British Couple Reacts to The Dangers Gen X Faced In America!

[@buckeyegirl16]

He left out playing street hockey, kick ball, or baseball in the street. Everyone remember yelling "game off" when a car approached then "game on" when the coast was clear

[@RobertBreedon-c3b]

We used to just yell at the top of our lungs "CAR" then " GAME ON"

[@NathanCline12-21]

That was 90% of my childhood.

[@kurtsaxton823]

How many times did one of you break a window playing baseball in the street? It was almost expected, and the neighbors were all cool though. Block parties at 4th of July. And tons of kids trick-or-treating for Halloween.

[@oldtexastechman9144]

Remember racing down street in your big wheel or bikes

[@NathanCline12-21]

@@oldtexastechman9144 I remember those were the only races we cared about

[@glennallen239]

I am 59 years old and was born in 1964 the last year of the Baby Boomers Gen X started in 1965. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and we had so much more freedom.We drank out of the Garden Hoses and rode our Bikes without Helmets or Pads. We did not wear seatbelts and rode in the back of Pick Up Trucks. We played outside and knew after Dinner you stayed outside to play until the Street Lights started coming on.

[@kevinbrown3075]

I was born in Sept. of ‘64 and totally consider myself a Gen-Exer. Growing up in the 70’s was very different than being born in the 70’s that’s for damn sure. Not to mention being a teenager in the ‘80s.😆

[@michelleortega1514]

​@kevinbrown3075 The 70s were great I was 12 in 1970 so my best kid years were the 70s

[@shadowkissed2370]

I am younger Gen X, 78, was a child in the 80's and a teen in the 90's. I think it is the best of both worlds still raised as a Gen X but also still went through the things older millennials went through.

[@arrobrewer2730]

I thought 63 was the last year of us boomers but i like your comment. Thing were differant back then. Strangely i work w/gen x and millennials too but some of them show real hope. Gen z on the other hand, god help us.

[@kevinbrown3075]

Douglas Copeland who coined the phrase Generation X with his book, “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture” was born in December of 1961. One would think his birth year would be the beginning of the Xer generation.

[@GenXfrom75]

Gen X grew up self sufficient and sturdy… took life on the chin. The last generation of feral children, as they say.

[@misterkite]

.. and then sadly became helicopter parents.

[@suicyco4life666]

I was born in 1969. Who could of known that we would be the last generation to have it so good? Back then if you got in trouble there was a possibility that part of your punishment was not being able to leave the house. To a gen X kid being grounded to the house was like jail. It was absolute torture! I grew up in a rural mountainous area out west. We were going on some elaborate hunting and fishing trips on our own and without needing permission from our parents. We just went. From the time I was 10 years old I carried a 12 Guage shotgun in the woods. We didn't even bother with bb guns. The possibility of running into a bear or cougar was very real and not uncommon. Kids nowadays would not have any idea what to do. They would just be food.

[@chris5947]

I am so grateful I grew up in the 80's! Did all the things in this video and much more!

[@GenXfrom75]

@@suicyco4life666 💯%

[@GenXfrom75]

@@chris5947 same 💕

[@xenialafleur]

One thing that never gets mentioned is the Chicken Pox Parties.

[@danusdragonfly6640]

We had one at our house when I caught the Chicken Pox. We had a kids pool party. All of the mothers hoped their kids would catch it during the summer so we didn't miss school.

[@susanlistman439]

We had one for the neighborhood in the mid 70’s, my sister and I were the only ones who didn’t catch it. We are 4 years apart in age and each got it when we were 20. That was our weird flex. We also had a neighbor who would whistle for his kids at supper time, that was when the neighborhood cleared of kids, no street light limit for us, if they had late supper, we all had late supper. I loved it and am happy that was my childhood!

[@tabanderson5148]

😂😂😂 I have 2 sisters and 1 of us got chicken pox. Our parents had us sit together touching until we all got it. Called it "1 and done"!😂😂😂

[@billmarshall5040]

Chicken Pox, mumps, measles. One summer and done! 😂😂😂

[@susanlistman439]

@@billmarshall5040 Dang, tough summer! My worst was June-September of being 16 I had mononucleosis. At least my pox were during college, exemptions galore!

[@Sonya73]

GenX took care of themselves, raised ourselves basically. We're a tough generation!!

[@Carfan678]

Every generation says that about themselves lmfao

[@danielpeters2282]

@@Carfan678not gen z lol

[@coolerking7427]

@@Carfan678 Nope not true. Gen Z bitches and complain all the time.

[@lusciousmayweather8385]

Exactly I was already staying at home by myself after school in the first grade. My parents worked & my older siblings were in middle school and highschool & All has after school activities. I got out of school at 2:15 in elementary & Being the youngest I always had the house to myself for about 3 to 4hrs 😂

[@user-Danswife]

​@@Carfan678 REALLY??? This latest generation can't even figure out which bathroom to use!😂😂

[@GenXfrom75]

Gen X…. Never a better time to have one’s childhood!! It was an amazing time to be alive & growing up!!

