Brit Reacts to 1970s Things That Kids No Longer Do! 

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Not only did we survive, we thrived! The one thing we did, that wasn't mentioned here, is that we walked to school without a parent. Even as kindergartners. There was a crossing guard at every crosswalk. We would start off walking from home and as we would pass a friend's house, we would knock on the door, and pick them up. By the time we reached school, we had a whole group with us. Walking home was in reverse. We would wait outside until our group was assembled and then dropped off one at a time as we reached our homes. In the summer, we would get dropped off at the community pool or at the movies to meet up with our friends. We would walk to local convenience stores to get snacks, We had freedom. The only rules being that we had to tell our parents where we were going and we had to be home when the street lights came on.

We did all of this and more! The fact that we are still breathing shows that kids are more resilient than we give them credit for. 😂😂😂

I'm 62 and this is all so true. We drank out of garden hoses, stayed out all day playing, went behind the school stadium to watch the weekend fights between whoever had issues, walked to the bus stop alone while picking up your friends at their houses along the way, rode bikes without helmets or kneepads, played on construction sites until the construction crew chased us away, and never worried about anything except getting good grades and being respectful to elders.

Grew up in the 70's!! Does anyone remember the TV commercial at 10 pm? It would come on at 10 n say "It's 10 pm, Do you know where your kids are?" LoL great times!!

We didn't learn the new dances from Tik-Tok. We had "American Bandstand."

Having your sandwich slowly warm between 7am and noon was absolutely true, but no one got sick. The sandwich was in a lunch bag (maybe not a zip-lock, but whatever) and inside a sealed lunch box. It wasn't sitting out in the air. Nothing was going to make it spoil in 5 hours. Milk was a different story. You wouldn't bring that. The school had a daily milk service that you'd sign up for. I remember getting "milk duty" every so often. When it was my turn, I'd be the one to go retrieve my classroom's tray of half pint milk cartons. Very important assignment!

I was a kid in the 60s and a teen in the 70s. These videos make me realize how much freedom I had just to be a kid. Yes, we did dumb things and came close to death too many times, but those were things you just didn’t mention to your parents. If you did, they wouldn’t let you do those things anymore.

I grew up in the 70s. Fell out of a shopping cart onto concrete floor, fell down the stairs head first several times (no baby gates), fell out of the car at a stop light twice (no car seat or child locks on doors), parents smoked indoors and in the car (second hand smoke), had a pocket knife at 8, rode bikes miles from home without a helmet, rode in the back of pick up trucks down bumpy dirt roads, no cell phones so parents never knew where we were until we came home for dinner (or called to say we were staying over at a friend's for the night), climbed trees, swam in the river, played in the woods... Good times. We were very independent.

Born in '69 and loved it! We came home from school by ourselves as well since both parents worked - we were what we called latchkey kids. We were trusted back then. It was great!

I'm a 70 yo female and we used to LOVE playing with Mercury! 😵‍💫😅 Yup! Break a thermometer on the pavement (hopefully no cars coming) and watch it roll but you could break it into a container and then pour it into your hand and watch it roll round and round! It was just magical watching it break into little balls but bring them all back together and they'll form one mass again! Mesmerizing. 🤪 Car seats for kids??! lol, no such thing. Your toddler stood in the middle of the front seat and you stuck your arm out to hold them when you had to brake .

70s kid here...we had the best time!!! All the kids in 70s the neighborhood hung out all day, rode bikes, some kids made the whole side of the street a bike ramps. Some kids had garage bands. It was extremely free spirit living. So much more, so fun! 70s Rocked!

I loved growing up in the 1970's. Mom was the original seat belt. We rode in the open back of a pickup truck, often standing up holding onto each other and the roof rack. Bicycles with no helmets or pads. Skating with no knee or elbow pads. Being a latchkey kid. Playing outside all day regardless of the heat in the summer. We had to go home when the street lights came on. Sleepovers were the bomb!!! Birthday parties were fun and only the birthday kid got gifts...no goodie bags. You earned your trophies and awards. And , don't freak out, but the school principal was allowed to paddle you for misbehaving.

I'm a kid of the 70's and on Saturday morning, we watched cartoons and at 9:00 am our parents kicked us out of the house and told us not to come back until dinner!!!! Oh the fun we had......

I love telling this story. I'll be 38 later this month. I grew up in suburban Atlanta in the early 90s. Around age 7 my grandfather gave me my first pocket knife (full size Swiss Army knife with the leatherette pouch and survival accessories). I accumulated dozens of cheap, junky knives over the next year or so. Dozens. In 2nd grade, we had show and tell. Without even asking (eh, maybe I did ask), I brought my cigar box full of pocket knives. It was no issue. My teacher passed them around to all my classmates, who admired them, passed them on, and I received them each in turn at the front of the class. A few weeks later, my second grade teacher, brought me a knife she had in her house from her late husband. It was an old Grand Barlow folder. I still have it, to this day.

