Our kids too wrapped in bubble wrap these days?

[PrincessBandit]

Just watching 60 minutes and the article is on kids having fun with ......shock horror...... all the associated pc osh stuff missing!!!! How refreshing to see kids in the item having fun (exhibited by all the laughing and huge grins on faces) without all the risk taking being removed. Reminds me of the old "kids losing immunity to germs because they're not allowed to eat dirt or grass" sort of thing. The question being asked is "what's wrong with getting hurt?" and allowing children the opportunity to have their fun without the big bogeyman of "you musn't do that because you might get hurt" being held over their heads. Wow. Reminds me of my childhood - osh would have had a field day with the sorts of things we used to get up to but we survived and had fun doing it!!
Golly gosh, common sense might even make a welcomed return.

[Pussy]

Sign of the times, unfortunately, PB
When I was a kid (and I'm older than you, you little whippersnapper :bleh:), my Mum had heaps of trouble trying to get me inside the house... didn't sit on my arse all day playing computer games...
I just wish she had discouraged me more from watching bloody topdressing planes...

[oldrider]

The second half of the program is a classic case of the NZ double standards when it comes to "protecting" our children.

No climbing trees, playing bullrush, rafting in the rivers but hours and hours of crap violent TV viewing.

All produced in New Zealand and now "proudly" being sold overseas to feck up other nations kids. Shheeeeesh bloody rubbish!

This country has some crazy mixed up values. (IMHO) :confused: John.

PS: Pussy, nothing wrong with watching topdressing planes, did a lot of it myself. (in fact we did everything and anything when we were kids, total freedom!)

[ynot slow]

Haha,went to school with TeKaue?Wano(guy whose kids were enjoying playing games),back then the other half of the Wano twins alias Rodney and Craig as called then.Can fully relate to what he said,at primary school we used to play rugby,soccer,bullrush at every time available,also can remember trying to see who could kick a rugby ball over the Convent church(about 70' high lol)managed to break the odd window though.

Nowadays we are too PC,including kids spending too much time PC(computer/playstation)rather than going out and getting dirty,scratched,getting the odd bone set or stitches.

[maybe]

Let the kids learn have fun somtimes maybe even hurt themselves, thats what life is all about.

[pete376403]

Kids need to learn that actions have consequences.
To many kids grow up now never having hurt themselves. When they get a car (or bike) they believe they're invincible. Sadly, many find out that they are not.

And yes my kids, both boys and girls, grew up doing risky and (within reason) dangerous things. One broke an arm falling out of a tree, the others got through ok.

They've turned into pretty well adjusted adults.

[Genestho]

I agreed with this, how are the L Platers supposed to grow up confident outgoing and pushing their own boundaries, non pasty faced/ non wimpy if they dont experiment?

So what if the schools dont like kids climbing trees and skateboarding, Im confused..isnt that what a home and parenting is for?

If I want my boys to have big confident balls...

Im not useless, I can supervise as they climb trees, maybe even climb it with them, so they learn how to grab the fat branch, not the skinny one.

Its all about teaching them to test and know their boundaries.
Because when theyre P platers they'll need to know how to deal with life and dickheads, and with a background of confidence, maybe as a parent I can give them one of the biggest gifts of all?

[skidMark]

My childhood, hmmm the osh man wouldve had a heart attack...

Big tree huts, afore mentioned tree fell on grandma's car...

Me and the neighbour racing our homemade wooden gokarts down the street, hitting them into powerpoles at 30kph....neighbour and his brother once fpliiped their one and got trapepd inside it, that was funny.

hmmm what else, scaling cliffs at grandmas place up north then me sliding down a near vertical cliff for 30 metres and landing on the rocks in the water below.


ummm im sure there was plenty more silly shit, and i turned out a respectable member of society, right?:baby:

[BIGBOSSMAN]

Yeah, bring back Bullrush I say! I always used to be the last boy standing...

