Fifty Plus (50+) - OT: Kid to Kid Information Sharing

I was watching TV this morning and seeing a commercial encouraging kids to get out and play, and offering game suggestions at a website. Yes, the same games that all of us used to know as kids.

It seems that when I was young, that kids had their own body of information that they didn't get from their parents, that they passed along kid to kid. Some of the things that I remember learning from other kids were songs like, "My Gal's a Corker, She's a New Yorker" and "Rubber Dolly". There were games like "Mother May I?" and "Freeze Tag", as well as scientific facts about the dangers of "Black Eyed Susans", places to find minnows to use for fishing, evidence that the Chinese had explored the coast of California.

Some of this seemed very dated, "Rubber Dolly", a WWII song sung by kids in the mid-sixties? Chinese exploring California? only confirmed at the turn of the 21st Century, not in the early '70s.

But seeing the ad to teach kids games that they should have learned from their friends made me wonder, do kids still pass stuff on from kid to kid, or are they so saturated by media that such a learning network has been crushed?

And what did you learn from other kids?

They are super-saturated by the media.

We learned the games Simple Simon and Hide-and-Go-Seek.

But seeing the ad to teach kids games that they should have learned from their friends made me wonder, do kids still pass stuff on from kid to kid, or are they so saturated by media that such a learning network has been crushed?

My kids are all grown now and have become solid citizens. When they were in the learning process I noticed that the kids networked together. The parents, however, were isolated in ones and twos. That fact made it possible for my sons to do a lot of things that I didn't approve of.

Given the wide adoption of social networking websites, kids share information *much* more now than we used to.

In our Road there are plenty of Kids and plenty of their mates round aswell. Mainly girls but They do play on the various Green bits around. You can always tell what sport is on the TV in the summer. Wimbledon and the tennis rackets come out. Bikes are out a lot of the time and this is probably down to the Team GB's success at the olympice. Football doesn't get played much but to keep the few lads happy- it is played. Cricket does get played but due to the lack of success of the England team- this normally changes to Rounders (Similar to baseball but less money)

So the kids do physical activity but this is probably due to the parents throwing them out of the house to get some peace and quiet. But in the winter is is indoor activities. Several of the parents are into computer games and one thing you do not do is challenge the kids to a computer game unless you have practiced a lot and know the game inside out. Doesn't matter though because if you play against the kids- you are going down.

One thing I do miss though are the games we used to play as youngsters. Last summer some of us tried to get the kids into Hop Scotch. Set out the paving stones to make a board and the kids played it for about 5 minutes. Wasn't interesting enough for them- too easy- too physical. It just could not draw their attention. They now have other more interesting games to play.

Given the wide adoption of social networking websites, kids share information *much* more now than we used to.

Unfortunately not quite the same thing...

I remember learning jumprope rhymes from my friends. Also it was like we had our own folklore that revolved around the neighborhood and the nearby creek ravine, farm fields and pioneer cemetary, that we both passed on and embellished as we roamed the area.

It seems to me that we were influenced by the TV shows of the era, but we acted them out, outside.

How to solve the rubiks cube. Was passed from kid to kid like some secret magical incantation.

Me and my friends also learned things about bikes from each other.
(Things like don't cut the seat stay to remove the chain, and expect your dad to weld it together when he gets home from work - for example)

and much more

My kids seem to be learning lots from their friends, so I don't think the network is crushed.

Kids are still learning and passing stuff around - much of what my 7 year old daughter comes out with is an utter mystery to me, which is probably the way it should be. The commercial and website that Arkansas referred to is just some adult trying to address a problem that doesn't exist, adults interferring in the world of kids which, again as it should be, is in a different dimension to ours.

My is 16 and is coming out of the kid's world into the adult's world and it's interesting watching it happen.

Richard