OMG, this was a blast from my past. I had one of the banana-seat bicycles with the monkey bar handle bars. I built my first skateboard out of a 2x4 with one of my my old steel-wheeled skates nailed onto the bottom. When I was 10, my dad bought a couple of Honda Trail 70s (70cc mini-motorcycle). I was riding it that first day, misjudged the corner and dumped it, getting "road rash" on my stomach as I slid on the gravel. By the time I graduated high school in 1975, our family owned 10 motorcycles (110-350cc and a couple of touring bikes for the parents), 5 cars, and an RV. Our weekends were riding the riverbed (dry parts) and jumping hills. I raced in the "powder puff" races. We went to the track to watch my cousins race too. I drove a "muscle car" as my first car, a 1968 AMC Marlin which I loved and wish I still had it. I learned to work on my own motorcycle and car (and yeah, I'm a girl). I also climbed trees, loved that merry-go-round, how fast can you go on it!? And I broke 3 ribs playing "touch" football at a picnic. And I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything (and we drank from the hose and I STILL smell food to see if it's good. It's just how it's done.)

My bicycle offered me the free gift of a broken arm, concussion, and stitches in my head. To top it off I was yelled at for 15 minutes about what I did to my bike before going to the doctor. Good times

I was raised in the 60's, but it was about the same. We knew the Adults were in charge and we respected them. RESPECT is a big thing and what we are missing. 73 and I lived every moment of it.

Growing up in the 70s, we were always injured. But our injuries never slowed us down. We taped up out cuts and scrapes to stop the blood and went back out. We fell out of trees, crashed our bicycles into anything that didn't move and fell off the roofs of houses. All these injuries were badges of honor at school and the subject of many show and tell stories in class.

"How did you actually survive"? Lewis asked over and over...those of us that did are strong in body and mind. The better question should be "How are these new generation GUNNA survive when times get tough" :) CONGRATS Lewis on 100K

This video is pretty accurate. I always had scraped up knees as a kid. We played outside most of the time, rode our bikes all over the place. Parents never told you how far you could ride. We were completely on our own. You just had to make sure you were back for dinner, or your knee wasn't the only thing hurting that night. I remember riding in the back of my dad's pickup truck, and we would laugh our heads off as he drove over speed bumps and we were holding on for dear life, screaming, "faster!!" And, yes, you did not want to get into trouble at school because that would mean a big spanking at home. Your parents would take it personally, as if you caused them embarrassment for raising such a little beast. It's amazing how much times have changed. Now you can't let your kids out of your sight, and you have to drive them and pick them up from everywhere.

Your reactions are pricless! No seatbelts,walked to school at 4 half day,treck almost a mile to grandmas if no one was coming home till after 3. Used the stove,cut our own food with knives,stayed out and as far as our moms whistle could travel,(around 3 to 4 blocks if the wind was right. The best time growing up!

Grew up in the 70's. We were actually afraid our parents would get mad at us. We were outside all day and came in for dinner. As a girl, my friends and I had rubber band guns that we'd shoot at each other and it stung if you got hit. My son born in 78 use to build ramps to jump his bike. Kids were creative and didn't need all the expensive stuff, we used our imagination.

Grew up in late 70's to early 80's. I remember all this. We rode bikes or horses all over, even halfway across town. We had BB guns, pocket knives, and we played with chemistry sets. We made our own lunches during the summer, after being left at home alone while our parents worked. No cell phones, nothing but being responsible for yourself and friends.

We had a blast every day. We walked to school and home again. Suffered broken bones and skinned knees but we kept on playing. I wish my grandchildren could experience the true joy of childhood.

Growing up in the 1960's & 1970's was AMAZING and we had so much fun... wounds and all...

OMG! Such good memories. Not only did we do all that, we pushed it to its limits. Sometimes failure was the goal. We have scars, not tattoos.

Wow! Thanks for reviving my memories❤❤ I was also a '70s child! I am from Holland, not from a very big city, but it was absolutely a city, not a village or smaller, and we didn't have any school buses, I would just walk to school. I think I started doing that when I was 4 or 5. We also had no parents at crossings, you just had to look out for yourself! (But in those days there also were a lot fewer cars than there are now) My parents had a phone, that was exceptional, so if people from our street had to call someone, they would come to our place and call on our phone, sometimes we would receive calls for them, and then we went to get them. We used to play all day outside and when you were thirsty, you just drank out of an outdoor tap somewhere, mouth to the tap, or you would ask the mother of a friend for a cup, and you would all use it. When something would happen, a friend's mum would stick a bandaid to your knee or what, and that was it. And about the sniffing of products out of the fridge, (I still do that🤭) when it tastes-, or smells, funny, you threw it away, simple as that. I love that I grew up in the 70s, always outside, playing football or jumping rope or playing with bouncy tennisballs..nowadays we hardly see kids outside! And the danger of childpredators, it was there, we where not allowed to go with somebody-, or take sweets from someone-, you didnt know, but we looked out for each other, and telling your friend's mum something was wrong, was not "snitching", you where just looking out for each other... Thank you so much for this, it felt good, reliving my childhood in a nutshell ❤

I was born in 1969. When I was a kid I was hardly ever in the house. Even in the winter we would be outside building snow forts or sledding. In the summer time we would even sleep outside if it wasn't raining. And we were always up to mischief. But nothing that would be serious trouble. Because being grounded to stay in the house was like torture.