[Gareth51]

I shudder at some of the things we used to do as kids ,crawling through 15inch stormwater pipes to get get to the other side of the road ,jumping from the tops of 60ft pines trees to the next etc. etc. Its where you get your life skils from.

And what about going for a ride on a hot summers day,teeshirt,shorts,jandels
and no helmet(had to wear something on the feet to kick the old girl over)

[Genestho]

I shudder at some of the things we used to do as kids ,crawling through 15inch stormwater pipes to get get to the other side of the road ,jumping from the tops of 60ft pines trees to the next etc. etc.

And what about going for a ride on a hot summers day,teeshirt,shorts,jandels
and no helmet(had to wear something on the feet to kick the old girl over)

mmm laying in branches at the tops of trees in swaying wind, bullrush, and when my knees smacked my chin after jumping off the shed, and realising I didnt want to jump off anything that high again, sitting on the back of a ute, and those spinning round and round thingys at parks, and when you got off you couldnt walk straight, climbing on old rusted truck wrecks at my park and pretending to drive them, jumping into rivers...etc etc...

[NighthawkNZ]

Just watching 60 minutes and the article is on kids having fun with ......shock horror...... all the associated pc osh stuff missing!!!! How refreshing to see kids in the item having fun...

watched that at totally agreed with them... fuck when I was younger we did all that shit bumps bruises, cuts and grazes and stitches but fuck we had some fun...

[Trumpess]

Ahhhh ... i remember those days so well!
They were fun!!

I cringe watching my kids play. Half the time they are so into what they are doing, consequence dosent even enter the equasion!

[Swoop]

Yeah, bring back Bullrush I say! I always used to be the last boy standing...
You just might have something there BBM.

Why not run a "New Zealand Bullrush Championships", just to piss off the PC brigade!

[BIHB@0610]

I knew we'd done a good job when we got a new confidence course built at my kids' school (I was president of the PTA :innocent:). I pushed the plans through council real quick (it's not what you know, but who you know!) 'cause I knew the playground standards were about to change - they were going to get a lot tougher/safer - shame.

The first week the course was open two kids broke their arms :2thumbsup

Five years on, kids are still having a blast on it :headbang:

[awayatc]

Ahhhh ... i remember those days so well!
They were fun!!



Must be something wrong with some of you lot,
or maybe something wrong with me..?

I am still having fun.....

My kids?

Can't even remember how often we been at after hours surgery.....
They all survived....

[batesclan]

Thinking back to my "kid years" not unheard of to climb trees above power lines, jump of haystacks, jump creeks on the all powerfull pushbike lol.

You get hurt, you learn to either not do it again or do it better. Its called experience. I see the results of these "experiments" in my job. Doesn't mean I wrap my kids in cotton wool. They got to learn their limits.

Maybe if the PC brigade gave it a rest for a while then kids might leave the computers.TV's etc and venture outside into the bright sunshine and use their imaginations like we used to. (who remembers having more fun at times with the packaging at xmas rather than the contents ? go on you know you do).

anyway thats my 10 cents worth

[NighthawkNZ]

I am still having fun.....


I'm still a kid... shit I ride a motorised two wheeled forward momentum contraption for fun...

[blossomsowner]

yeah it would be good if all the officious beaurocratic osh types gave up for a bit so the kids could play using imaginations and skill and decision making for themselves. My kids spend most of their time up a big tree at the end of our street or kicking a rugby ball into or over it.
it helps them learn stuff about commonsense and gravity.

[Motu]

And what about going for a ride on a hot summers day,teeshirt,shorts,jandels
and no helmet(had to wear something on the feet to kick the old girl over)

Too right - how many of the ''tough'' posters on this thread would dare to do that eh? Have they ever gone over 160kph with no helmet and goggles,have they ever crashed in jeans and sneakers,no helmet or gloves....picked the bike up and ridden it home,and not even have your mother get upset when you told her?

