General Chat

Hope he does well. I hear plumbers is what this country needs. I'll call Mario

What a good mum you are Linda - what's your lad learning? I am just so glad that society is learning by its mistakes and reinstating the old ways - the old intendered apprenticeship scheme is the only way to learn a trade properly, and at the end of their period of training we have craftsmen - something that this country has been sadly lacking for too long. Good luck to your son, I'm sure he will succeed as he obviously has the work ethic. Jacqui

Daniel - what do you think people lived on in the past? An apprentice lived at home, with his parents - the small amount he earned he spent wisely (of course, he didnt have a mobile phone to keep feeding, he usually didnt have any transport (apart from his bike) to keep on the roads, if he went out at night with his mates he only had a small amount to drink couldnt afford much more) - in order words, he had less to spend his money on, and so it went further! I dont think there are many 16 year olds today who could manage without their mobiles, and in fact I think most 16 year olds have as much spending money today for a week as the apprentices of yesteryear earned in a month! Everyone had a job, even though it might not have been skilled with an apprenticeship attached to it - no one seemed to be out of work because there was no "social security" to prop up the system - useful work was an ethic which was instilled into us, and I cannot remember any of my contemporaries ever being out of work - there was always something that could be found that would bring in a wage. Grannie Jacqui

I think it would have to be diffrent to how it used to be. There isn't enough time these days to stop and learn from the bottom to the top. People need to earn a living and to be given pennies to live on would just not be fesible. I reckon.

I do certainly - but I am talking about the old fashioned type of apprenticeship, where the youngsters learned a trade from a fully qualified craftsman - they worked for peanuts from 15 until 21 and then when they had learned their craft and had reached a certain level, they went on to a man's wage. Unfortunatly of course today there are few master craftsmen to pass on their trade, and the level of craftsmanship is sadly lacking - oiy vey, I sound just like my grannie!! Jacqui

Does anyone think apprentiships would make a diffrence?

I was born 1967 the year after Elaine. and I agree with everything she said. We had black and white telly until about aged 11, I came home from school sat down right in front of it, my mum watched me for half an hour then said havnt you noticed yet but we have a colour telly. I couldnt believe it. It was such good fun in those days, and there wasnt any theme parks and kids fancy indoor playgrounds and no fancy swimming pools. It was just a simple everyday life that everyone enjoyed.

Hi Daniel - havent read all the threads, but would like to add my two-pennyworth (there, that's an indication of the times when I was a kid) Two-pennyworth of toffees! for the benefit of those who dont remember pennies, they were huge bronze coins that weighed a ton, but boy could you get some stuff for 2d! My childhood was safe and loving, but at the time of course I didnt realise that. I just thought that all kids had parents as wonderful as mine - my dad worked as a miner (underground, shift work) to feed and clothe his kids (3 of us) and my mum worked in the pit canteen (again shifts) to help with the budget. I knew that my mother walked to work each morning at 5.00 am summer and winter, along a very dark canal bank to get to the pit head, but of course it never registered until I was much older just how much at risk she might have been. What a gutsy lady - I just wish I had half her bottle! Summer holidays from school were spent out and about with a bottle of water (pop if we were in the money) and great door-steps of bread. Off at the crack of dawn, and not back until it got dark. None of us kids in the village were I lived came to any harm, we all looked after one another, and our parents knew we would come to no harm (at least from other human beings!) I do despair nowadays at the difference in society, and only the other day (after walking through the town I now live in at lunch time) I was struck by the ungraciousness of people (mostly youngsters I might add) - how impolite, arrogant, uncaring and downright "ugly" they seemed to me - I say "ugly" as I do not really know how to describe most of them, not so much their features, but their attitudes and bodily characteristics- I did think then (in a weak moment of despair) of what society is coming to - hey,it will pass no doubt and I think I hear echoes of my grannie! Jacqui

Daniel, You want to know what changes should be made here's my list 1. Stop meddling from the EU and have the courage to make our own laws and rules. 2. Let Teachers teach. 3. Let Police -police. 4.Stop mollycoddling criminals and prisoners and be tougher on them. 5.Bring back Domestic science and boys things like woodwork etc into schools ,not many of us liked it but it gave us the basics. 6.bring back national service i haven't heard any complaints from people who did it. Chrissy.x

I was born in 1961 and can identify with a lot of what Elaine (in Harlow) says. I had a happy, but quiet and unremarkable childhood! I'm sure I had more freedom than a lot of children today, we would disappear for hours on innocent pursuits, picking blackberries, paddling in streams, looking for slow-worms...Nobody worried and you would always get fed or patched up by a 'Mum'! Yes, we were less materialistic, but there were less things to buy! I used to be thrilled by the prospect of babysitting for our neighbours because they had a colour telly! We never went abroad, spent great hols in Britain and we used to have big family outings to the seaside and New Forest. I remember Dad taking me to see 'Trooping the Colour' one year which was a real treat!

I grew up in the 70's & 80's. I liked the 70's better as it seemed a lot slower and relaxed, the 80's was more frantic, and it was the beginning of the 'look after no.1 and never mind the rest' type attitude. I feel my own daughter, aged 2, has already got more toys than I had in my entire life- but she does get bored with them quickly- I think someone earlier said it- children now are bombarded with information from an early age and are over- stimulated. We are better off financially than my parents were, but it also brings a competitive and 'one-upmanship' type attitude, which I have noticed often in the parents of my daughters little friends. I hope she will have a happy childhood and grow up into a lovley person, but I fear the world with drugs, paedophiles and so , so much pressure to always be the best.