1970s were my teen years. Haven't been so free since. They jumped over everything because Evil Kanevil was jumping everything on his motor bike. We got at Swiss Army Knife at 6 years old. Even the girls. All 5 of us.

Televisions only had four or five channels and no remote control. Dad had us sit on the floor in front of the t v and change the channel until we got to a channel that he liked. It was the best childhood ever.

Im 66 born in 57. It was really easy back then and much more safe. Everyone looked out for Everyone.

The best days. In the summer, we jumped out of bed, grabbed whatever we could find for breakfast, and hit the door running. We would stay out until the street lights came on, and then we would play tag in the dark, or anything else we could come up with. I miss the type lives we all had back then … innocent and surrounded by family and friends.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's. I drank water from a mountain spring. We played in the mountains. We rode in the bed of pickup trucks. There were vines on trees, we swung on them like Tarzan and Jane. We girls played outside like the boys. It was hot . We waded in the creek and got crawdads out from under the rocks and played with them. As a teenager I met my future husband. Teachers paddled kids. We went to school in the neighborhood. Our parents knew our teachers, they were our neighbors. As a teenager I met the guy I would marry. He drove a souped up car. We'd drag race on the curvy roads of our country roads. It was a convertible. I stood up and watched for oncoming headlights so he or the other guy would have to drop back so the car would pass and then they'd start racing again. During daytime my friends and me walked everywhere we went. I don't remember any fat kids. When boys got about 12 they got a pocket knife. I remember in high school the girls would get into fights usually over a boy. When we seen a teacher coming they would get up, straightened their hair and clothes. We acted like nothing had happened. Rarely boys would get into a fist fight. Even though both of the boys had pocket knives, they never got the knives out of their pockets. We might wanted to fight each other but no one wanted to seriously hurt anyone. I went to a small elementary and high school. We were out in the country.

Grew up in the 60's and 70's and am so sorry for kids today. We basically had total freedom outside. We just had to come in by the time the street lights came on. But parents and teachears were VERY strict. There were 2 classes of people, adults and children.

I was born in 1965. Growing up in the 70's was a amazing time to be a kid.

I grew up in the 70s. One of the craziest things I think about is that playgrounds were basically just parking lots that we played on. We would go down metal slides that were baking in the sun all day all. Now everything is made out of recycled milk cartons and on fake grass with ground up recycled tires in them.

We were all Evil Knievel in our youth! 🙌🏻 Growing up in the 70’s was the best! We played outside all day long, we built forts in the woods, rode our bikes, etc…

When we were kids , We loved the Merry go rounds...My older sister could make that thing FLY. with us clinging on for dear life...One of my younger sisters got spun off , her leg got caught underneath it and she was dragged about half way around. Not an adult in sight . She was roughed up but not any worse for wear. we were all right back at it the next day.

We lived in a small town within walking distance from the house and the school was not far either. We played with everyone that lived on our road. We rode bikes, played down by a creek, drank from the water spout outside, played lawn jarts - the metal tipped lawn darts. We jumped home made ramps, we did something called "skeetching" during the winter. We held on to cars and slid along on the ice on the road.

Born in 62. This is all accurate! Had a knife when I was 6. My favorite place was in high trees. Drank out of the garden hose because if mom saw us she would find us something to do, no thanks! Swam in an old sand quarry. I remember mom and dad dropping their cigarette butts on the floor and stomping on them IN THE STORES! On long trips I slept in the rear window of our car, my sister slept on the seat, when dad had to stop quickly I would land on her. No knee or elbow pads or helmets for anything. We rode our horses in the Delaware River. Rode in cars and on amusement park rides without seatbelts. No baby car seats either, usually rode on mom's lap. Those metal merry go rounds were a blast!

Born in 58 and had a wonderful childhood, spent most of my time outside. During school holidays was out all day, not in front of a computer. We survived because we were made tougher.

And in uk it was a leather strap over your hands by teacher if you misbehaved in class! I’ve seen chalkboard dusters thrown at kids and several times both getting a slap to the back of the head. We collected bees for fun in summer, could be 10 miles from home in the middle of nowhere playing by a river without supervision! We had fun, resilience and learned we could be away from our parents without the world ending. It was a great time. The thing that surprises me is my generation are the ones that started the hovering over kids and worrying about safety in every aspect of their lives lol

Oh boy, I can't imagine childhood today! Some of my fondest memories of being a kid: summer nights playing Kick the Can with the entire neighborhood (15 or 20 kids), bareback horse riding, all over town, full days at the community pool (ride your bikes there), floating down creeks, canals, and rivers in inner tubes-- we called it tubing. Ice skating on same! Roller rinks and arcades, burger joints with juke boxes, candy counters and penny candies. Slumber parties and sleep overs were on the regular... attending fairs and rodeos with no parents! Going to the stores alone, no big deal. Walking to school or riding your bike. Getting seriously tan every summer. And yes, I got the paddle at school a couple of times, learned my lesson, mostly out of the humiliation in front of the class. ✌

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger! This is what we heard on a daily basis. Our teachers walked the hall with inch thick wood paddles that had holes drilled in them, they were also used in the class room. This was punishment on a daily basis for those that were bad. We survived!!