Take off the bubble wrap yourself if you expect the kids to.

[MIXONE]

My standard lines to my kids are "It wont hurt once the pain goes away" and "Is there any blood or bones sticking out?Well it can't be too bad then."
They have both had their share of stitches and have skinned knees on a daily basis.Both happy well adjusted kids though.

[Number One]

Yeah, bring back Bullrush I say! I always used to be the last boy standing...

And I the last girl :shifty: I can tackle alright - committed heart and soul was the only girl in a huge bunch of friends and you learned to play rough and handle the jandal!


Why not run a "New Zealand Bullrush Championships", just to piss off the PC brigade!

OOOO Yeah!!!! I'd be keen :yes:


I'm still a kid... shit I ride a motorised two wheeled forward momentum contraption for fun...

Indeed - when will we ever grow up? :rolleyes: Hopefully never :niceone:


My standard lines to my kids are "It wont hurt once the pain goes away" and "Is there any blood or bones sticking out?Well it can't be too bad then."
They have both had their share of stitches and have skinned knees on a daily basis.Both happy well adjusted kids though.

:laugh: My old man used to touch the painful area/s and say "that doesn't hurt...well I just touched it and it didn't hurt...no really I felt nothing" Then he'd slosh on the surgical spirits to sting the shit out of any 'bad' bugs, slap me round the ears and say go play on the road. What a sweetie :crazy: I had my fair share of bumps and cuts and other such stuff too...just means I don't wear short skirts...on account of my ugly mishapen and scarred knees....:lol: nah bugger that I just don't wear short skirts might catch my death of cold or something if I did :shutup:

[Chrislost]

The second half of the program is a classic case of the NZ double standards when it comes to "protecting" our children.

No climbing trees, playing bullrush, rafting in the rivers but hours and hours of crap violent TV viewing.

All produced in New Zealand and now "proudly" being sold overseas to feck up other nations kids. Shheeeeesh bloody rubbish!

This country has some crazy mixed up values. (IMHO) :confused: John.

PS: Pussy, nothing wrong with watching topdressing planes, did a lot of it myself. (in fact we did everything and anything when we were kids, total freedom!)

even the cartoons are not funny anymore.

its just 2 minutes of screaming then some fighting.

none of this adult humor that kids find funny for completely different reasons

and we wonder why theres more kids heading towards jail...

[TOTO]

when I was a kid, and that was not that long ago, in my county we used to play at constuction sites with huge cranes, concrete platforms and steal beams everywhere...

Used to brake apart car batteries in order to get the lead out so we can build fire, melt it and lay it in the ground to create shapes...

Used to go steal cheries and getting shot in the ass with salt from an air gun and chased by german sheppards while we were wearing flip flops...

Ride on the front seat of a car withought a seatbelt, wth open windows and our head out the window...

Walk to school in snow storms in -15 and still make it home in one peace...

Used to Put kerosine in the toilets so when the kids at were smoking in the toilets and they trew thir cigarete in the toilet, the toilets exploded and left the school closed for 2 days...

Used to call fake bomb threats at the school when there was a final exam happening...


Used to play with matches and make quite nice bombs out of it...

Teachers used to trow a ball of keys at us if we didn't listen in class, and it hurt...



Those kids we see today are soft man. You put them in a car in the summer and they die , what kinda of shit is that. We got left in the car in the summer in 45degrees celsious and we didnt die.

Maybe someone should start a HTFU school for kids... :rockon:

[awayatc]

Everybody wants their kids to be better off then they were themselves.....
As of late people have more means to spoil the kids.....

And under the guise of spoiling them,we slowly but surely have strangled them......
They have more posessions then ever before...., but they are definitely no better off.

[BIHB@0610]

They have more posessions then ever before...., but they are definitely no better off.

True .... in a way ..... but it makes me sad when people keen going on about how spoiled our kids are these days, and how they are ALL wrapped in cotton wool.