[@a7734999]

My father got off work one day and came to pick me up from my grandparents house. He asked grandma where i was, she said outside helping grandpa with something. He walked out back to find me sitting on top of the house 13 meters up handing shingles to Grandpa. I was 3.

[@jennifertarin4707]

When I was a toddler, my parents each thought the other was watching me. I apparently decided that I wanted to go swimming so I walked over to the creek and walked in. Mind you, this was winter in Vermont and there was snow on the ground.

[@gamingbrothers1890]

We had all night bonfires in the hood all night walked around at night

[@chantelchapman4875]

😂

[@Ingaevones33]

@@jennifertarin4707lol Hell yes! HELL.YES.!

[@Ingaevones33]

My man 🤙🏼

[@garyi.1360]

We weren't left on the street. We were escaping. It was freedom and fun, man.

[@RedRiverRamblers]

Yeah, they had to make me come inside. Sometimes I slept out in my pup tent as far as i could get away from the house and still be on our land

[@christopherbrubaker2070]

The freedom and fun enough to Stab our feet with garden tools we threw at the ground. Capturing snakes not knowing which ones might be poisonous. Collecting crayfishes and teasing it to pinch. Catching bees by their wings, and looking closely at them. Ah, those were good times. Lol

[@stevenbeall9637]

We also didn't have cup holders in cars. The kids were the cupholders because Dad needed someone to hold his beer.

[@lauralee83]

💯 😂

[@kendo7964]

Hadn't thought of this but very accurate.

[@mrbeaverstate]

My dad would send me down to the store with a note to buy him a pack of cigarettes. 2nd grade.

[@Carfan678]

why u drinking beer in the car to begin with

[@syntheticsleep]

No cup holders because there were ashtrays all over the car 😂😂

[@altones1952]

Gen x had more common sense. We didn't need warning labels 😂🤣

[@smftv]

Pain was our warning label. All I'll say is that as an adult... I have a literal TON of common sense!

[@elcaballeronyc]

We are the reason most of those labels exist 😂

[@altones1952]

@@elcaballeronyc 🤣🤣

[@darrengray1849]

I should be equipped with a warning label.

[@altones1952]

@@darrengray1849 🤣

[@jimmers123]

I was born in '72, and pretty much from the time I was 9 or so I'd just tell mom I was going out on my bike and about the only rule I had to follow was be home by dinner. It was an utterly carefree time.

[@NathanCline12-21]

I had similar rules, I also always thought rules are for suckers😂

[@jimmers123]

@@NathanCline12-21 I’m pretty sure that’s why I am the way I am :)

[@adlockhungry304]

Same here! Also ‘72.

[@jennifertarin4707]

As not great as some parts of my childhood were, I loved growing up when and how I did and wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world (well, maybe then)

[@Unique-Rythmn]

We had street lights in our neighborhood they came on about 6pm that was my curfew dinner was on the table and I had better be at the table with my hands & face washed

[@cenewton3221]

I'm squarely in the middle of GenX. We used to have bottle rocket wars, shooting bottle rockets, lobbing firecrackers & booming Roman Candles at each other. Such a blast! (pun intended lol)

[@misterkite]

I literally had a crappy m80 go off in my hand.. the only reason I still have fingers is because we were trained to always hold fireworks in an open hand.

[@DustyAxelsen]

Not all Gen X was this r-worded. Just wanna throw that out there. These are the idiots that ended up on the news and the rest of us shook our heads and laughed at.

[@danielpeters2282]

That was awesome

[@smftv]

I still have a scar on my leg from a roman candle fight, and a scar from a crab apple fight. We threw everything at eat other back then. If someone could lift it, get ready to run!

[@michaelallen3894]

I'm Gen X, born in 1967 and it really wasn't that bad. More playing outside and less TV.

[@IggyStardust1967]

I'm another born in '67.... and it wasn't "that bad" to US. Compared to what's acceptable TODAY.... that's a whole different story. By today's standards, we were in unacceptable danger all day long. To us, it was just "normal".

[@leeloehr1]

I was born in "68 and growing up in the 70's & 80's I think kinda toughened me up. We had a ton of fun but we, at least I, wasn't coddled to the point of being "over protected". Live and learn by trial and error. I do think though that our society has become way more dangerous for kids because of the crime and drugs. This video brought back a lot of memories!!!

[@justaride1366]

Same here, born in '67. What they call dangerous, I called fun. We weren't taught, we learned! And we had loads of fun doing it.

[@drivers99]

I’m gen X and watched a crap-ton of TV.

[@IgobySensei]

Guess none of you had fun. We would jump from the roof to the trampoline, ride on top of cars, blow up sh!t, always on the look out to top our previous stunt. TV was not in our agenda. We always wanted to be outside doing stuff.