Man, this was filled with a lot of "yep" ! My childhood was the 50-60 times. We were outside until you heard your father's whistle or the street lights came on! We even drank out of the gutter ( after a rain) if we were really thirsty! My take on the allergy but is, we were so exposed to everything that you built up natural tolerances. Thanks for a lot of smiles!!

If you think the 70s looked like fun, I grew up in the 50s and 60s. Now that was fun! You were out on the block all day. One restriction was “Don’t go off the block!” That way you could always be called in at mealtime or other family event. We played in the street and when a car (oneway street) turned onto the block we would yell, “Car” and everyone went to the side. We played ball in the street with one manhole cover being home plate, a tree being first base, another manhole being second base and another tree being third base. Telephones were only for adults. If you wanted to play with or talk to a friend you were told to go ring their bell. Kids today miss out on so much. You had to learn to deal with other kids face to face on your own and solve everyday problems in play. You solved it, parents weren’t there to say their kids was right whether it was true or not. You had to learn to deal on your own which was good for later in life.

The 70s and early 80s were THE BEST!!! We left the house when the sun came up and stayed gone all day. But you better have your butt home when the street lights came on. Climbing trees, roller skating, BB gun fights, building forts, jumping out of the 2nd story window into the pool at my friend Tracy's house, scorching hot metal slides, playing Monkey In The Middle and Kick The Can, prank phone calls, spinning the merry go round as fast as possible to sling our friends off, jumping ramps on our bikes. Just non stop fun with no worries about getting hurt. And you weren't really hurt if you didn't break a bone. Scrapes and bruises were just part of our everyday fun. ❤❤❤

I built a tree house sixty feet off the ground with rope slides that crossed a creek and little valley. Tarzan swings with extra loops so six kids could jump on. Someone always fell in the swamp. We had miles of countryside and forest to play in. BB gun wars. I was given my first .22 rifle when I was ten. Learned to drive the farm truck and tractor before I was 10. Had my first summer job at 10, pumping gas and checking oil in people's cars. I had to stand on a wooden box to do it and wash their windshields. Be a gopher and garage rat. I was paid $25.00 a week. Great video, thanks.

I grew up through the sixties, no one was allergic to peanuts or gluten. No one was lactose intolerant. We went out and got dirty, our dogs licked our faces, we shared soda from the same bottle. We developed REAL immune systems. Also, most of us early boomers had WW II vets as fathers. They did not put up with disrespectful kids.

Yes! This was my generation!!❤❤❤❤

Yeah. We all survived. Well most of us! Yes, we were out all day, or after school, playing in the neighbourhood. Down the creek, swimming, building dams, catching tadpoles and frogs. Looking out for snakes, getting bitten by ants. Wriggling on our bellies along dirt tracks in the local market garden; stealing fresh peas and green beans and tomatoes. ( I spoke to the local farmer many years later and 'confessed'. He just laughed and said he used to always plant an extra couple of rows for the local kids. What a legend. ( It was a poorer area, maybe the only veggies some of those kids got!) Building forts in trees. Coming home at dusk wet muddy and scraped. Walking to the local shops, to school - alone. Including to kindergarten! I remember one kid bringing a pie for lunch that he'd bought at a local shop. When he took a bite he found it was crawling with maggots. Everyone laughed. The girls squealed and pretended to throw up, and the boys teased him and told him; 'What was he complaining about? it was all protein! - Just a bit of 'free-range' extra meat!" I don't know what the official response was from the local council food safety inspectors, but the next day that same shop was still open and still selling pies! I think the kid was told off for leaving his school bag open. The year before I started high school, teachers or headmasters were banned from using 'physical discipline' in Public schools (in Australia Public means Governemt funded ) by the Education Department, but it was still going on in the 'prestigious' Private schools. In Primary School the 'naughty' kids still got a strap or caning - usually on their hands, and I remember one sadistic fm teacher who liked to hit the kids on the back of their knees with the edge - not the flat - of a wooden ruler. I saw an interview recently of a 7 y/o girl, I think in the UK. She said she wasn't allowed to play out doors because they only had a front garden, not back. When asked why -she replied; "Because of all the Pedo's". That was truly shocking to me - and terribly sad. Are we teaching our kids to be constantly on guard? Kids certainly are safer these days - but at what cost? There are a lot of studies coming out now about 'the cottonwooled' generation and what that means for resiliency - or lack thereof. Look at the kids in the USA taught what to do "When" (not if) A Shooter enters the school! And we wonder why there's an epidemic of anxiety and other mental health issues for kids these days.

Grew up in 60’s and 70’s. We did this because Evil Kneivel did it!!

