I suppose it would be true to say every generation think that in their youth they were better dressed and behaved than today’s youth. I look at the young people today and have to wonder! Boys with their pants around their knees, unruly hair, body piercing and tattoos. Girls dressed in styles that barely cover their bodies (no pun intended),latest hair styles,body piercing and tattoos. I do realize in my own youth our elders looked upon us as having gone wild. Our music was considered dreadful and we didn’t appreciate the sacrifices that had been made for us. The often heard remark from an elder was, “You lot have it made, things were much tougher in my day”. Its difficult to sort out the differences and changes, but I really do think standards have declined. I was taught to hold open a door for an adult, give up my seat on a bus if a lady was standing. If I was in trouble at school I was also in trouble at home. If I was seen misbehaving in the street a neighbour would report it to my parents. Of course we were far from perfect and did get up to mischief. Knock on some poor old lady’s door then run like hell before she had time to opened it. We teased the milkman, the postman and the bread delivery man. We jumped on the back of the coal delivery lorry for a ride down the street, probably dangerous but we thought it was fun. Even more fun when the driver stopped to chase us. However, besides the childhood pranks, we entertained ourselves in a wide variety of ways. We collected frog eggs from the river and raised them in a jar until they became tadpoles then release them back into the river. We collected stamps, wish I still had mine, they might be worth a few coins today. We searched the hedgerows for bird nests, some boys raised baby Jackdaws letting them go when they could fly. Boys got together to play football or cricket, we rarely had coaches. We held Conker (horse chestnut) championships. At school we worked hard to make the first eleven football team. I never asked to use my fathers car, he didn’t have one, I used my bicycle to go everywhere. When I didn’t have a bike I walked or sat on the crossbar of a friends bike. I joined the Sea Scouts, later the Boys Brigade, attended church and Sunday school and played football at ever opportunity. To sum it up, I kept myself busy, and can’t remember complaining about having nothing to do, I’m sure there were moments but can’t remember them!!!!Right. Recently three young boys burned to death in a derelict building. They apparently lit a fire late at night then fell asleep. Its hard to understand how this could have happened, why were they miles from home, indeed, why were they not at home in the first place. One has to wonder if alcohol or drugs played a roll in this tragic event. I hope my blog does not come across as merely a criticism of today`s youth,but rather as a caution to the choices they make. I made many poor choices in my youth, fortunately none were too serious, but I also think I lived in a world with less temptation and danger. Some elders would probably claim we had better moral values, others would say we had better parents, or the schools were stricter. The truth however is more to do with the examples and standards we have set for today`s youth. One only has to look to the examples set by our politicians, listen to their lies, greed and corruption. Unfortunately, on that score we seniors are all guilty.
God Bless and keep reading
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