Mine have a lot more material things than I did, granted, but they also have a lot more opportunity and just as much dirty :innocent: fun. They have flash mountain bikes, sure, and I take them half way around the country to throw themselves down a downhill track, and get a cool trip down the hill in an ambulance :crazy: They all have dirt bikes, and their Dad takes them half way around the country on both days of his weekend so they can throw themselves into gorse bushes when they miss a corner, and have the bike land on top of them. They have great camping holidays where they get to find, name, and bury a family of puffer fish, and keep and treasure rotten old hammerhead sharks for days on end, stinking out the camp ground and making me lots of new friends :eek: They have overseas holidays where they get to collect coconuts, geckos, and shells, and go snorkelling with barracuda, moray eels, sea snakes, and sting rays, or throw themselves around theme parks that feel just like the Easter show used to (as I remember it anyway!).

And when they come home from all that excitement, they are still happy collecting cicada skins in a bottle, jumping on their trampoline with the cat :eek:, sliding down the hill at the park in old cardboard boxes, climbing the rotten old trees in my un-pruned garden, beating each other up until they get black eyes (it's self limiting and I don't interfere unless a bone pokes out) or playing at the school (on 'mum's' confidence course hehe!).

I think most kids, and their parents, these days are doing great :yes:

[Oakie]

Random thought about being PC. We used to play 'cowboys and indians' when I was at primary school some 40 odd years ago. I guess they play 'Cowboys and Native Americans' now?

[yungatart]

We used to do all that old stuff too. Cricket on the main road, off to the beach on our own at 10, homemade go karts (they go really fast down Bayly Rd hill in NP!), tree climbing etc.
My kids range in age from 17 up to 33. The things that it was okay for the older ones to do certainly got the "tut tut" look when the younger kids did them. Things really have changed, and not for the better.
Risk taking teaches valuable life skills and should be encouraged IMHO.

[Lissa]

I saw the ad for that 20/20 but I forgot to watch it, but I told my kids yesterday we were going to find a tree to climb and as long as they dont break any bones they should try it! Mister 9 and Miss 7 turned to me and said "but what if we get hurt?" hehe, I told them all about how growing up with three older brothers I was always climbing trees, jumping out at the milk boys as they delivered the milk bottles and watching them jump and the bottles smash (those were the days of glass milk containers), playing cricket on the street, riding my bike down to the river, playing in the stream (unsupervised) down the end of my street. My kids miss out of heaps of stuff, so what I broke an arm, got cuts and bruises its all part of knowing your limits!

As for getting dirty, I actually encourage my kids to make Mud Pies, got a little garden that is theirs (until I plant the tomatos) to get down right dirty!

Off to find a huge arse tree this afternoon :2thumbsup

[Ixion]

Random thought about being PC. We used to play 'cowboys and indians' when I was at primary school some 40 odd years ago. I guess they play 'Cowboys and Native Americans' now?

Sexist reactionary ! Shame on you.

Cowpersons and Native Americans please. And I'm not sure that doesn't breach some PC rule about species discrimination against cows.

[Skunk]

Sexist reactionary ! Shame on you.

Cowpersons and Native Americans please. And I'm not sure that doesn't breach some PC rule about species discrimination against cows.
Not with toy guns either thank you! Please use fake biodegradable injury-free flowers.

[sunhuntin]

Too right - how many of the ''tough'' posters on this thread would dare to do that eh? Have they ever gone over 160kph with no helmet and goggles,have they ever crashed in jeans and sneakers,no helmet or gloves....picked the bike up and ridden it home,and not even have your mother get upset when you told her?

