Random Rant

Just a thought related to the last post: Were we really that oblivious to the world when we were kids? I don't remember paying any attention to anything going on in the world around me. I could tell you the president's name and that was about it. I couldn't tell you what was going on in the news. I never watched the news. I never knew about the Iran hostage situation, or the Iran/Contra affair. I remember the Challenger blowing up. I could tell you where I was then. Did the world not matter to us because the U.S. wasn't directly involved? So, it was a "no harm/no foul" type of thing? I'm just curious. Because, as for me, I was clueless back then as to what was going on around me, even when it came to the local news.

And another thing. How on earth did we ever get by without cell phones or watches? You see kids today as young as four or five with a cell phone. I remember riding my bike all day from the time I got up until the time the street light came on outside...no way at all to get in contact with my mom. Sometimes, I would wander miles away from my house. I had no friends. I just rode my bike and maybe play with a kid I ran into along the way. My mom had no idea where I was. I was five or six years old. Who knows what could have happened to me. Were things really safer back then? Were there less instances of kidnapping or child molestation or are they just tracked better today? Are kids smarter today or better informed because of the media?
Are parents today better parents because of technology? Or are they subconsciously righting their parents wrong ways? Some say children are destined to repeat their parents mistakes. Others say that parenthood, not genetics, is the one opportunity to change the course of your family. Only time, and history, will tell.