Ah.... the good old days!

[number6]

I was just thinking about the difference in my growing up and that of today's kids.

In my youth we watched:

Roadrunner
Deputy Dawg
Johnny Quest
Bugs Bunny
My Friend Flicka
Sky King
The Rifleman
Wagon Train
Bonanza
High Chaparell
The Virginian
F Troop
Dragnet
Combat
Rat Patrol
12 o'clock High
Andy Griffith
Leave it to Beaver
Donna Reed Show
Ozzie and Harriet
Father Knows Best
Dick Van Dyke show

Most all having guns portrayed, smoking, and family oriented atmosphere.

Today's youth watch:

Friends
MTV
VHI
Sitcoms involving gays
Sitcoms involving single parents
WWF
Jackass (the movie)
etc, etc.

All having NO guns portrayed, NO smoking, and very little if ANY family atmosphere.

I don'y know if I have a point or not, but it just seems like when I grew up kids knew how to respect adults, guns, and it seemed like there were adult things, and kid things. Now however, there is very little respect for adults, very little respect for guns, and kids today drink coffee, sit in coffee shops, have their own smoking section at schools.... and whatever is ok with adults is ok for kids.

I'm glad I grew up when I did! Anybody see kids in your neighborhood playing Army like we did as kids? I don't. How many kids do you see walking to a school yard to play a game of baseball? Very few! Their all sitting on thier butts eating food and playing video games.

 

[CZSteve]

Don't forget Speed Racer

Used to run home after school to watch.
Still rembember my mom not wild about the cartoon because they shot at each other and drove wild and fast w/ plenty of crashes.

Then I grow up in high school w/ a '71 Camaro that I would spend every nickel on for 'go-fast' goodies and look where I'm now as we type.

Take Care

 

[cool45auto]

What about "Ping! Ping! Ping! Ricochet Rabbit!"?

 

[NewShooter78]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but you can't blame tv, video games, or anything besides kids families for the way they act today. I'm sick of people blaming anything else but the families. It's like blaming guns for killing people.

 

[hksw]

Our Gang / Little Rascals
Johnny Sokko
Ultraman
Baa Baa Blacksheep / Blacksheep Squadron

 

[dinosaur]

Newshooter, I agree with you but when I was a kid, the only T.V. I watched was at night with the family, after homework, or Sat. morning cartoons. If the weather was ok, my father threw me out of the house or I was working with him.

Now T.V. and videogames are the babysitter.

 

[number6]

Newshooter -- Sure you can. Your theory holds no water. Why? Because my generation acted like we did because of our parents. And our parents before them, and so on, and so on. Todays kids are a direct reflrction of what they watch on television because that is what the "family" of today is centered on. We never sat in front of the television when we ate. In fact, the television was turned off during dinner so we could all have a family conversation. Now days most everyone eats in fron of the tv.

And don't take it so personal. I was only reflecting on MY youth and the things I experienced, compared to todays youth. I don't think the things I pointed out can be disputed. Andy Griffith used to sit on his porch either strumming a guitar in the evenings or cleaning one of his shotguns. The antis would have a ****-fit if that were portrayed on a tv show today.

And, I see that you are only 25 years old. I don't really expect you to understand where I'm coming from. But I'm sure some of the older members do.

 

[FireInTheHole]

I stopped watching TV (except for history channel) when I was 16 for just the reasons mentioned above. Now computer games... thats another story.

 

[plainsman66]

I have to agree that our youth today is a little disappointing,but there are some good quality young folks mixed in that group,remember to thank their parents next time you see'em

 

[Kaylee]

*nudge nudge*

This thread is about to take a real swift turn back into firearms-related territory, right?

-K

 

[Darrin]

I was kind of partial to the Lone Ranger. Just about every episode was guns, guns or guns. Oh, and The Rifleman. Dad already knows I want his lever 30-30.

I think I turned out ok.

 

[number6]

general discussion - Meet fellow forum members, find a common ground. Introduce new people to responsible firearm ownership. Posts must be related to firearms.

Kaylee. Please don't pull the trigger on this thread. I think it is staying within the context of the General Discussion guidelines. Here, I'll help out....

Gosh, those earlier television shows sure represented a lot of folks owning and using firearms didn't they fellas?

 

[Stinger]

I remember one episode where the 'Beav got a new gun from his uncle.

Anybody seen a story line like that in Will and Grace?

Stinger

 

[number6]

I watched an episode of Dragnet where Joe stopped off at Frank's (was that his pards name?) house to watch some football on tv, he was greeted at the door and Frank said "Joe, let me put your "heater" here in the closet along with your coat. Let's go sit down and watch the game."

Anyone seen a storyline like that on Friends lately?

 

[shooten]

Even the Wonderful World of Disney (remember that on Sunday night) had families and firearms when I was growing up. They still have families but the firearms are not a part of "modern" life. My 7 year old is learning her lessons about both from me and my wife even though she is a big fan of Lizzie McGuire.

