Reflections: Yesterday Versus Today-Has America Become a Pusillanimous Nation?

By: George Noga – May 1, 2014
      Many decades ago it was commonplace for us kids (with parents’ consent) to run behind mosquito foggers spraying DDT to inhale the aromatic fumes – same when dispensing gasoline. We ate raw hamburger, rode bicycles and motor scooters without helmets, played baseball sans helmets and with real spikes. There were no warning labels on anything. We owned BB guns, pellet guns and .22 rifles and carried them everywhere day and night in residential neighborhoods. Both boys and girls hitchhiked day and night; there were no seat belts, shoulder harnesses or airbags.
        We walked miles to school in first grade without crossing guards; we were not afraid of strangers. We kept score in all games and only winners received awards. There was only one valedictorian. There were no safety caps and we eagerly consumed candy cigarettes. Homes and cars rarely were locked. Only one kid of the hundreds I knew at school, baseball and scouting was overweight. We played tackle football without protection. We were not shielded from adversity and were expected to overcome it by our own devices. We were paid to babysit as early as age 11.
        We operated circular saws, jigsaws and planers without supervision or goggles. Halloween was entirely on our own including entering strangers’ houses. We were left to ourselves all day and evening to roam a wide area without parental supervision or knowledge of our whereabouts. We solved all our own problems – sometimes by fighting. I had a paper route at age 12. The papers were delivered at 4:00 AM when I got myself out of bed and they had to be delivered before 6:00 AM. Inevitably there were many times when it would rain, sleet, snow and be bitter cold. My parents never once offered to drive me and asking them to do so never crossed my  mind.
        In sixth grade, a classmate’s (Jimmy) father was killed in a plane crash. When Jimmy returned to school all of us were uncomfortable as no one knew how to act. No teacher or anyone else told us how to respond or what to say; that misanthropic creation, grief counselors, thankfully did not yet exist. Nevertheless, we all knew intuitively that saying nothing was inappropriate and not an option. I did the best I could however lame it may have been.
Today in America
        There is a war on childhood in America; age 10 is the new age 2. Many school districts don’t permit children to get off a school bus unless there is a guardian waiting to walk them home – even if home is a few blocks away. Libraries don’t allow children under 12 to be unaccompanied. Parents are advised not to let children under 14 blow up a balloon. Parks and schools everywhere have removed see-saws, merry-go-rounds and monkey bars. Day care centers have been ordered by OSHA to saw off tree branches below 8 feet to prevent kids climbing trees.
       Recently Amtrak raised the age for travel by unaccompanied minors from 8 to 13; moreover, kids ages 13-15 cannot travel unaccompanied unless they meet a lengthy list of restrictive conditions. In reality, travelling alone is not feasible until age 16. Before Amtrak’s policy change, kids 8 could travel unaccompanied and a 15 year old could serve as a guardian for even younger kids. Now, the 15 year old cannot even travel alone. Meanwhile in Japan, eight year olds travel unaccompanied without restriction all the time and without incident.
       Recently a school bus had an emergency evacuation because the driver saw one peanut on the floor. No one on the bus was known to have a peanut allergy. Peanuts are disappearing from many ballparks and elsewhere. Schools now provide grief counselors for the death of a pet. It is becoming common for schools to have multiple (up to 70) valedictorians – to avoid hurt feelings. Need I mention grade inflation? Even nursery schools now routinely have graduation ceremonies replete with caps and gowns. Our national pusillanimity extends to pets. Some animal shelters won’t permit dog adoptions unless the owners have a fenced in yard and pledge to accompany the dog whenever outside the yard. There was time in America when dogs guarded people, not the other way around.
        The marketplace now caters to parental fears by selling leashes for kids and alarms that sound if the kid wanders 10 feet away. New GPS devices for kids are coming on the market. One company sells a “Piggyback Rider“, a backpack for kids up to age 7 and 60 pounds – nearly old enough to ride a train in Japan. Laws about  babysitting have changed. In Illinois a child under 14 requires a babysitter, while the minimum age for babysitting escalates. In kindergarten 20% of kids are obese and adult diabetes appears as young as age 3.  Many parents instruct schools not to allow their children outdoor play; they are to be kept indoors to read a book instead. The Consumer Product Safety Commission decided to rid all US houses of that terror – window blinds with cords – because of a handful of accidents annually. Next time you see a new window blind, read the safety label; you won’t believe what you see.

    Inevitably, this pusillanimity affects our policies and actions as a nation. Could this be why we have become appeasers in Crimea, Ukraine, Syria, Iran and North Korea? Appeasement is the sickness of the will of successful people. Has the thirst for prosperity, material well being, comfort and, above all – safety at any price – led to passivity, caution and retreat? The price of cowardice is always more evil. Perhaps this is to be expected from a nation whose president has stated: “If I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I’d let him play football.