way in as I was getting off the streets and into some common sense.

Our street was always a boss little community when I was younger. All of the neighbours knew each other. Kept an eye out for each other. Always out on their steps gabbing to each other and filling each other in on the gossip. We used to play football at the bottom of our street when I was about 12 or 13. It was an effort in the terraced streets off County Road as you'd have to stop every two minutes to let cars past. But we were happy and safe. We'd have lads passing by who'd want a game of football. You'd play with them, and yes you'd get the occasional gang of dickheads who'd start fighting (such is youth) but on the whole it was pretty civilised. But that was 9 or 10 years ago.

This year, at the very same little stretch leading onto Carisbrooke Road, there's been two stabbings. A couple of shootings. All on the little part we used to play footy on as kids. The kids in our street don't play out. At least they barely leave their steps if they do. That, coupled with the fact that there are at least 3 houses full of smackheads. The neighbours barely know each other. There's the odd couple my Mam speaks to but it's usually about how bad the streets gone.

That's just one street. In a massive city. And Liverpool is just one city out of thousands and thousands where it is exactly the same story.

Sad isn't it?

Same here CRK, Im 24 and I feel like loads have changed. Growing up I lived in a row of 6 terraced houses which had an allocated carpark which just happend to have a wall at one end which we drew goals onto. We used to play roller hockey and footy all the time, and the only thing we'd ever have to worry about was grazes on knees or hitting the ball over the wall into Mr Moodys (thats what we called him) garden. Now that same car park is chock full of cars, no room to move about in, and if you kick a ball anywhere, the police usually turn up. When I was 16 we used to play football and hang around streets and park benches but we never caused trouble and everone in my town got along. Now there is just fighting on every corner.

Some great posts on here.  I'm only 21 and the difference between when I was growing up to kids nowadays is huge.  I've lived in the same house all my life and the street I live on now seems different to the one I grew up on.  During the 90's it used to be swarming with kids and young people but now there's no one.  We used to play football using pillars for posts, played 123 or manhunt with groups of up to 50 people and ages ranging from between about 5-20.  Mad waterfights in the summer, snowball fights in winter, even just standing in a big group having a laugh and talking sh*te...none of that happens anymore. 

I couldn't possibly tell when things changed but all of a sudden the whole dynamic of growing up turned into saving dinner money for cigs, getting people to buy us drink on a Friday or Saturday night and just getting into bother.  I absolutely hated how it all changed and how life and what the people you spent all your life hanging around with had become. 

Now you can't even recognise the town you grew up in with young'uns that pick a fight with you when walking down the street, people being stabbed, houses that were safe even ten years ago being robbed...for christ sake, my mum used to leave the keys in the front door so we could let ourselves in when we came home and she was in bed, car keys and everything.  No way could you do that now.

If I have kids, there's no way they'll ever have the childhood I had and that is such a shame because my childhood was the best times of my life. 

I used to live in Walton many years back and then nobody shut their door people used to wander in and out there was no problems whatsoever,I used to go off looking for me mam and try several houses which would be empty and then find the right one and all the neighbours and me mam would be there. They were hard times but when the crimbo and partiies rolled around they were the best times I can remember but its true what they say and you do remember the good times and it seems rosier but they were hard days.

Midnight New Years Eve!Used to step outside and bring a piece of coal in for good luck haha.Weekends at me Nins(waiting outside the Bronte Pub)for her and me uncles to come out P****d and give us a few coppers.Taking the Sterrie milk bottles back for the refund money.OMG I'm old.

Midnight New Years Eve!Used to step outside and bring a piece of coal in for good luck haha.Weekends at me Nins(waiting outside the Bronte Pub)for her and me uncles to come out P****d and give us a few coppers.Taking the Sterrie milk bottles back for the refund money.OMG I'm old.

Sound like the same vintage you and me mate!

Sound like the same vintage you and me mate!

Feel better now Stuey.

We used to play football using pillars for posts, played 123 or manhunt with groups of up to 50 people and ages ranging from between about 5-20. 

That's one of the big changes I've seen. We used to get up to those same things when I was younger and nowadays it winds me up when you hear teenagers on the news blaming their antisocial behaviour and crimes on 'being bored' or having 'nowhere to go'. There's no less places to go now, it's just that they wouldn't be seen dead playing manhunt with the local kids, that really wouldn't be cool. Again, this is something that has changed due to latest scenes or music culture. It's far cooler to huddle in a dark alley, freezing your tits off and playing sh*t out loud on your phone 

During the 90's it used to be swarming with kids and young people but now there's no one.  We used to play football using pillars for posts, played 123 or manhunt with groups of up to 50 people and ages ranging from between about 5-20.  Mad waterfights in the summer, snowball fights in winter, even just standing in a big group having a laugh and talking sh*te...none of that happens anymore.   

They were the days weren't they? I remember going down to Kirkdale and standing on the Rec there, just talking sh*te and taking the piss out of each other. Or playing footy on the gravel down there, or just trying to ping the ball off the crossbar from the halfway line.

Couple of years after that, I had a gun to my neck on that Rec. Ridiculous but that was around the turning point when I realised that it just weren't the same about any more.

My lad was at a game in Speke last week that had to be abandoned cos someone pulled a gun and four shots were fired....crazy.

When i was young we would take a bottle of water the park and play football till it went dark. Play for hour against kids from anywhere.Things have changed in the way pepole relate to each other in my opinion. Then pepole helped each other looked out for each other. Today its all about the Thatcher legacy look after number one and to hell with everyone else.
 Look how the dockers and the miners looked after each other, today the postmen do the same thing and they are tarred with being subversives, for just looking after there job, and whats the public attitude, Were is my mail. Wait till it goes private.
  Having returned from a few day break got on a bus at the airport. put my case on the bus there are two old Lady's with cases takes the cases off them and put them on the bus. The two Lady's were that shocked they said please tell me i am in Liverpool.
Another time i was on a bus coming into town and a lad was smoking on the bus driver told him to get off, he would no and walked up to the driver and blew smoke into his face.
Another time on the train from Southport train full my wife was 8 months pregnant, the train full wife had to stand, the a gang of lads get on and start to knock her. Told the to calm it but no joy  by this time i flipped and smacked one of them, all the passengers knew what was going on but chose to look the other way i had hassle all the way home but told the passengers what thought of them.
In the theater to see a play and the is pepole pissed of there heads and cant walk whats that all about
Whats wrong with a little consideration  and manners there free and go a long way
People think only of themself es

Use to run a kid's football team the parent,s are terrible. One father shouting break his legs and if you don't then i will. The kids were under eights. What chance do the kids have