The Days of Yesteryear

I went early this morning to my physical therapy session following surgery. Nothing really exciting happened, I was just tortured for about an hour, electrocuted for another 20 minutes and then put on ice for twenty. The normal routine that most knee patients go through.

While I was on the bike, though, an ad on television caught my eye. It was an ad for Nestle's drink for kids called, "Juicy Juice for Brain Development". Seems that Nestles is on this kick to convince parents that their juicey juice will make the brains of infants grow faster and the kids smarter. What happened to play time? What happened to pretend?

I have to say that I long for the good old days when kids were allowed to be kids. That a backyard and a neighborhood were where kids grew and parents pretty much left us alone. Summer play time started when we got up and we came home when the street lights came on. We "checked in" occasionally during the day, but for the most part we were left to our own designs to entertain ourselves.

Neighborhood baseball games, football, basketball games were the norm. No adults to bother us or make the rules. We made them up. Out of bounds was the telephone pole, or a homerun was over the highest electrical wire. If we did not have enough for a baseball game, we altered the rules to pitchers hands out or auto matic out in right field for right handed batters and left field for lefties. Two hands below the waist or two hands anywhere and no rushing until you count five in football. We argued and we learned the art of negotiation. We got the hell kicked out of us sometimes. A neighbor's hose was our water fountain, and we knew which neighbors wanted no part of us, and we left them alone.

We read books on rainy days. Any book. Our comics were worn out, dog eared, as were our copies of Mark Twain and the Hardy Boys. We talked, we rode bikes all over, we laughed. Our brains were elevated by plain old water, or Coca Cola or Pepsi, not by some drink that labled itself as brain developer. So what if a parent gives the kid this stuff and then does not let him or her think for themselves. That is trouble with kids these days. They have to be entertained constantly. They have to be led, they are not creative enough to create games and rules. More importantly parents won't let them.

What if poor Tommy or Sissy gets dirty? What if they make a mistake? Everyone that participates HAS to get a trophy! Kids are not taught that they grow through failure. They have to feel good about themselves 24-7-365...That is why kids do not know respect, and they do not do well in school. They are not allowed to fail. There is nothing to work for.

Hold on, my brain is not developing.... I need some "adult brain devloper". I thik I will go talk to my cousin Jack and his friend the Captain.

More tomorrow on my philosophy of education.

Doughnut