Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

Theres a somewhat heated discussion in another place which boils down to how you see unfounded fears in childhood - something to be indulged (can you tell what side I`m on ) or confronted.
I was brought up to value courage and encouraged to embrace new experiences. We explored our streets, got dirty, talked to unsuitable people - my sister used to beg rides on the Corporation Dust Cart and I befriended the Rag and Bone man so I could go round to the Mews and pet his horse. Any attempt by us to squeal like girlies at the approach of a dog would have been met with derision, so we didn`t bother.
Courage seems to be completely absent in modern child-rearing and I am faced daily with children crippled by fear, supported by aggressively protective parents as I walk my dogs.
What about you? Were you sheltered or chucked in at the deep end?

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

Excellent thread idea. I'd say generally that I was encouraged to face fears; my Dad tried to get me over my fear of thunderstorms and it generally worked. There wasn't such a tendency to coddle children back then; we were allowed to make mistakes and learn thru doing them. I played for hours alone in the woods, catching crawfish, making dams, catching turtles and snakes, etc.... can you imagine anyone letting a 10 year old girl do that now? Although, TBH there wasn't the constant barrage of bad news that's available today: rarely heard about rapists, molesters, muggers, etc.... they were there of course, but not in the news 24/7.

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

You have described my childhood perfectly...except we used to ride on the milk wagon....

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

I was the eldest of 5 children in our family and we lived in a very isolated place so had to entertain ourselves I used to walk for miles marvel at the animals ,insects and wild flowers, it's a sad fact that today's children can't have the freedom I experienced as a child and also that their imaganiations can't be used to their full potential either...

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

I feel very sorry for today's children. Play dates, game practices, time on the computer and video games are all very well but they cannot make up for what they're not experiencing: having time to play outside unsupervised, learn about nature, use their imaginations..... sad.

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

Problem now is, its not safe for kids to do what we did,I am one of 7, we lived in the country, spent days climbing tree's, swimming in the river, we could talk to anyone, the only time our mum saw us is when we were hungry.....
I would not have let my son do those things when he was young, very sad, but its just not safe for kids, to be kids nowadays..................

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

Definitely chucked in at the deep end-holidays and weekends we were out all day. Used to be given sandwiches and a bottle of orange and were told 'be home at tea time'. We used to play in the street, on the recreation ground or down the park and usually came back looking like waifs and strays-usually mucky from playing football with the lads and having to use our jumpers as goal posts! Suppose we were as they 'street wise'. Also remember knocking on doors seeing if they wanted any jobs doing to see if we could get a bit of money. I do feel sorry for the children today-think they have missed out on a lot but I blame that on the way society is today. We weren't always angels, we were at times mischievious, but in mine mind the childhood we had was part of character building and learning independence. They were good times.

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

I had both. My mum was ultra protective and my dad was the complete opposite

I do see what you mean tho - when we were kids we were out playing every single day, used to go out and come back as and when we pleased (there was a park just around the corner). These days the kids are told they have to be 'careful' of everyone - feel sorry for them :-/

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

Another chucked in at the deep end here, although that is mainly thanks to my grandfather and father. Mother was a bit more cautious.

Used to spend any spare time I had either with grandfather on farm, walks etc or pestering the life out of anyone I knew with pets/local stables/nature 'surveys' etc.

Interestingly my sister very much encourages my two neices to explore, be as independent as possible and embrace the world. She finds it very hard sometimes because of all the above mentioned issues in todays world.

Re: Caution or Courage? What were you taught?

I think the only caution we were warned about was being careful on the roads and train tracks! We were the same as everyone else, off out for the day then coming home later feeling starving.

Today's world is completely different, they was no violence years ago like there is today. Any gangs had the occasional fisty-cuffs and fall outs but today there is violence around with a capital V. Todays TV, films, video games all seem to promote anger and fighting etc. Even schools have more problems today than we had all those years ago.

No child of today could possibly play with freedom as we did years ago without their mother worrying about their safety, in my opinion ..... I agree though that some fathers see it in a different way
So yes, I was protective of my children and I don't think it had done them any harm.