Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2007 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

so sad....and soooo true =/

it kind of reminds me of that country song that talks about growing up wearing no helmets, drinking water from a garden hose, not getting picked for a sports team, and being forced to play outside w/ friends....and they turned out fine.

im only 24, but i miss the "good old days" from when i was growing up.

So true. Political Correctness, while fine in small doses, is not a good thing in large amounts.
Another example - 'shell shock' has become the phrase 'post-traumatic stress disorder'. Which sounds more like something you'd be concerned about? That's what I thought. I despise ultra-PC people.

Good one. One thing you got wrong, regarding Johnny getting hurt during recess. Couldn't happen in 2007. Johnny isn't allowed to run because he might be able to run faster than some of the other kids which would hurt their feelings.

If he did somehow manage to scrape his knee his parents would sue the school

*snort*

That made me laugh so hard.

It really is sad. My mom used to be a speech pathologist for an elementary school in the Bronx, NY. She dealt with some kids who were seriously abused. When these kids used to get hurt at school and be crying, or just feel bad for that matter my mother used to hug and comfort them. This was, in some cases, the only physical affection that these kids ever got. My mom really loved her students. In her last few years she wasn't even allowed to pat them on the back. It's really sad. She said it broke her heart to see these kids crying and not be able to hug them and make them feel okay and feel like the world isn't all horrible.

I'm adding more.

Scenario: Mark gets a job as a cashier at a local grocery store and the cash registers don't tell you how much change to give back.
Then: Mark does just fine.
Now: Mark keeps giving customers back $1 too much because his school didn't teach basic life skills. Boss notices all the missing money and fires Mark. Now Mark mows lawns with Pedro.

..I don't know if schools in 1957 taught necessary things, but schools now sure don't.

Scenario: Jenny gets caught with a small bag of marijuana.
Then: Jenny's parents have a serious talk with her and she's grounded for a few months.
Now: Jenny goes to juvie and learns a life of crime. Jenny eventually becomes a meth addict and makes a meth-addicted baby. Jenny sells meth-addicted baby for more meth, gets caught, and goes to prison.

Scenario: Craig and Andrew get in a fight on the buss. Craig is white, Andrew is black.
Then: They finish their spat, go to school, and later become friends.
Now: Craig is called an intolerant racist, is expelled from school, makes national news, and embarrasses his whole family.

Scenario: Rob and Marla are high school sweethearts. Rob turns 18, Marla is still 16, almost 17. They are sexually active.
Then: They continue their relationship, graduate high school, and get married.
Now: Rob is a sex offender, he took indecent liberties with a minor, his photo is on a website and he can't live near a school.

Scenario: Molly goes to the gas station.
Last year: Molly puts gas in her car, goes in, pays.
This year: All the gas stations are pre-pay or pay-at-the-pump only. Molly is frustrated.

*I wasn't around in the 1950's, or even the 60's or 70's, so these may not be accurate, but they are here to illustrate some more overreactions that are now common practices.

Unfair it is but society is changing. Nothing we can do will stop it.

By the way: I still drink water from garden hoses. It is the best way to go.

rock on! you cant beat it

That's where I disagree. We can stand up, we can vote for judges and local authorities that won't play the PC game.

That sort of stuff is happening in a lot of places--but not all. There are still towns where common sense isn't a misnomer.

True, but unless the majority of people are willing to stand up for what is right versus what is easy then we are going to continue to live like this with the idea that we can't change anything.

Moe walks by and hears Molly crying over not being able to manage a dead simple device with large easy directions printed in full color. Moe yells out "Join the 21st century already!"

1957: Doesn't happen
2007: People on Plime high five Moe

/high five

(Sorry Molly, he asked for a high five and guys just can't leave each other hanging. But high five to you for your post as well. I'm a high five whore. BTW, live in whatever century you please. I kinda combine the parts I like of all of them and live in that one. I recommend it highly.)

1957: University geology textbook notes that the fossil record is not concordant with bible stories and tries to rationalize the two (I have a few old textbooks from the 50's that state this).

2007: University geology textbook discusses the fossil record with no mention of fairy tales.


--> There's been forward steps in education over the last 50 years, too!

It's frustrating because I don't know exactly how much it'll cost to fill my tank up so I go in, give them a $20, and don't get a full tank. It's silly.

Again, I disagree. It is not the majority that is requesting these changes, it is not the majority that are implementing them. It's the silent majority that lets it happen--but a very vocal minority has brought these changes about and a very vocal minority can get rid of them as well.

Heh!
I wasn't even in kindergarten in 1957, but I can remember the same incidents from my schooldays from the early sixties to the mid-seventies. (Well, maybe not the one comparing shotguns with the vice-principal...)
It's true, Maven, we are all of us, collectively letting society slide into this PC bog.

But, from another angle:
2007 - Dad gets new DVD player for the family. Doesn't know how to operate it, has to ask one of the (6-10 year old) kids. Dad develops inferiority complex, sighs, gets a beer from the fridge, watches DVD from the couch.
1977 - DVD? What's that? Dad gets a beer anyway, drinks it outside in the shade.

Are these the towns where women are expected to stay home, in the kitchen, and get pregnant as often as their husbands want?

Was it a vocal minority that brought on women's rights?

Sure, the 50's might look great on black and white television shows, but I doubt seriously many of you would go back to that time period once you realized all that it entailed.

No--these are towns I've lived and worked in, where everyone is expected to behave up to a certain standard, and work hard. Gender wasn't an issue, sexual preference wasn't an issue, color wasn't an issue. Places where you rely on your neighbors because they could save your life (and vice versa) tend not to worry about offending some anonymous 'other' in society, they worry about building communities with their neighbors. That means having thick skin, and not deliberately doing something rude. If you mess up, people let you know, let you apologize and move on.

And I don't think we're talking about women's rights, or racial issues. I take these type of comparisons more in light of where there's a perceived loss in society, where current handlings are more often an over-reaction required to comply with standards of other communities more so than your own.

I've no desire to live in the 50's (heck, I'd be SO out of a job!), but I do protest the silent majority whining about things like this. If these types of things matter--DO something about it!