Bit of a change of tack for me this…

I'd say it's more dangerous now, some of the **** my eldest tells me that goes on is fouking mindblowing...

 

On the other hand as well there’s the fear of adults more so men on their own who ignore children in distress .
Once in Alhambra center and was with ar lass when a bloke came up to us (we’ll ar lass mainly ) and informed there was a toddler in distress and looked as though he’d list his parents which indeed he had . Ar lass went over to comfort him for about a minute till his frantic mother appeared . Bloke turned to me and said he darent go over to comfort the lad and looked for a woman or a couple which was us . Sad times imo as I agreed with him . Which a few years ago I would have asked the child what was up and tried to help if I’d been on my own but not sure now

 

I grew up in the mining community close to Hatfield Main in Doncaster. In those days you could leave
your doors open and leave money for the Insurance man, or the Mail Order Club collector happy in the
knowledge that no one dare enter your property to take your money or your property.
Everybody looked out for one another re- hurt one and you would hurt everybody in the locality.
My Dad told my Mum about a colleague at work who had been caught in a public toilet in a compromising
position with another man and the fact that he got a custodial sentence. Even though it was a reasonably
small village there was a "murder " and a young girl was allegedly raped.
The death occurred outside the local Working Men's Club. A member had been critical of the resident Club
drummer saying he was not keeping time and was basically rubbish. The drummer overheard him and a
heated exchange took place. At the end of the night the member crouched behind a car and as the drummer left
the Club he was struck on the head. He fell banging his head on a car. He died of a brain aneurism during the night.
At dawn there was a deputation of local miners banging on his door with a rope, but fortunately for him, he managed to phone the Police admitted what he had done and was arrested. He got a custodial sentence and never returned
to the village. The rapist was not so lucky. The local vigilantes managed to get hold of him before the Police. He was bundled into a vehicle and was subjected to a procedure involving Vaseline, a length of 28mm copper
pipe and a strand of barbed wire. Apparently he was in surgery for around nine hours. I bet wherever he re-located to
he never raped anyone again. The incident was never publicised locally or nationally to avoid any repetition and nobody was ever charged for the offence, because the victim didn't want to press charges.
In short even in those days, people who were willing to offend, murder and molest were out there, but as some have
already said their crimes were not reported nationally that's all. The community spirit was never more evident than when
the Yorkshire Ripper was at large. We had a group of lads at our Club who were willing to escort kids to and from school
and any lads working away from home, would get in touch with the committee to provide escorts/ transport for their wives who for whatever reason had to be on the streets after dark i.e visiting aged parents or going to work.

 

That reminds me... my husband hates being in any area where you would expect to find children unaccompanied-ish. For example, I visit libraries quite regularly as I used to borrow a lot of non-fiction books for my classes based on our topics. I practically have to drag him into the children's section to help me find a book, even when the area is completely empty. No matter how many times I remind him that he could be a parent, or a teacher or getting a book for anyone really and that the area is empty anyway(!) he still insists it looks weird him being in a children's area, yet he doesn't think it's weird at all for me to go in and get some books. He also won't stand still near a kid's play area. If I want to stop to talk or look in my bag or something he says we need to walk away a bit so we don't look like weirdos casing the playground. I find it super paranoid but I guess I've never had to worry about that stereotype, it's the same to him when I make us cross a road at night if I feel followed/threatened by a guy even though he doesn't get that urge (and to be fair, the guy is probably just walking along minding his own business).

 

That’s so true of a lot of men jamdrop.
I’m in the frame of mind where if I’m not with ar lass I won’t acknowledge kids even if their in their pushchairs and obviously smiling at me .
I know loads of blokes feel same and it’s a sign of the times nowadays

 

Hadn’t thought about Brian for years but he was beneath the stupidity a dangerous predator.

Kids are no more or less in danger than they ever were. If you look beyond the immediate past to the Sheffield Outrages people just sadly teach kids to be scared of their own shadows. With my two I like them to have the freedom that I had. I had my limits where I knew I had to stick to if I was going in someone’s house I’d have to tell my Mam where I was. My two are still alive ( but might not be for too much longer if they do t tidy up).

The press have a lot to answer for and the pressure they put on both parents and schools is immense. It is breeding the far more imminent danger of childhood obesity and as they turn to adulthood young people are not used to knowing limits and recognising dangers and that’s what leads them into trouble.

It’s time we let kids be kids rather than petrified shadows playing on an x box.

 

When I was a lad it was sunny every day and I could leave my door unlocked so all the supermodels could let themselves in to cook my tea in lingerie before I got home. First recorded robbery in human history was around 2014 I believe.

 

Dunno Terry, but back in the late 60s and early 70s, my mum and dad never really saw me after I had my tea, I was out with mates and when I came in I was off to bed. Same at weekends; I was out playing footy or watching trains at Bolton-on-Dearne station or cycling all round South Yorkshire. Different world today.

 

Tha Dunt know daydreams from reality tha must have been wrapped up in cotton wool lol

 

...adding to earlier post.

Another part of the issue is the things kids are exposed to these days. When my generation were kids, the only way you would see scenes of graphic sex was if you found your dad's porn video stash or found a magazine in a bush(why did porn mags always end up in bushes?). Kid's today can find the most hardcore of hardcore porn on their phones any time they like. Same goes for graphic violence. A quick Google search will bring up numerous photos and videos. In my experience it all kind of desensitises them to what we as parents are afraid of. I am by no means a prude or squeemish(in fact I'm sure my mates would describe me as the total opposite), but some of the things I hear our kids talking about openly makes me cringe. I wouldn't dare talk openly like that in front of my parents, and nor would I have wanted to.