If you were brought up in the 70's our parents spent all or at least part of their childhood during the depression. They learned to be tough in every situation. They passed on to us the same mentality. You just bucked up and faced the music. If you were sent to the principals office, you just prayed with every fiber of your being he wouldn't call your parents. We ALL had chores. No complaints. No one I knew got an allowance for doing them it was just part of life. In the early years, none of us had a watch. Our clock was the street light. When it came on, you'd better be racing home.If mom or dad had to call you from outside your house, (no cell phones needed) you were without a shadow of a doubt already in trouble. We all did it, we all survived it, and we're all the better for it.... They really were "The Good Ole Days"...😊

I broke my right arm four times in 1972 and it started with a 65 foot fall from the top of an old oak tree! I crashed my bike that had no brakes going down a long steep hill through a apartment complex sign. I got a really big bump on my head and dislocated shoulder and some cracked ribs and the frame of my bike broke into three pieces! God I miss the 70s!

We were told "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!"

I did all those things as I grew up during the 70's. Good Times. Had to come home when the street lights came on and stay within yelling distance. We played ball games in the middle of the street and if a car came by you yelled "CAR" then cleared the street, car goes by, then get back to the game.

Our teachers didnt have to swat us. It only took a phone call. Mom showed up, pulled you out of your chair, and paddled you for the teacher.

I was born in 1962 and grew up in the 70s and loved it. We were always outside and having fun just taking a walk somewhere

Older 65+ American male here. This was probably your the most enjoyable reaction video for me because of all those that took the time to share their stories. Thank you all for your memories & stories. Hey, all you others from the UK & Europe, what was it like for you in the 70's???

Riding in the back of a Pickup Truck is one of the most fun things you can ever do. And I’m not just talking about driving slow around the parking lot. I’m talking about going down the highway with nothing holding us down. We just held on tight with our hands and hollered with excitement.

The 70's was an awesome time to grow up... We had a great time. We were definitely built differently. I'm so glad I grew up in the 70's

Older 65+ American male here who grew up in a middle class suburb in New York in the 60's & 70's. There wasn't anything wrong with drinking out of a water hose. It's the same water that came out of the inside faucet. We were physically, psychologically & emotionally much stronger than the over protected wimps raised today, who get devastated by a harsh word or a mean look. The only "safe space" we knew about was behind a tree in a snowball fight. We survived & are better for it. We learned how to endure, how to overcome, how to compete, how to accept failure & how to push ourselves to succeed or do better. We learned about real life. We learned that some had it a whole lot better than us & many had it much worse than us. We learned the universe didn't revolve around us. We learned how to make the best out of difficult situations. We learned how to take responsibility for our actions. We learned that doing stupid or dangerous things might have significant consequences. We were expected to have an imagination. We kept score & we learned how we measured up to others. We learned to always try, that we weren't always going to be the best, that we weren't always going to win & we weren't "special". Second place was sometimes known as 1st looser. We learned that coaches & teachers were going to be tough on us because they expected us to try & give it our best. When things broke we were taught how to fix things or we tried to fix them ourselves. When repairmen came to fix something at the house we were expected ask questions, to watch & learn & help carry or hold things. Sometimes they even let us help. You did what you were told to do by adults - or else! You never expect to be paid for helping neighbors with projects or yard work. We carried pocket knifes. We played out in the rain & mud. We got cut with sharp objects, fell from high places, we got hit in the face with wooden swing seats, burned on hot metal slides, burned when we played with fire or matches, we stepped on nails, got stitches, broke bones, chipped & knocked out teeth & some pretty bad contusions & we survived. Wounds & casts were something to show off the next day in school. You even removed your bandages if you wanted to gross out your classmates. Ask anyone of my age what happens when you squeeze just the front wheel brake on your bicycle, for the first time, going really fast down hill. It's called a life experience that you will only do once. Our parents expected us, as we grew up, to toughen up & deal with things on our own so we would be prepared for all the crap life would throw at us in the future. In my house we were never allowed to use the "F" word - FAIR. We learned life wasn't ever going to be fair, so deal with it. We played tackle football, without any equipment, on rock covered dirt fields that sometimes had bits of broken glass on it. If you fell down your parents often laughed & told you to get up & deal with it. Only when your parents got real quiet & looked really concerned did you begin to worry that maybe you were really hurt. You wouldn't believe what we said to each other. Sure it hurt our feelings, for a while, but we got over it quickly enough. In my opinion, de-masculinization or if you prefer the feminization of our society, at least in regards to raising young males, has lead to many of the problems we face today & I'm not just talking about those in the US. There is a difference between being a masculine male & being an obnoxious thug. Here's a thought, parents, use this as a check list to see what you've kept your kids from experiencing. I hope you all enjoyed my brief walk down memory lane.

Scorching hot slides, roller skating on street at night, riding bike 2 miles from fifth through eighth grade. Oh and a lot of us were latchkey kids with no supervision after school until parents got home.

