Childhood's End

Yes, it is a famous novel by Arthur C. Clarke, but the title seems eerily applicable to today.

Halloween? We had no parents with us; we went out on our own, ringing doorbells and soaping the window screens of those who dared to avoid us.

School buses? We rode the city bus, until I discovered that by standing on the back bumper of the bus and holding onto the sign that advertised "Joe's Pizza" or whatever, I could save the bus fare and add it to my spending money. And, nobody ratted me out. Today, some clown would pull up next to the bus, blow the horn, and tell the driver that he had a kid riding on the bumper.

Bicycle helmets? They had not even been invented.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I saw a cop stop a grown man on a bicycle and not only ticket him but impound his bike, while ignoring a helmetless motorcycle rider.

Pedophiles? Nobody knew the word then, yet the kids knew enough to avoid certain creepy adults. We knew who liked us and who did not. Sure, there were women who tried to get too close, but I could always avoid them.
There was one man who asked my cousin for oral sex, but she told her father and the men ran him out of town after a good thrashing.

At Christmas, we sat on the lap of Santa Claus, not like today where the kids sit on a bench next to him.

Supervised playgrounds? Hah! We found our own places to play, and we did not want adults around, supervising or not.

Age segregation? No such thing. The generations mingled freely, and we learned a lot from older people.

Today, kids seem to be growing up in a bubble, living in constant fear of strangers, when the real dangers are from their family and family friends.