Take off the bubble wrap yourself if you expect the kids to.

i quite often ride in less than suitable gear. hell, today im contemplating riding home in shorts, tshirt and sneakers [with helmet, but only cos its law. if it wasnt law...] simply cos is gorgeously sunny and i really cant be fucked putting the hot stuff on.

as for childhood stuff... i think i arrived just about the start of the pc bullshit. i climbed trees [and fell out] and the like, but i wasnt allowed to go anywhere outside the gates by myself. tree climbing was out at primary school. pity cos they had wicked ever greens perfect for climbing. think i was about 6 when a bunch of us got yelled at. stupid thing is, the bark on the playground was more dangerous. i remember jumping down off a climbing frame like the boys were and getting a sharp ass bit of bark stuck in my bare foot. i learned to wear shoes. i do wish id been born earlier and had the chance to live life without any pointless rules.

when i was babysitting, the youngest boy was not allowed to this, that and the other just in case he got sick. this kid was spoilt rotten, and i remember getting told off cos he was wet after picking the hose up and refusing to put it down. diddums, spoilt kid got a little bit wet... he'll die!

[Toaster]

I just wish she had discouraged me more from watching bloody topdressing planes...

You kept inhaling the fumes didn't you? hehehe

[pete376403]

True .... in a way ..... but it makes me sad when people keen going on about how spoiled our kids are these days, and how they are ALL wrapped in cotton wool.

Mine have a lot more material things than I did, granted, but they also have a lot more opportunity and just as much dirty :innocent: fun. They have flash mountain bikes, sure, and I take them half way around the country to throw themselves down a downhill track, and get a cool trip down the hill in an ambulance :crazy: They all have dirt bikes, and their Dad takes them half way around the country on both days of his weekend so they can throw themselves into gorse bushes when they miss a corner, and have the bike land on top of them. They have great camping holidays where they get to find, name, and bury a family of puffer fish, and keep and treasure rotten old hammerhead sharks for days on end, stinking out the camp ground and making me lots of new friends :eek: They have overseas holidays where they get to collect coconuts, geckos, and shells, and go snorkelling with barracuda, moray eels, sea snakes, and sting rays, or throw themselves around theme parks that feel just like the Easter show used to (as I remember it anyway!).

And when they come home from all that excitement, they are still happy collecting cicada skins in a bottle, jumping on their trampoline with the cat :eek:, sliding down the hill at the park in old cardboard boxes, climbing the rotten old trees in my un-pruned garden, beating each other up until they get black eyes (it's self limiting and I don't interfere unless a bone pokes out) or playing at the school (on 'mum's' confidence course hehe!).

I think most kids, and their parents, these days are doing great :yes:
Expect a call from either CYFS or SPCA soon about how you're endangering your children...

[Skunk]

Too right - how many of the ''tough'' posters on this thread would dare to do that eh? Have they ever gone over 160kph with no helmet and goggles,have they ever crashed in jeans and sneakers,no helmet or gloves....picked the bike up and ridden it home,and not even have your mother get upset when you told her?

Take off the bubble wrap yourself if you expect the kids to.
I wear the gear because I learnt what hurt when I was a kid. The PC kids of today wouldn't know what hurts and what doesn't...

[Skyryder]

Did not see the show but in my experiance most of this PC shit is the result of mothers being too protective. I spent the better part of my childrens childhood as 'at home parent.' That ranged from plunket, kindergarten committe's and school trips etc. It would only take one parent to complain and changes were made in accordance with that parents wishes. There was usuely a cartel behind the complaint what with networking and gossiping mums etc.

Skyryder

[glice]

yea kids are too soft now. I'm only 20 and in short amount of time since I was a kid, things are already way different.
they need to feel some pain to know what is a dum idea. instead of just being invincable on playstation.

[speedpro]

I took of my son and two of his friends to the state forest park a little over a year ago. Got them to take their shoes off, roll up their pants, and get in the stream and start making a dam. They got wet and dirty. It doesn't matter if the pants are rolled up if you get in deep enough. They climbed all over the rocks in bare feet which my wife wouldn't have let happen if she was there, and on the way home the eldest kept saying it was the best day of his life. Those boys were never allowed to visit with us again.