Stinger, the Pink Pistols need to get their message to the producers of that show. If they need my help, it's there.

Scott

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Sure remember those shows but you left out Get Smart.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Ahhhhhh; 99

I was far past "mature age" when Get Smart started. Still enjoy it.

Sam

 

[faustulus]

Nothing I like better than hearing how it was so much better then. My grandmother grew up during the depression in the south, you know what, she liked television and washing machines and air conditioning. Of course she was smart enough to realize that things do not make you who you are. Watching MTV doesn't make you bad, Not watching TV doesn't make you good.
Newshooter is right, it is removing personal responisbility. Watching Bugs Bunny didn't make us like guns or be good people anymore than watching Spongebob makes kids want to shoot up their local school.
Trust me there have always been stupid people and there always will be. Nostalgia is all well and good as long as you remember it isn't any more real that the history hollywood pushes.

 

[buford1]

What about the three stooges and the bowery boys.

 

[Dannyboy]

How do sitcoms about gays or single parent families influence kids today? I can't say I've ever met a gay man who converted after seeing Will and Grace. And why is having smoking portrayed a good thing?

 

[Moparmike]

Defense of my generation

I must post this in defense of some of my generation. I am 20. I watched many old television shows, and at age 12 one of my favorite shows was "Welcome Back, Kotter" of all things. I like old shows, although I am not much of a fan anymore of Andy Griffith, Bonanza and some of the others, as I watched them alot in my youth (thanks to parents). Dont lump all of us in there, some of us turned out ok even with the "evil boob tube" ([NON High Road, go about your business] Which never had enough boobs.... [/ non high road])

However, I do not watch most of the shows that my generation does. I loathe Seinfeld and Friends, and most of Primetime and "Must NOT See TV". However, Frasier (something most of my generation doesnt "get" or watch) and "Just Shoot Me" are two of my exceptions in PTTV. I also watch Discovery and History ALOT. Always have. That said, I also watch Cartoon Network. I love Dexter's Lab. They need to show Garfield and Friends from the late 80's as well. Loved that when I was 5. Still do.

Please say "most" when refering to a generation. Some of us have common sense, but you wouldnt know it from MTV or most television shows.

Later,

 

[Jim March]

Well here's an example of "family entertainment" that was all too common as late as the early 1950's:

photo of lynching removed by moderator under Art's Grammaw rule.



Note how this was *literally* "fun for the whole family" - such pictures were common as hell, but less so with young children in the scene.

This was one of numerous *postcards* particularly common in the period between the WWs. WW2 marked the beginning of the end of this crap.

"Good ol' days?"

Not for everybody.

And yes, this is on-topic on THR. Here's why:

1) *All* US gun control can be linked to racism, one way or another. (Most of it quite directly; as Clayton Cramer has noted, there are some pre-Civil-War exceptions but they center on the Mississippi River Valley (1820ish - 1850ish). That was a time and place where white-on-white violence reached it's peak in the US; one theory is that the "overseer culture" bred violence for the same reason that being a jailer slowly warps your brain if you're not careful. While the slave owners were higher-class, the people involved in the slave trade and management were from the lower class.)

2) Blacks commit more than 50% of America's murders, while making up less than 15% of the population. If the "black murders" were pulled from the US statistics, US murder rates would be on par with most of Western Europe, and we wouldn't have the Bradyloons screaming out how "lax US gun control explains the difference".

3) Point two isn't a result of racial difference - it's the result of a "damaged culture". Very sorry if that picture disturbs anybody but THAT is a classic example of what did the damage. (South Africa is a more extreme case in point: generations of horrific racism was suddenly ended, which was like "taking the lid off a pressure cooker". Clearly, the lid HAD to be pulled and they'll eventually settle down. The US never had THAT much pressure and we took the lid off slower, so instead of 80 times the European murder rate in South Africa, we've only got double.)

So to recap:

US culture has always been damaged by racism, going back to the very beginning. Which has caused all sorts of grief. Now, in an attempt to be "politically correct", the "powers that be" pretend there's NO racism today (horsecrap!) and then pick bizarre "solutions" (such as gun control) that have nothing to do with the root causes of violence and are going to make it worse.

Caution: once you really understand this, too much talk of "good ol' days" will make you .

 

[pistolwhipped]

number6,

I still watch most of those shows. (The old one's)

So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly...

 

[number6]

Jim, I agree there were travesties during "the good old days". Just as there are now too. But, I was only waxing poetically about my childhood. It is still true, I had a great time growing up. My father, brother and I use to spend all day at a school yard flying those Cox gas powered,line controlled airplanes. We were maybe 9 to 11 years old. We had a blast. Nobody drove by shooting at us, we didn't spend one minute of the day watching television, we made up games as the day went by and we "explored" on hiddend paths between street and behind yards. Nobody had those 6 foot prvacy fences - everyone knew each others neighbors. And to top it off, this was in a low - end, middle class neighborhood. So for me to say "ah... the good old days", truly rings true for me. Yours and other's mileage may vary.