When I was a kid (Part 1)

A Saturday morning matinee was on every weekend. The price for kids under 12 was 25 cents; and for everyone else, it was 45 cents.

A bottle of coke was 20 cents: there were no can coke, then.

The city imposed no curfews; but my parents did. On weeknights I had to be home by dinner time. I have to get permission to be out after dinner and a good reason, too. If I am out I had to be home by 9 or 10 at night or you will be locked out. And on weekends, even when I was 17, I had to be back by midnight... or have a good reason why not. Nobody under 18 was on the streets after midnight on school nights. Nobody.

We went to school five days a week. There were no things like "teachers' meeting day," “curriculum day” or "special events day." We just went to school. School began at 7:30 for the morning session. We got out at 12:30pm. Every teacher took attendance; if you weren't in class, they knew about it. My parents never had to wonder if I was in school. Unexcused absences were just that: not excused. You went to school. Period.

We weren't allowed to wear jeans or any other clothing to school. White pant, white shirt, white shoes and white socks; that standard for boys. The girls could not wear coulots (half-shorts, half skirts). Skirts had to be knee-level or below. Shirts had to be tucked in. If your hair was too long, the school sent you home. Those were the rules. The rules were the rules. No exceptions.

After school we didn't go to the malls; there were no malls. Most of us went home, or hung around the school. Sports, library, choir practice, pupil own language class or just goofing around. Juvenile crime? Nearly non-existent.

We played our music too loudly; sometimes the lyrics were downright goofy. But our parents never had to look for a warning label on a single or an album.

By the time I was 8 or 9, I knew how to fix my own breakfast; that was my responsibility. We planned our own timetable; wake up, make breakfast, dressed and walk to school on our own and unescorted.

It was not my parent job to watch over me to make sure I did not get into trouble. By then I knew better.

There was no such thing as "social promotion." If you didn't pass, you didn't pass. But mostly, the schools caught problems when we were young. I recall several of my friends that were "held back" in elementary school. Self-esteem? Wasn't even mentioned. Either you could do the work or you couldn't.