[@virginiapudelko6280]

Born in 1967 here and can tell you that we never had any trouble with all of the "dangers" that people worry about now. We were raised to live our lives doing everything in this video and so much more. if we got hurt we learned not to do something that way again! We learned caution, we learned how to think for ourselves. We looked out for each other and learned from our own mistakes. Today's kids are wimps!

[@catgirl6803]

Well that's because obviously the dead can't speak up for themselves. I know 3 kids who got thrown from riding in the back of a pickup truck. One died and two ended up in wheelchairs. I also know a kid who got a brain injury from a skateboarding accident when he decided to ride the skateboard by holding onto a rope tied to the back of a car. Another friend who had a serious back injury from riding her bike and flipped over a car and landed on a windshield. And another friend who died of skin cancer at age 29. Some of these things are harmless- like drinking from a hose- but others I'm glad there are laws from now.

[@pvccannon1966]

@@catgirl6803 1966 Born here. Thats called natural selection, and accidents. Kids still get deleated in cars trucks bikes today. From the beging of time, making it to an adult is kind of his or miss process. But at least we got our vidimin D from the sun. Not our ceriall like today because the kids dont go outside enough.

[@Greg_Andrews]

Today's kids are not "wimps" , that word is so 70's ... they are snowflakes. hehehe (just kidding....I think)

[@catgirl6803]

@@pvccannon1966 wow what an asshole.

[@scimbrelo]

Today's kids duck bullets in elementary schools while cops cower and prevent their parents from charging in. Fact.

[@shag139]

Until the mid-late 70’s we only had 4 over the air channels: ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS (public broadcasting).

[@rodneygream5647]

When the president spoke you were screwed as a kid. It was on everwhere.

[@jennifertarin4707]

Well into the 90s, we were lucky to get the 3 basic networks with the sometimes added bonus of Fox or PBS if the wind blew just right and the leaves were off the trees

[@amanacatandhisdog8836]

I grew up in Houston and we had 4 vhf and 3 uhf stations in the 70’s. No remotes the kids changed the channel.

[@justdone1068]

Every night before playing the national anthem the tv would announce the time and ask parents if they knew where their kids were. "It's 10PM do you know where your children are?" 👀

[@TheGlock30owner]

​@@amanacatandhisdog8836I grew up in the Chicago market, we had 5 vhf and 6 uhf (3 of which were religious).

[@fasttruckman]

I'm 56 yrs old. What was left out was the amount of phone numbers we had memorized. You had your home number memorized, your family phone numbers, girl/boyfriend number, and your parents work phone number memorized. How many phone numbers do you have memorized?

[@badopcode]

Asking a business to use their phone because you didn't have money for the pay phone. Getting the evil eye and the question "is it a local call?" We had expensive long distance charges which in some places could be across the street.

[@Ingaevones33]

Bro.. heck yeah..and I had rich girlfriends so they often had their own line in their bedrooms so I always had to double up on memorizing .. 😂 We had the greatest lives until these soft MFers come along and shit the bed.. Did you hear dude in the beginning say something about “feeling safe”? He said it before the ONE MINUTE mark,too 😅 “feeling safe” 🤦‍♂️ what a bunch of pansies and fruits💐🍑

[@Sadielady16]

I remember having a party line, picking up the phone and your neighbor is on there so you just have to wait till they’re done

[@juliagrant3299]

I still do!

[@dawnsoger6729]

In High School, it was common to see several pickup trucks parked in the school parking lot, with a rifle rack in the back window and anywhere from 1 - 3 rifles in the rack. The guns & trucks were often unlocked and if the weather was warm, the windows might be down, too! (And these were often driven to school by the students! Never had a school shooting.)

[@hollyheikkinen4698]

The metal bike pedals were even more dangerous when you were going down a steep hill to the beach barefoot or with flip flops on! We used to bail off in the yard at the bottom of the hill & walk over to the beach. My neighborhood growing up was full of dangers & we were still out all day in the summer. Being 2 miles out of the main towns meant that we had wild critters nearby at all times. In Northeastern Minnesota, we have bears, wolves, coyotes, moose, white tail deer, foxes, beavers, fishers, etc & the lakes have various fish - not to mention boats. We don't really have insects that will hurt us & the snakes are Garter Snakes, so they won't hurt you. We also had multiple lakes & multiple water filled mine pits that are 300+ feet deep in places, there's a railroad track that runs through the neighborhood & trains came through every hour. We had sand pits & the water processing building by the lake had a muddy pit next to it that we called "Ice Cream Land" because the mud looked like chocolate ice cream - it was gross. We crossed the tracks at multiple places other than the road to take short cuts - you could walk through a neighbor's yard, cross the tracks, walk through another yard to get down to the lake boat landing & literally walk through the shallow water to the beach faster than taking the roads. We also explored empty pits that weren't water filled, walked down the tracks & over the highway bridge to the next town. There were empty & water filled pits & lakes on all but one side of the neighborhood. Winter was just as fun & we were outside then too regardless of the temperature. Our community skating rink was in our yard (the house was a school before my great grandparents bought it) & the sledding hill was next to my grandparents yard. Lots of fun all winter long!