I was born in 61 and in my teens during the 70’s. We had so much fun. Riding in the back of pickup trucks was a blast. I lived in a small town and the whole town was our playground. Gangs of children were playing Fox and Hounds over the whole town at night. We were playing football and basketball during the day and swimming everyday in the summer. There was a river with a lock and dam that was our swimming hole. The lock was on the opposite side of the river so we had a 30ft wall to jump or dive from into the river. You had to know where to go off the wall to avoid hidden rocks. We swam through the currents to the island and would push through the currents to go under the waterfall. Interesting, with all that freedom my mother was still able to warn me about what to look out for, or who, to stay safe. It was like she made me street smart without scaring me half to death. We did have a great time back then. Oh, I did have an older brother who fell out of a tree and broke his jaw. It was rough for quite a while but he made it. I loved climbing trees too and was still allowed after that had happened to him. And for context, I am a girl.

We are just built different. We did all of this and so much more. My brother and our friends from the neighborhood disassembled a shopping cart in our driveway, and made a go cart out of it. We rode our bikes all day, played tackle football, had backyard wrestling matches, and we knew that our rule was to be home before the street lights came on. In the winter (I'm from Ohio, we usually get a lot of snow), we had snowball fights, made a snow mountain so we could play King of the mountain, built some of the biggest snowmen ever, and went sledding on whatever we could find down the biggest hill in the neighborhood. Man, I miss those days. Gen X is built way different.

I was born in 1960, this was awesome, like going back in a time capsule. Loved it! ❤

As long as you stayed out of any serious trouble and treated everyone fairly it was pretty much anything goes in the 60s and 70s. Loved this reaction by the way. Oh the memories!

I was born in 65 and my brother 66.(18 months apart. in 1977 he and I got into our paper route money, rode our bikes to the local theater and went to see Star Wars. We told mom and dad about it later that night. We didn't ask for permission because we didn't need it.

That merry go round was great, we had one on our back yard and all the kids in the neighborhood loved it. Yes you could fly off but that was just part of life and fun. They were normally just on parks or playgrounds but my dad came across one that was being taken out of a playground and he bought it for us. My sister still has it for her grandkids. We also had roller states that we would put on over our shoes, they were wheel with metal clamps that fit over the shoe with a key to adjust them. You wouod look for the smoothest driveway you go down and hope you didn't hit a crack in the sidewalk

The truth is, times changed. We (I) did really dangerous things like jumping off a swing when it was even with the top bar, jumping off stairs about 8ft off the concrete. Teeth went through your bottom lip sometimes and I got injured a lot. But it didn't stop us playing that way. Moms paid attention though. We never played alone. School was strict. And I had teachers who punished us for acting up. Even in Sunday school. The Nuns would hit your palms with a ruler. I guess we were tougher and expected to be hurt sometimes. I still have dirt in my knee from falling off my bike in the alley. Mom picked gravel out etc but we missed some dirt. It wasn't fun but I was back on my bike an hour later.

we survived because we learned to use our bodies and our minds. we learned that if you do it this way you fall and get hurt, if you do it this other way, you don't. We learned balance from climbing trees, climbing walls/cliffs, balancing on fences, or walking on top of the jungle gym. It was a Blast!! Now kids are tied up in bubble wrap, and parents are sue happy if junior gets a scratch so the parks have removed all the challenging toys, and the schools are prohibiting climbing trees.

Along the way fun got traded for safety. I’ve got a few scars but I had a lot of fun along the way. We didn’t have a station wagon so we played in the seat wells on car trips (back seats were bigger then. Fun video!

Definitely remember the all steel play grounds! Fun but dangerous! Im 62 and have alot of great memories.

Born in 1965 and absolutely loved growing up in the 70s! I would walk all over town. Hung out at the beach. Jumped my bike over ramps just like the boys. We would do wheelies on our bikes and see how long we could keep it up. Ride on our friends' handlebars. I would see how fast I could go down the block on my bike and see if I could stop before I got to the next street but I had to wreck my bike in order to stop. Fortunately, I only got a scratch out of it. It was a great time to grow up. My kids were raised in the country playing outside in the woods. They played in the mud puddles getting dirty from head to toe. They weren't coddled. Congrats on the 100K subs.

lol, how did we survive! I did all of this, and more. Parents didn’t see us from wake-up to dark during the summer.😊my best friend and I cut our thumbs and became blood sisters. Yes, I’m weird, but healthy.

I was born in '65 in the Midwest. And yes, we did all of those things too. But one thing they didn't mention, was "hopping cars" in the winter. When it was cold and snowy, we would "hop cars or trucks" to get to town. That's where you would grab ahold of the rear bumper (they were all metal back then), squat down and slide on your feet behind the car. When you got to where you were going to, you simply let go, sat on your butt and slide to a halt. The international sign for this was, you stood on the side of the road, arms in front of you, palms up, fingers curled like you were gripping something. The driver would either give you a "thumbs up or down" letting you know if it was ok to hitch a ride.

We would grab a hold of the merry-go-round and run to pick up speed, and then jump on. Some of us didn't make it. If we fell, we had to wait until it slowed down, and try again. Sometimes, we'd swing on a swing as high as possible, and then jump off. Good times.