And then there is the ease at which they can be contacted and groomed. Anyone with an internet connection can now create a fake email address, fake facebook account and photo and add any of the millions of kids on there(the fact that the youngest of those kids shouldn't be on there in the first place is another matter), and thats just those not as good with technology. Those that are really serious will just jump on Tor and access their **** on the "Deep Web".

I'm not saying that grooming didn't happen in my youth though. I'm sure we all know someone from school who was in a relationship with an older man/woman. In fact I remember lads in their "boy racers" parked outside school waiting to pick up their "birds". Could you imagine them being able to get away with that now?

 

It is very hard to make comparisons between different decades & generations because change is always taking place. I grew up in the 50"s & early sixties & there was hardly any cars about , in fact , as well as train spotting we also used to do car spotting , as there were so few about & I am being genuine. Also as kids , we had little or no money so we would play footy , cricket, go fishing , go to the woods & parks etc , whilst todays generation grow up in a totally different environment & lifestyle but I believe whatever generation you were brought up in , there were plenty of dangers , they are dangers what are systematic to that time or decade you are in or were in. One thing that does help parents today as opposed to yesteryear is communication, with nearly all kids from a young age having a mobile phone plus any problems or dangers can be brought to peoples attention through social media . Its a good subject to discuss , however it covers such a wide area, it will offer up a lot of diverse opinions

 

one of the most dangerous places for a child in the 70's 80's was in their home....

 

Don't think it's any more dangerous than any other era tez, it's internet driven hysteria these days mate, back in the day (80's for me as a yoof) if owt went off in and around Barnsley you only ever heard owt through word of mouth or when the comical came out on a Friday now it's straight on we are Barnsley within an hour of it happening and full of faceache bellends sticking their two penneth in spreading half truths and telling folk "well I heard this or that happened" , basically we've convinced ourselves that as soon as we leave our front doors there's a good chance somebody will try to do us and our families harm.
As an aside, son number 2 gave me a form for a school trip yesterday to visit Manchester science museum in a couple of weeks as they are learning about space and Tim Peake, so i said to him "oh that will be a good and interesting place to visit mate ", his reply
"Yeah fatha it will and I don't think anybody will bomb a museum do you" , he's 10, sithi.

 

When I wor a lad I spent haaalf ut day laaikin art and t'other haaalf waiting for emlyn Hughes international soccer to load up on mi zx spectrum , sithi.

 

This is another reason people are more fearful these days.

Mrs Cod Eye and the Step Daughter was at the Manchester Arena when the bomb went off. If they had left their seats 30 seconds earlier, they would have been stood almost next to the lovely person when he blew himself up. They are both still effected by it to this day and were thinking about counselling for the young un. I know this is an extreme example, as the vast, vast, vast majority of people of Barnsley will never be anywhere near a terror attack(or I seriously hope their not), but seeing incidents like Manchester and London Bridge attack will have an effect on the people watching the reports...

(p.s. I don't appologise for using the "C" word in this post. I can't think of a more fitting word to describe said individual, or those of his ilk)

 

I am glad that my childhood was in the 50s. Not many cars on the road, and with people walking more there was generally adults about. I recall having lost my bus fare, and it was raining. I lived 3 miles from Wakefield, so I went into a pawnbrokers (E W Lawson) and asked him for a 24 hour loan of 3d. He gave it to me, and it was returned with thanks the next day. I was 8 years old.

 

It depends on what you're talking about really.

Are you more likely t be he victim of violent crime? I don't think so. That's always been around. Kids have sadly always been abducted, people have been murdered and women have been raped. It's horrible but it's true.

More likely to be robbed? You could leave your front door unlocked in the olden days. Well guess what. You still can. Leave it unlocked and there is only a very slim chance you will be burgled. 25 years ago there were almost 2.5m burglaries in the UK. Last year there were only 650,000. One in 50 houses were burgled last year compared to 1995 when one in 11 were.

Are kids more likely to be groomed online? Yes of course but that is simply because the technology didn't exist before.

Kids are just as safe walking the streets now as they were in the past. They are no more likely to be abducted or attacked in any way. They ARE however more likely to be groomed online but that is something that education and teaching them the dangers can and will stop.

I am constantly amazed at the level of online freedom parents allow their children these days. You have 14 year old girls posting photos of themselves in just a bra or posing deliberately provocatively and they happily put it on their Facebook page or all over Instagram. I'll tell you what. If I had a teenage daughter I wouldn't give a toss how unpopular it made me with her I'd be checking her Facebook because it is disgusting what some of them put on there and any parent who frankly gave a toss could easily see it and deal with it but so many do nothing.

 

Media coverage makes people believe it's more dangerous now but statistics don't back that up. Apart from on the roads due to all the excess traffic doing the school run where as kids used to walk far more.

 

Very much depends where you live.

Alot of inner cities/ towns are horrendous.
And i include barnsley in this.

Further out you go although some areas are still classed as a bit rough youll not get the same problems.

The sense of community and that the overwhelming majority had growing up has been over time eroded alog with traditional family values.

Years ago you acted **** in public as a kid you got your just desserts then seconds when you got in for showing up your parents.

Nowawdays no one seems to give a ****.
Least of all some of the parents.