[@mikecook8712]

Gen x here... If y'all knew some of the things we did that parents didn't find out about... It truly is amazing we lived... We literally had our older brothers and sister or our friends had them and they taught us all kinds of stuff and we idolized them... 😂

[@Texbec]

Born '67 here. Safety was first and foremost. Every bump, bruise or broken limb was a lesson. You either learned not to do that again or figured out another way to do it. It was also about freedom and figuring things out on you own. We pretty much raised our selves and life lessons came from experience. It was a fun time and we learned to be self-sufficient at a young age in the process.

[@Joeybagadonuts104]

Usually every parent in the neighborhood was allowed to discipline any child doing wrong and our parents were fine with that.

[@JasonMistretta-wf5ip]

10:00. When I was 7 years old in 1980, my grandmother would send me to the corner convenient store with $2.00 and a signed note. The note basically said that her grandson (me) was authorized to buy 2 packs of cigarettes and a candy/chocolate bar of his choice--hahaha. Oh how times have changed!!

[@cynthiaalver]

My brother and I and the other kids in the neighborhood used to have races with as many kids as possible crammed into a shopping cart in the empty parking lot of the store. It was a real adventure with one kid pushing 3 or 4 in the cart and the cart's wheels forever spinning and braking during the race. Most of us kids wiped out at least twice and went home happily sporting a couple of bruises and scrapes.

[@eruvanna]

When it comes to sun, the idea was to burn once at the beginning of the season to start a "base" and form there you'd mostly just tan

[@davidc1450]

My parents had a 1959 Plymouth station wagon. You would hope in the back and there was a mattress incase us kids got tired on a long trip. It was also used to slid on when dad would take those hard left and right turns. You would go slamming into one side or the other. Short stops and sudden acceleration would cause you to slide forward or backward pretty violently. If the back seat was put down, you would have longer way to slide. On thing they did not mention was the hot coil cigarette lighter: Push it in and when it popped out the coil was red hot.

[@brkemm25]

Did the same in my parents station wagon put down the seats and slide all over the place same with the mattress.

[@west-Co_exploration]

When I was 9-11, the neighborhood boys would borrow every trash can from every neighbor on the street line them up and jump them with huge ramps we built in our garage. And all the parents would come out and watch. The neighborhood record was 17 trash cans which my friend and I both jumped. We had no idea what a bicycle helmet was. We had BB wars, drank out of garden hoses and even the creek. We even bought enough bottle rockets to last all summer and used plastic baseball bats with the end cut off to launch them at each other (And don't forget the Roman candles). To avoid sunburn, we spent as much time in the sun in the spring to get a nice dark tan and then we didn't have to worry about it all summer. The skin cancer explosion correlates to the chemicals in sun-block when it became widely used

[@lorigrimaldi194]

I was born in 1957, so I am considered a baby boomer. Growing up in the 60's and 70's was the best

[@cackleberrycottage2340]

Me too. So glad I grew up when I did and not today.

[@davidcosta2244]

Next to the 1980's.

[@DJTexan]

No you’re Gen X. The guy who created Gen X was from 57. They only moved it up to accommodate the older Millennials. It still should be 1955-1975.

[@crystalh450]

I am gen X. I do remember there used to be a lot more trust in communities, but in the 1980s, there was a lot less "cultural diversity" in neighborhoods and most parents in the neighborhood had similar values, so it was less dangerous to run wild, at least until that Adam Walsh kid got taken. Then parents were more cautious and there was a lot of awareness to not go anywhere with strangers "even if they had candy." I do remember riding in the back of a pickup truck. It wasn't against the law then, but now it is. I think we have given up a lot of freedom and traded it for "safety" and honestly it hasn't all been a good trade. I would give anything to go back and live in that decade again.

[@SAPPERJASON1]

I was born in 73 and growing up in the 70’s-80’s was awesome. My brother and friends went camping at our swimming hole at the ages of 6-7 all alone. We started our own fires and cooked our own dinner.

[@RyanWitalison]

Born at the end of 79 so technically Gen X, growing up in the 80's were also a bit like the 70s and did many of those things, though Lawn Darts were not a thing by then, I will say this about cars though, those cars could take a pounding unlike cars today which aren't as tank-like.

[@hellhound1389]

Born the summer of 79. I was playing with lawn darts as a kid and still have a set given to me by my grandparents for my kids to play with. When I was a kid I was hit by an 83 celebrity. My father yelled at me from the drivers seat for not getting out of the way even though we were still in the long driveway by the house and he could see me the whole length. It had solid chrome bumpers and left huge bruises on my legs. He was pissed because I cracked the fiberglass nose as I rolled up over the car

[@sickofguysnamedtodd2293]

And we could legally ride in the the back of pickups.