My brother was born in '44 and he did all the same things in the '50's. I was born in '53 and I did all the same things in the '60's. My twin brother and I stayed out all day, every day in the summer and the holidays. After school we stayed out until dinner time. In my home my home my parents didn't have rules and we didn't have punishments; only expectations. And we met those expectations. We had a very calm and quiet household. No drama. My parents were fun. So when I got married and had kids we raised them the same way: no rules, no punishments; only expectations. Their now grown with kids they are third generation of raising their kids the same way and run their households the same way. They have very well behaved kids.

When our parents would buy a new stove, washer or refrigerator, it was a lucky day for the kids that could score the large cardboard box that it came in. We'd carefully cut it up into several large pieces and take turns sliding down the large grassy hill on it. They were usually good for a couple full days of outside fun.

Tether Ball was a must play at school. People would take challenges very seriously. It was a tall pole with a long rope, with a white volleyball at the end. You would hit it back and forth in a half circle (usually) until you achieved the proper points. If the opposite person could not return the ball properly, you gained points. This was played before any of us knew about volleyball.

We had to be in when the street lights went on. I remember a kid falling off of a tall slide and breaking both his arms. My mum was a teacher so if I had problems with a subject I got help at home from mum. If you didn’t do well in school you got kept back and had to repeat the grade again. Now they think the kids have to be kept with their peers so it doesn’t matter if the kid couldn’t read he go passed into the next grade. Cars didn’t have shoulder belts, only lap belts if you were lucky. There were no booster seats for kids either, once they outgrew the car seat then they sat on the regular seat of the car.

He forgot to mention climbing trees, going to the neighborhood swimming pool, playing basketball in the driveway and just wondering around exploring further than your parents wanted.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s. But, it was very rural. We didn't have running water (hand pump in the kitchen and outside). The handpump gave the best coldest water. Didhave a bathroom or even an outhouse (we were really poor). We had a "slop jar" aka "chamber pot". Working on the farm We used sand to wash our hands when we were outside. During the day we were not allowed to be inside unless it was raining or unusually cold. I got a single swat on my butt at school one time only. My daddy wore my rear-end out. I will never forget what he told me before the spanking: "There is nothing worse than someone else's brat, I'm not gonna let you be someone else's brat." Here in the country it was usual to get your first gun around about 10 years old- always a 22 rifle. Yeah it was a wonderful life. I had never even heard of child abduction till I was 12 years old. I never remember feeling afraid of someone breaking in our homes, heck we didn't ever lock our homes. Yeah, truly wonderful.

You may not believe this but can look it up. I was raised in Texas and I am 56 years old now. When I was in high school a lot of the guys had hun racks inside the cab of their trucks and would take off with their friends and go hunting after school. Not one school shooter! My brothers got guns at 8-10 years old. First pellet or BB guns but by teens had a 22. All this vid is 100% on point

Growing up in the 70's was awesome and the older I get, the more I appreciate my childhood. As a 5 year old going to kindergarten, I had to walk myself 1/4 mile down a gravel road and stand along the busy highway to wait for the school bus to pick me up. Like all latch key kids, I wore a house key on a chain around my neck. After school, the bus would drop me off on the highway and I would walk back home, let myself in, and wait for my parents to come home from work a few hours later. Often times my mom would call before she left work and asked me to start dinner. I was too small to reach the dials on the stove so I had to push a chair up to the stove in order to turn the knob. During the summer, I was home all day by myself not just a few hours. I would wake up after my parents left for work and there was always a blue notepad on the kitchen table with a list of chores I needed to accomplish before they got home: dust, vacuum, do dishes, pick or clean the strawberries & raspberries in the garden, hoe thistles out of the yard. I hated that blue notebook but there was always still plenty of time to ride my bike to my cousin's house 3 miles down the road. They too were home alone all day while their parents worked . . but they had a swimming pool! On hot days, we would call each other and then leave our houses at the same time so we could meet each other half way. All three of us would then ride back to their house while farmer's dogs chased us and nipped at our heels. Wiping out in the loose gravel was common too. We would spend the rest of the day in the pool with zero adult supervision. As 4 pm approached, I would call my mom to let her know where I was and asked her if she could pick me up on her way home. She struggled to fit my bike in the back of her car sometimes but she never complained. Its just what we did.

Had a blast as a teen in Chicago in the 70s. The 70s were amazing.

Born in 1972 i got to experience the 70s and 80s. The best time to be alive and i would give up everything i have today to go back and go through it all over again. Things were way simpler back then and just a lot more fun. Today kids have their faces buried in their phones and laptops all day and if you take them away they don't know how to function.

Warm summer nights when kids gathered to play in the yard after dinner were the best.

5:58...... my granddad was a geography teacher. He was issued a paddle by the school board. He was a good enough teacher that his forms of punishment were just a stern talking-to, and pranks on the students. Which was acceptable then, and revolutionary for the time when he started! At some point, he even threw the paddle away. A few of his students made a paddle in their shop class. He was that respected! That paddle is still around, 50 years later!

