Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 16, 2017

I would have praised her for wearing the gear

Now that’s a mental image, a young Mrs Olsen on a skateboard.

In her day, there were no skate boards. I survived a very active childhood with a few scars but all limbs intact. I still miss climbing trees.

Encouraging kids to wear less protective gear seems irresponsible… I’m glad Frazz has more sense here.

scrapped knees were just part and parcel of playing.

In my day you stole a skate from your kid sister, nailed the halves to the ends of a 2×4. Then you nailed an orange crate on top with a 1×1 (or anything that resembled handlebars) on top.

The hard part was finding enough nails.

Seriously Frazz? In my day, we got hurt and we healed, and it made us adults into people who could stand to be insulted and not sue, or lose and not cry foul, or cut off in traffic and not turn to road-rage, and get rejected and not feel victimized. People should try it more often, you’d have less ‘incidents’ of people acting out against others. (not none, just far less.)

We got hurt, no doubt. However, few things required professional care. Basic first aid skills generally covered the injuries. Heck, I have even sewn myself up.

It’s times like this that make me wonder how we all survived to get to adulthood. Then again, kids today will be allowed to stay children forever.

Kids have protective gear for everything these days! Not that I’m against it, but I had a VERY active childhood, even taught my two brothers how to climb trees. Bikes, volleyball, softball and swimming, not one injury until I tripped on a piece of blacktop and broke my ankle. No protective gear could have prevented that one. My point is, in general, we protect out children too much and they can’t handle the real world once they have to face it on their own.

I grew up wearing dresses to school (required) and playing hard on blacktop playgrounds. In second grade, the school nurse knew me by name in the first week. I’ve still got a scar on my knee, but we did survive, and we had a lot of fun. And no, I don’t think skateboards were around when Mrs Olsen was in grade school—and I doubt a girl would have been on one, either. Times are changing, and a lot for the better.

If Mrs Olsen is under retirement age she definitely had skateboards. Look up Neal Unger on YouTube. As for pads, I had a helmet and homemade pads in the 70s so I don’t actually think anything has changed.

When I see young kids on roller blades without protective equipment, I cringe. That is because I did fall myself once, nothing serious, but there was blood in a few places.

I should try skateboarding and roller skating.

Oh look, another “my childhood was better and today’s children suck and will ruin society” comment section. How typical and expected from the elderly.

if you’re lucky, REAVEN, you’ll get to be elderly someday too. If you wear all your protective gear…..

I do not see Mrs. Olsen as saying NOT to wear the gear… just that they did not have it when she was young. And, today, Frazz makes a good point…. yes, those of us around now DID survive without out the gear…. but…. be honest…. wearing protective gear like this (or seatbelts in a car, or a motorcycle helmet if you ride)…. is simply prudent and smart now that it is available.

I may be opening a can of worms here, but I would be in favor of mandatory helmet wearing for skating, cycling, etc. I also find it horrible that several states are changing their laws to make helmet use optional with motorcycle riders. The minor benefit of having the breeze through your hair is, IMO, not worth the lack of safety for the brain and cranial cap.

It’s worth noting that all the people who complain that today’s kids are soft and squeamish and not hardy like they were as kids are, practically by definition, adults who survived their childhoods. For some odd reason, we never hear from the ones who died because they did something foolish and insufficiently protected.

It’s known as Darwinian Selection – it was just another way to cull the stupid. We’ve lost that now.

Certain activities require protective gear, skateboarding and high speed biking are two. However a lot of the protective gear is just a money grab by both the manufacturers and the Insurance companies.

Miss Olsen may not be saying to not wear protective clothing but she is implying that that kids who wear such gear are softer and less worthy than she and her friends were. I didn’t wear bike helmets ect when I was a kid and in spite of the stupid things I did on my bikes was fortunate to get away with nothing worse than getting stitches on two different occasions. I’m not sure if I would wear a helmet if I were riding a bike today BUT I wouldn’t discourage younger people (or anyone else for that matter) from wearing them.

As far as motorcycles go and bicycles for that matter, as long as “your” insurance premiums are linked to claims from motorcyclists (or their estate) who want the wind in their hair you might want to reconsider having people being responsible for their own safety and welfare. We all pay directly or indirectly for other peoples’ lack of responsibility.

Higher birth rate and higher death rate back then.