[@karenbartlett4968]

We used to hook the hose on the top of our metal slide to cool it off and make a water slide.

[@joshsmith4512]

we didn't know it was dangerous, it was a great time to be a kid. we stayed outside. jumping our bikes, no helmet, stealing smokes from our parents. playing guns in the woods. you find your friends by where all the bikes were. what a time to be alive, sucks you gotta get old 😁 i had to come home when the street lights came on. if i wasnt, i got the belt.born 1974.

[@jamesgardner2101]

It wasn't dangerous. Most of us survived.

[@pommunist]

@@jamesgardner2101 it was a laugh

[@katherinebritt5672]

I'm a gen xer (born in 1970) and I remember riding in my dad's truck. standing on the seat behind his right shoulder while he was driving lol

[@theresapike4065]

Born in 1960 - grew up climbing trees, riding bikes, playing football with my brothers, cousins and neighbor kids. We ran wild playing hide and seek and tag. We had a ball!!!

[@cinnyterry2019]

Gen Xer. We would leave the house in the morning and we had to be home when the street lights came on. I feel sorry for kids today. They'll never know that kind of freedom. 😊

[@RobWenzel84]

Oh I remember those days, and miss them greatly

[@jesusperez8394]

The spirit of Gen X still lives on in the rural south.

[@epa316]

We have cooler technology today, but in every other way, life was much better in the 80s.

[@coolerking7427]

Technology in the 80s and 90s was way better.

[@epa316]

@@coolerking7427Ok sure contrarian. BS

[@dukeravenshadow5532]

Loved laying in the back window of our neighbors car when they took us places, plus there was speakers back there from the radio :D

[@FFTEX55]

I was born in 1984. I drank out of hoses, rode bikes without pads and helmets, was gone all day. It was good times. Pretty sure I still have scars from those metal pedals

[@mistinarodriguez6570]

I grew up in the 70’s and this video only gets it about half right. It exaggerates the danger and the lack of parental supervision. Parents did care where you were. Often it was whose house are you going to be at? And then those parents would keep an eye on all the kids, just not hovering like parents do now.

[@jasa9707]

Yep, you had rules you had to follow and if you broke them you were punished. Our parents prepared us for the road ahead, unlike today when they try to prepare the road for their kids and wonder why they are all pathetic and their fee-fees are so easily hurt. That said, we did get to grow in a really great time. Don't forget Creators need to sensationalise to bait for the clicks and views.

[@stevenruvolo499]

im a gen xer never heard of the kite thing.we use to shoot bottle rockets at each other lol fun times

[@piratetv1]

I feel like he made up a bunch of things. My friends and i were never dumb enough to jump our bikes over people. Definitely other stuff though

[@simongilchrist3329]

Those old wooden ramps are the reason I am a woodworker today. A few 2x4s, a wide board, a hammer, and some nails result in a weekend of fun. When we discovered that the ramp, when placed right on the far side of a ditch, could mean some real air-time we were set for a whole summer.

[@JIMBEARRI]

Oh yeah, I got up on the roof many times to turn the antenna. Then we got a rotary antenna system. You would have a control box on top of the TV with a dial to turn. It would activate a motor on the antenna to point it at broadcasting towers in different directions. Oh yeah, everybody drank from the garden hose. If you didn't have a pool in you backyard, then the lawn sprinkler would keep you cool. Oh yeah, I would go to the corner store to buy cigarettes for my grandfather. The elderly couple who ran the store knew all their customers by name and they knew that it was okay. Nowadays, they be heavily fined and probably lose their retail sales license.

[@MonsterHobbiesModelCarGarage]

My cousin fell off the roof. His dad told him to repair something up there, but I don't think it was a TV antenna. The original Slip and Slide was just a plastic sheet. It had no side rails or any way to direct a body down it. Also, some people used rocks at the 4 corners to keep it on the ground. Tanning? What about the chrome mirrors they use to use? In Canada, it wasn't until the mid 1990's that they started to clamp down on all the smoking by blocking smoking in restaurants. When I was a kid, my Dad had a 1964 Buick Wildcat and my "Special Seat" was the rear seat arm rest. Don't get me started on fireworks! LOL! Lots of good memories there! I forgot about a lot of those things, like the folding beach chairs.

[@suefitton5184]

GenX here! We were feral & Loved it!!! Good Times!!! Wish i could go back!

[@Danimalpm1]

Growing up without any security cameras and tracking devices was a blessing. We could convert the entire house into a giant play fort during the summer days, jump off the roof, walk to an ice cream shop for lunch with stolen change, have the house put back to normal before mom came home and then go roam the streets with friends until dark.