We had so much fun most of our toys were made of metal & sharp corners now day’s everything is made of plastic & rounded Parent always yelled @ 2 go outside & play but be home 4 dinner when the street lights come on Thanks 4 the memories 😃

This is only a small portion of growing up in the 70’s. I still have the scars from road rash and probably 8 concussions by the age of 10. We had 3 tv stations and a tv that usually required pliers to change the channel after the dial gears were stripped.. We listened to Sunday night radio. Our gaming console consisted solely of Pong when rarely playing indoors. Our metal lunch pales now sell on EBay for up to $1,000 in great condition. Yep BB guns, knifes and even a .22 rifle were all gifts before the age of 10. Fist fights were left in the streets and not something to bother our parents with. All of the memories, priceless!!!

Having grown up in an orange grove in Florida, I spent all day outside climbing trees or tumbling in the yard. When I got hungry, I'd grab an orange off a tree. Thirsty? Garden hose. It's potable water (unless you have a "gray water" system where waste water is used for gardens/yards). Even when parents were trying to protect us, it didn't always work. During the US Bicentennial in 1976 (200 years), my dad got a sparkler for us to "celebrate" with. I think I was 4 or 5. Dad put a huge oven glove on my hand, told me to hold it far away so I wouldn't get burned, and lit it up. Worked great...until I grabbed the burned end with my non-covered hand. Got a massive burn on my palm. Mom & Dad had quite the um, conversation after that. lol One of the best birthdays I had when I was under 10, was inviting my friends over, and we made cookies. But to make it more fun, we decorated aprons with pens and paint, and while those dried, we went around the neighborhood asking for donations - a cup of sugar, an egg, flour - everything to make cookies. We had a walkie-talkie so we split into 2 groups to search the neighborhood and keep updated. When we had everything, we went home, put on our cute aprons, and baked lots of cookies. We then went to every home who had donated and gave them some cookies. It was fun, safe (back then), and a mix between art, baking, and problem solving. At a birthday party. No joke - my husband's grandfather gave him his first pocket knife as a kid. Grandpa said "a gentleman has a pocket knife on them at all times." It is handy if you have to open something. Husband still carries it. Maybe it's a southern US thing? OH! Chicken Pox parties! As a toddler, as soon as one kid got chicken pox (neighbor, schoolmate, friend), they'd have "chicken pox parties" so all the kids would get the disease, as it's easier to fight off as a small kid and there were no vaccines for it yet. We didn't realize what our parents were doing, but having known a man who got chicken pox at age 17, he had it WAY worse than I did at age 3. Now, check out Schoolhouse Rock! Big during the 70s & 80s. Not many reviews of it on RU-vid so maybe you could start a trend, you YT superstar!

This made me smile. Such good memories. I was born in 1960. I feel very lucky to have grown up in such a time.

Grew up in the '70s...can confirm most of this. Evel Knevel was a popular stunt man, and you tried to duplicate the stunts with your bike. Tennis ball shooters...made from tennis ball cans and fueled with lighter fluid. A science teacher built one, and shot it out the class window. I lived in a semi rural area and went on a lot of " away missions" exploring places... sometimes 30 to 50 miles from home. Take the patchkit and pump in case you get a flat, and just go. You could pick up deposit bottles out of the ditch on the roadside and make enough money for movies, trips to the used book store and flea market. Go fishing at a nearby pond. Stand on a bridge and watch alligators go by ( Florida). Go out on big-trash day and see what people set out on the curb.... sometimes, you find cool stuff. I had a " Kamp King" pocket knife at 8. The screwdriver and bottle opener were the most useful things on it. What would now be called " urbex"... exploring abandoned or " creepy" places. Most children and teenagers were semi-feral during weekends and summer. It was generally fun.

This is exactly how it was and we loved it. I have a ton of siblings. We used to go on trips to visit our grandparents about an hour and a half from where we lived. We had a station wagon you would shout I’ve got the “way back” to claim your seat in the very back of the station wagon, that faced backwards, everyone wanted to sit in that seat on the way there. On the way home Our parents put all the seats down through some blankets and pillows in the back and we all just slept in the car. no seat belts nothing just laid in the back of the station wagon until we got home. I loved the sound of the old roads, especially going over bridges because it was extremely calming and the rhythm would put you to sleep while you looked out the window to see the stars.

Grew up in the 70’s as a teenager. Did things like bicycle tag, kick the can, flashlight tag, shoot BB guns at each other, hitch a ride on back bumper of a car when snow was on the street, throw water balloons at cars during Halloween holiday, jump railroad tracks on a hill with our motorcycles, etc. You name it, we did it!

BRO!!!! Born in 1970... lived and loved ALL of it! Thanks for recognizing your elders in a fun way 😅😂😊

Born in 71. They missed the roller skates that went on over your sneakers and all the falls and scraped knees from using them on bumpy sidewalks. We got sent outside after breakfast, back in for lunch, then had to be home when the streetlights went on. We were out super late in the summers and our parents had no idea where we were.

Yep, I was a kid in the 60's and a teen in the 70's, the best years ever. Did all this and even more. When my kids were born in the 80's I made sure they experienced the same kind of life I had growing up, I didn't allow them to sit inside playing console games as long as there was daylight, we were outside. I would give my eye teeth to go back to those days.