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Home/Extremely Sporty

Extremely Sporty

Read the text carefully. Then prepare an oral opinion on the contents.

I Can’t Believe We Made It!

According to today’s regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were children in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s or even in the early 80’s, probably shouldn’t have survived.

Our cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paint.

We had no childproof lids or locks on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We ate cakes, bread and butter, and drank pop with lots of sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always playing outside.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building our go-karts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we had forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learnt to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. No mobile phones.

We did not have Play station, Nintendo, X-Box, nor video games. No 99 channels on cable, video- tape films, surround sound, personal mobile phones, personal computers, nor internet chatrooms.

We had friends. We went outside and found them.

We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us.

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learnt to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Some pupils weren’t as smart as others, so they failed and had to do it again. Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own.

Consequences were expected.

The idea of parents bailing us out if we got into trouble at school or broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the law.

We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility — and learnt how to deal with them all.

This generation has produced some of the best risk takers, problem solvers, and inventors, ever.