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

I'm a boomer, born in the 1950s, and we thought Gen Xers were coddled. I grew up in Manhattan, and one of our fun activities was to put on old-fashioned roller skates, and then grab the bumper of a bus or truck and take a ride. incredibly dangerous! However, there was a great neighborhood feel. In good weather the street was our playground. We would take trash barrels and block off one end of the street so that we could play street hockey. We had no umpires, so most of our time was taken up in arguing about whether something was out of bounds or not. Most of the brownstones on the block were run as rooming houses, and the landladies would sit on their stoops and keep an eye on everybody.

[@laurat1720]

Generation X is people born between 1965-1980, so we grew up in the 70s and 80s

[@toddt4941]

Im Gen X and remember doing all of that. On Halloween, we would wait until it got dark out before we went trick or treating! 😀

[@kendo7964]

Yeah till all the lights went off now they trick or treat at noon. 😂😂

[@crystalyana9533]

1967 here!! We could leave our bikes outside all night!! lights come on it’s time to go home! We got to explore more! We we’re raised hard.. and back in those days AKA (the better years) we sat down as a family and ate together!! “IT WAS A VILLAGE” we had respect for our elders! Best years of my life!!

[@christineschutten248]

I was born in the '70's. We had a freedom that children nowadays will never know which is kind of sad. In the summer mom would give us a decent breakfast and then tell us to go play. She didn't want to see us until dinnertime. If we were thirsty there's the hose outside!😅

[@melaniepitcock9871]

Riding in the back of a pickup truck was the best!! Growing up Gen X was a genuine fun experience

[@QWERTY-ov9tm]

The "dangers" no way. It was so fun. I miss the 80's so much.

[@bernicearthur8655]

I was born in 1955, my daughter in 1989. She loved climbing the huge evergreen tree that was at least 14 feet tall in our backyard. One day she fell out of the tree, when she was about 6 feet up. She made a dent in the ground where she landed. Our dog came and got me and I took her to the ER. She was fine. She wanted to get back in the tree as soon as she got home. I didn't let her. She was back in it the next day.

[@Nimbus1701]

Born in 1973, and I remember every one of these. It really was the absolute best time to grow up, even in a fairly large community. All the scars and memories are things I would not change for anything.

[@JJAmes-mb4du]

We used to grind up glass bottles with a couple of bricks. Then we would spread glue on the top few feet of our kite strings and dip them in the glass. That's how we did out kite fights. My neighbor's dad told us about that trick. We were also big into building model rockets. The black powder rocket engines we could buy were great, but the electric igniters were crap. My dad bought me about a hundred feet of fuse for a ceremonial cannon or something. We just cut off a few inches with our pocketknives and jammed it in. We then lit it with kitchen matches and ran. No adult was anywhere around us, ever, while we did all this.

[@sassymess7111]

GenX 1968. Was anyone else a Latch-key kid?

[@badopcode]

The dread when you remember you forgot your key. I got really good at breaking and entering into my own house.

[@andreajohns-o6w]

Our door was unlocked so we didn't need keys, both my parents worked so we were home at lunch and after school with no adults.

[@robbbutterfield1256]

Best memories of my life. The 80's were the best decade to grow up in.

[@camillemayers103]

Corporal punishment was different back then. People would be jailed today for things that were "normal" back then.

[@jamiepuente481]

Everything from our childhoods wanted to kill us. Lol. And the questionable parenting actually worked in our favor. We grew up self sufficient, reliable, hard working, and damn durable.

[@RobertBreedon-c3b]

Born in 67 so I was a kid in 70s and teen in the 80s I want to go back for just one weekend lets say 1986, Our bikes were our freedom we would be gone all day fishing or just out riding and exploring. The old man used to send us to the store for his smokes all the time no note ever needed. How did we get it so wrong raising our kids and we turned them to be afraid of their shadows I am talking to us, Gen-Xers out there

[@BeagleBellow]

What would Blow peoples mind today is that we kids could buy cigarettes from the Vending machine at the pool hall or bowling ally!

[@AnaCVazquez]

At the age of 10 I would help my dad shovel the snow off the roof. I remember my mom coming home from the store and I was up on the roof. She screamed at my dad his response was to say "it's safe I tied her to the chimney" LOL He had tied a rope around my waste and the other end was tied to the chimney. That made it "safe". 🤣🤣🤣🤣. It's a miracle I'm still alive

[@bookwoman53]

I remember sitting in the front seat of my dad’s car as a little kid and one day we were driving home from his sister Pauline’s house. The car in front of us stopped short at the traffic light. I wasn’t wearing a seat belt and hit the glove compartment cutting my lip open. It could have been worse. My dad was worried about what my mother would say.

[@motivatetocreateyou]

I do believe mine and my friends parents most spoken statement was "Go outside and find something to do." We would be gone from sunrise to sunset and as long as we got home before official dark it was fine.