Daniel, my childhood here in N.Ireland seems to mirror that of those "across the water". Born in the mid 50's my memories of childhood are quite happy ones, and a feeling of security. Then the extended family was still going strong, aunties uncles grandparents cousins, always knowing there were people about who were part of your family. People now live further apart from their families. Also as others have mentioned neighbours and adults played a great part in every day life. When we played out, it was in the street, always someone was watching, someones Mum to tell you off, or watch out for you. You seemed safe, going to school the older boys and girls walked the younger ones to and fro. A little older and you went over the field and river, collected flowers in spring. But then childhood seemed to have stages, old enough to play in the garden, older to play in street, then allowed to go to park, or when 10/11 to go for a walk with a bottle of water and jam sandwiches. The walk would have been for several miles. You wre allowed to be a child - now I feel children are bombarded with all sorts encouraging them to grow up, be minature adults, sad really.

So what do you think should be done to try and make life like it used to be?

Hi, Daniel, What an interesting thread you've started . I read the boards everyday and know the names of the contributors quite well. How nice to read about their childhoods and my experiences were very similar to most of them ,having been born in 1940 . The 50s were my favourite years, footloose and fancyfree ,rock and roll , not a lot of money but a love of life and a very good and stable up-bringing with the usual discipline. I can feel my halo slipping because,hand on heart , I can honestly say I never . ever, back-chatted my mother and when I had my own babies she was full of sound advice which was never flawed and I wish now that I had shown MORE appreciation than I think I did. Keep up with your threads Daniel, you are one interesting young man and I'll bet your parents are very proud of you ! All the best son.........Joyce

Imagine all the victorian wierdo teachers who beat the kids. Awful.

I personally believe the cane should only be used in exceptional circumstances as it would open up so much human rights blah blah stuff in schools, costing the tax payer thousands. Conscription. The army says they wouldn't want yobs in the barracks and that today they would be bad for the British army's image. If i were in charge, conscription would only be forced upon people, male and female, over 18, not in a job or education that were just living on the dole making no effort to improve themselves. After a year, let them go, give them say, 6 months to get their act together. If not, back again. Just my opinion.

daniel its not just bad parenting that the kids are like they are today. the government in the 80's stopped the cane or slipper in the schools and conscription was also stopped,if they had not stopped both those then there would be less crime today. the teachers and other adults were respected so the slipper /cane were rarely used.Conscription made men out of boys and a lot of the lads that went in army/navy/air force actually stopped in longer than the 3 yrs they had to do,they made it their careers.if i was naughty and we were outside the local policeman used to give me a clip round the ear then i would get another off my mother when she was told what i had done.no pocket money unless you ran errands for older people or you worked in the house.not like the kids nowadays where kids get at least a fiver to go out of the parents way.I enjoyed growing up in the 50's even though we had very little money I wouldn't like to be young now.(57yrs old). sue

In 1947, when I was 4 and my sister 8, my father, who had stayed on in the army, was posted to Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Yes – where all the trouble is now). Can you imagine what it must have been like for my mother? Father had gone in advance, so she had to deal with packing up the house and getting us ready to travel to what was then considered one of the less healthy parts of the planet. We were inoculated against everything that you could be inoculated against and then shipped of to Africa on the P&O Steamship Elmanzora. I was 11 when we came back (apart from some leaves which I hated) and it was the most wonderful place you can imagine to be a kid in. School was from 8am ‘till 1pm because it was too hot in the afternoon. WE were allowed a freedom that can only be imagined by today’s children. We used to walk 3 miles to the beach and get a lift or catch a bus home. We strolled down to the local market where the native women with their babies strapped to their back would peel oranges (these had thin tough skins) so that we could drink the juice. We had mango trees, banana trees and a cashew tree in our garden and a big lawn at the back. No mowers to cut the grass so that was done by prisoners from the jail using razor sharp machetes and guarded by soldiers with no ammunition in their rifles. There is lots more but. Of course, I suffered horribly when we came back to England where some things were still “on ration” and everyone was so gloomy like the weather. Bob

Daniel When I was a child I didn't know any different, whereas now I can make comparisons. I'm not sure things were safer then, when I grew up the Krays were around, the Moors murderers were around, but I wasn't aware of them. We had to make our own amusements, but there were plenty of children in the close I grew up in to play with. Because it was a close, and there was hardly any traffic (I don't recall anyone owning a car when I was younger) it was quite safe to play in the road. If you got hurt, you went to the nearest house and whoever's mum was there would sort you out. Very simple things, like walking down to feed the horses at the riding school, or going blackberrying, were amusing to us. I think children now (and I work in a primary school, so this is based on what I see) have a very short attention span and too much stimulation. Helen

Hi Daniel I was born in 1966 (the year England won the world cup !! ) So I grew up remembering the late 70's and 80's. In the early days We had no central heating. After One cold night my glass of water had ice on the top of it by the morning ! There were little or no diet foods, no one blinked an eyelid using fat (lard) in cooking. Yogurts were full fat.Take away was mainly fish & chips.We had no microwave, no dishwasher and only had a colour telly when I was about 11. No automatic washing machine, mum had a twin tub with spin dryer.or it was a visit to the launderette. We had no sky tv, no channels 4 & 5.(when I was small)no playstation or x box. we did have a tv game which was two paddles knocking a ball accross the screen ! I played over the park till dusk, especially that long hot summer of 1976. no one bothered me, it was safe to play out in the street. There were bad things that happened but as said before, we only found out of certain things on the 10 oclock news or the newspaper. There were no mobile phones. 9 year old girls mainly were still acting & dressing, like 9 year old girls, not like 15 year olds. I was 16 in 1982 & loved the music. life seemed easy then but then again it was....I was a kid & was shielded from worry. Elaine x