[KiwiKat]

It's really frustrating teaching kid's all day and knowing that they have little respect for risk and consequences thereof. We learn by our mistakes and we learn from the risks we take in life. Many young children think they are invincible and perhap need to be allowed to take risks and make mistakes. The reality is that is one of the best ways that children learn to take more care is pain.

Gee and I still ride bikes. Who'd figure.

[NighthawkNZ]

Our kids too wrapped in bubble wrap these days?

bubble wrap is fun anyhow... makes all them cool popping sounds.... :innocent:

[FROSTY]

OMG --you mean I'm sposed to stop my kids from being hurt--ohh shit
FOR SALE KIds motorbikes and BMX bikes
TUI

[Skyryder]

I took of my son and two of his friends to the state forest park a little over a year ago. Got them to take their shoes off, roll up their pants, and get in the stream and start making a dam. They got wet and dirty. It doesn't matter if the pants are rolled up if you get in deep enough. They climbed all over the rocks in bare feet which my wife wouldn't have let happen if she was there, and on the way home the eldest kept saying it was the best day of his life. Those boys were never allowed to visit with us again.

Yep just the sort of thing I was saying. Bet it was Mum who made the decision.

I made it a point of giving my kids plenty of free rein. Bloody hell I let them watch the Rocky Horror at five and six years of age. Was there fav. vid. for years.



Skyryder

[ynot slow]

Hell remember at the parks,if they had the big swings,how much fun was it when you could actually get on the seat lol,then the joy of jumping off the seat when at it's highest point,probably only 5 or 6',but felt like 15'.

Or riding the rocking horse,sitting on the back when 3 or 4 on it,and really rocking it.Joys of the old man having years of race riding behind him and sitting on the front,my brother and me sitting at the back,learnt to use knees to hang on with as well,or bail off.

We made underground huts with trenches maybe 2' under ground,if it collapsed no worries,then we decided to go really deep between the neighbours sheds,to much Hogans Heroes,but worked,we dug down about 5' and tunnelled.

[mstriumph]

i think it's sad that children aren't even permitted to get DIRTY these days .... one hint of a smudge and the PC brigade demand they be whisked away and hosed down with antibacterial this and superclean that ........ :mad:

[speedpro]

I have to laugh at the aerosol air freshener and "sanitiser" sprays advertised.

[Oakie]

Sexist reactionary ! Shame on you.

Cowpersons and Native Americans please. And I'm not sure that doesn't breach some PC rule about species discrimination against cows.

'Bovine (and other quadraped) Management Engineers' then?

[PrincessBandit]

bubble wrap is fun anyhow... makes all them cool popping sounds.... :innocent:

Actually you are quite right - both me and my kids (well, teenagers now) LOVE playing with bubblewrap. Don't think they'd be overly happy if I tried parcelling them up in it tho! lol.

On the other hand, it could be fun for mummy.........:eek:

[Bren]

dont let kids get near bubble wrap...they could cover their mouths with it and suffocate!

[FROSTY]

Actually you are quite right - both me and my kids (well, teenagers now) LOVE playing with bubblewrap. Don't think they'd be overly happy if I tried parcelling them up in it tho! lol.

On the other hand, it could be fun for mummy.........:eek:
RIGHT NOW--- YUP 4 boys wrapped in buble wtrap Ill happilly drop em off the friggin roof and see if they bounce

[scumdog]

Actually you are quite right - both me and my kids (well, teenagers now) LOVE playing with bubblewrap. Don't think they'd be overly happy if I tried parcelling them up in it tho! lol.

On the other hand, it could be fun for mummy.........:eek:

Loved that scene in the Jim Carrey movie (Pet Detective I think) where he walked into a dark storage room trying to be sneaky and quiet - then walked onto a sheet of bubble-wrap lying on the ground!

[Ixion]

'Bovine (and other quadraped) Management Engineers' then?

Legism ! What about spiders? Insects? Octopuses and squids? Birds? Reactionary fascist !