[@Kelly-ml5tl]

Anywhere I go, the best people were born in the 60's.

[@ex-navyspook]

1967 here. My mother once told me I was lucky to have survived childhood as we lived in the mountains of Colorado. I was told to ALWAYS tell someone where I was going, and to ALWAYS have someone else with me, which I almost never did. I would climb the cliffs alone, hike the trails alone, explore all over my valley alone. Meanwhile, we had wolves, bears, cougars, and some moose all over the place. I would have been just one more mountain mystery if I'd disappeared, but I did find some cool places. I was ALSO home before dinner because I was more scared of my father than I was of gravity or of being eaten by a wild critter.

[@brandymorrison2607]

I’m a Gen X’er. 47. Born at the end of 76. Kid in the 80’s. Teenager in the 90’s. Yep. This is all true.

[@dedbytes2041]

My shins are covered in scars from those bike pedals. Depending on the size we called them cat traps and bear traps. It was a great era when growing up. Me and my friends would drag a bed mattress out of the house and set it up below a tree, then proceed to jump from the tree and fall onto the mattress trying to imitate stunts from a stuntman series that was popular at the time. We also had an motorbike with no engine. We would light the tires on fire and ride it downhill and over a jump.

[@SteveCoronado2]

Born in 1969 here and it was great growing up in the ‘80s

[@briandailey9464]

I like watching these videos. Brings back memories. I remember everything from laying in the back window, bike pedals, ramps jumping over fences and even jumping off the roof with my bike. Think Super Dave and Evil Knievel were a bit inspiring for most of that.

[@scottleeper5467]

Boomer here, we had the Cuban Missile Crisis and John Kennedy, really missed😢😢❤

[@hollyheikkinen4698]

There were actually cigarette vending machines in restaurants in the 1970s & 1980s & nobody paid attention to who was putting quarters in them. My mom literally still put her arm out when I was driving as an adult 😂 carseats & seatbelts were not mandatory until the later 1980s. My parents had a booster seat that just sat over the back of the seat without anything really securing it. They also had a bassinet that went on the floor in the back seat - it was over the hump in the middle - nothing to secure the baby at all. I remember the bench seat was big enough that my siblings could ride laying down. I actually remember riding in the back of a truck many times - including driving the 35 mile or so trip to the county fair every year for my friend's birthday. Her parents didn't have a vehicle big enough for the 8 of us to fit in, so we laid down in the bed if the truck.

[@PatrickMersinger]

Technically GEN X’ers began January 1st 1965 and ended December 31st 1979. We did stuff that would make the helicopter parents today faint.

[@3DJapan]

When I was 10 (1987) my cousins had a slip and slide called Crocodile Mile that had an inflated pool at the end. The problem was that you'd hit the bump where the pool started and bounce right over the pool onto the grass.

[@throneborn]

I was born in 1982. If I had one wish, it would be to live forever during the 80s or 90s

[@rich_t]

70s were even better.👍

[@adlockhungry304]

14:09 The good old Crossman 760. I got one of my little bros a 10 shot, pellet gun revolver with a CO2 cartridge that looked exactly like a 357 Magnum. No orange tip or anything. We had some wars. 😆

[@jdwilmoth]

No we didn't have it dangerous we had fun we just wasn't weak and timid like the young people these days This generation nowadays is softer than medicated cotton

[@jerryransdell3450]

I'm gen-x,born in 1966. The world was much safer as far as Crime goes. To us the 70s and 80s wasn't a dangerous time. It was just the real world. What younger generation sees as dangers, we saw as challenges. We learned from it and had fun doing so.

[@HRConsultant_Jeff]

Not dangerous because we were not soft little babies. We actually played outside and used our bodies. Sure we got bruised but it made us a little smarter the next time and more resilient. We didn't have to go to a psychiatrist for every event and doctors did not prescribe pills for most kids, they were just expected to adjust and move on. And yet, we survived and invented a lot of what you rely on today.

[@EKomar-z6h]

At 3:15. Ach, those pulled all the way up striped socks! All us boys wore those. To this day I still pull my socks all the way up - keeps the shins nice and warm :)

[@froggy5935]

I remember jumping our bikes off a culvert into the creek below - about a 10-12 foot drop. So dangerous but so much fun! Parents had no clue...they thought we were just out riding bikes!

[@dukeravenshadow5532]

I moved the antenna on our trailer house I don't know how many times as a kid lol.

[@3DJapan]

15:50 I got trapped in one of those chairs when I was like 5. My older sister still laughs about it today. 😡

[@katherinedinwiddie4526]

Clackers! 😂 Outside until the streetlight came on. Our home was the popular place. We had the slip and slide, water wiggle, the football, horseshoes and a big crabapple tree in our yard. Of coarse all 5 of us had a bike.

[@bartonabrams3433]

Born in 74, it’s all true, never did the kite fighting thow. We were a lot tougher, we’d compare cuts and bruises, climb all over everything like in planet of the apes. We never complained about getting hurt, and learned if it hurt don’t do it again. Good times

[@AutumnMoonlight95]

You had to let the hose run to get the spiders out too lol! To avoid getting hurt you just tried to be careful. We did have Mr Ick stickers but parents didn't really use them. As for sunburns, we just got tan since we were outside so much. Seat belts were also only required in the front seat.

[@catherinesearles1194]

I'm Gen X no one I knew was ever hurt. There was always a group pointing out what wasn't safe. Like in the classroom and 9 year Olds are using a jig.saw with no less than 5 kids holding the board.

[@shag139]

Grandpa’s house had the large outdoor TV antenna mounted on a 35-40 foot 3 pole truss that was concreted into the ground and attached to side of garage. It had a motor that allowed you to adjust the direction from in the house. I used to climb that thing all the time to get in the roof of garage and rest of house.

[@southfloridafromabove8445]

From '65, I cruised the entire generation and saw everything

[@nyxxcreationz2951]

1965 Gen X. We had no fear, we figured things out for ourselves, we stood our ground, feral is one way to describe this generation and yes if you had an issue with us, we'd help you sort it out. I personally had 5 boomer generation military uncles that taught me how to defend myself, drive and shoot firearms by the age of 12. We are built to survive this chaotic world we currently live in. Get yourself a Gen X friend!

[@Roleha1975]

Me and my friends had our own game for lawn darts. Who could get to highest and who could catch it before it hit the ground or who had the longest flight. Also took old ones sharpen the ends and chucked then at plywood target to see who could get one to stick

[@trishahamilton5880]

I was the last of the Gen Xers in 1980. We were fearless and didn't like rules lol! I rode in the back of a truck. I skated and rode my bike without a helmet or pads. It really wasn't a different time. Horrible things were still going in the world...and yes!!, we survived!! 🤘🫶

[@rwrws8318]

Did every one of those, lol. Fire cracker fishing. Putting some rocks into an olive jar, add a firecracker and drop into a pond. Get a fish every time.

[@chaseychaseum5366]

He never mentioned playing outside all day until dark. Which, in middle Tennessee, was nearly 9pm in the summer time! Or diving boards, or trampolines with exposed springs and no safety netting, or sitting on dad's lap driving the car, or building tree forts, or your first go cart or mini bike (which you would remove any and all governors), or push mowing the yard as a kid, usually in shorts with no protective gear or supervision, or taking apart that lawn mower engine and attempting to put it back together. So much fun and education!

[@TheLionsDen72]

Born in 72. We used to ride in the back/bed of the truck every chance we could. We would sit on the wheel wells and hang out the side. Have conversations with o5her k8ds that we never had before met that were doing the same thing. You could make a new friend or r8val everytime you stopped at a light. Good Times.

[@mcm0324]

Born in 1970. We were never in danger. We had a BLAST! We had chores in the morning and out on our bikes for the day until it was time for dinner. It was so much fun growing up in the 70s and 80s. Kids today are overprotected. Parents need to lighten up. Most of us are grandparents now and enjoy the time with our grandchildren breaking our kids' overprotective rules. They didn't grow up like that - they have Gen X parents!

[@hackerx7329]

They aren't always mounted high up on the roof but outdoor antennas are very much still a thing and not just TV. CB radio, ham radio, wifi and cell phone repeaters, etc.... There are more antennas than ever before but now a lot of them operate on higher frequencies so they are physically smaller.

[@annetteslife]

Us Gen X latch key kids WERE the remote control! 😂. I every once in a while take a sip from the garden hose. Hey it puts hair on your chest!

[@WonderGeology]

Our playgrounds were either gravel, concrete or asphalt. We had monkey bars high up in the air. The merry-go-round was a place you could learn gravity and interia simultaneously as you flew off! And of course, our slides were about 10-20 feet tall and made of metal. During the summer, you'd get third degree burns frying down the slide. Our swings were designed so you could get enough momentum to make a complete circle if you had enough inertia. We were latch-key kids. Both our paternts worked so we would be home by ourselves from at least 3 or 3:30 when school let out to when one of our parents came home around 5 pm. MTV literally had music videos. We would watch the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack to see the latest musicians. We were outside barefooted. We drank from the hose. As far as fireworks, we'd set off M-80s in addition to high-powered firecrackers. I remember riding 90 miles in the back of my dad's pickup truck to go see my older brother. I lived in the hills so riding a bike was loathesome! I had one of those with the razor teeth (that's what I call them)! God forbid your foot slipped off the pedal! Jarts, clackers, chemistry sets, Easy-Bake Ovens. Yeah, we survived!

[@fragiisback]

from sunup till sundown outside building forts in the woods riding bakes on dirt trails and eating the fruit and berries found on the bushes to quench our thirst. life was good and would never change a thing.