Remember those halcyon days of childhood when your mum bought your school uniform a few sizes too big knowing that you would eventually “grow into it”? The fact that you spent the next couple of years rolling up your sweater sleeves because the cuffs came down to your fingertips was completely irrelevant.
That was around the same time that you could play in the street in relative safety or accept sweets from well-intentioned neighbours, postman and family friends all of whom had achieved the benevolent uncle status without the fear of some sinister ulterior motive. Living in a small cosseted village community I doubt whether my parents ever worried about my safety back then as I played hopscotch and rounders at the local park all day rushing home just in time for tea.
Nowadays graphic pictures are broadcast into our homes daily by the media and it’s a knife-edge these days for parents wanting their children to develop confident social skills whilst insisting at the same time that they don’t talk to strangers. During my childhood the press was still heavily censored and adults talked about heinous acts in hushed tones. Times have changed along with the introduction of the internet age and it seems that no image is too explicit to be shared on social media along with sensational tabloid headlines.
Have times changed that much or are we more informed these days. Is a little bit of knowledge a dangerous thing and has it made us less trusting but then again do we need to be? Is the world a sadder sicker place or has there always been less scrupulous souls whom we have been less aware of? Certainly, recent newspaper headlines in the UK would suggest so when formerly esteemed family entertainers have been charged with varying sex crimes which were largely overlooked for some years by people who frankly should have known better.
So I suppose my question is was the world a truly safer place back then or were we just less enlightened and a tad naive?
A question I ponder on the regular – thought provoking post, indeed.
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With all the sensational headlines its something I’ve thought about a lot recently & whether in fact, the world has changed that much or we were just a little less worldly ourselves
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Great post. I think we just have many, many more people thus that increases the chances of deviates, perverts and predators who commit crimes against children and adults as well. Other factors involve the break down of a stable family system, poverty, no moral teachings and, too much violent crime portrayed in the movies, TV, etc.
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I agree wholeheartedly with what you have said. My parents tell me that their families used to tell them to keep clear of certain individuals but the reasons for this were never disclosed.
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. . back then, shame kept things hidden – even for the victims. The media was not allowed to run riot in reporting crimes/victims/perpetrators until after a guilty verdict in the way that they do now. Come to that, the media reported the actual news and not wild/sensational/libellous/violent/concocted tales.
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I am in complete agreement with you there; what happened to innocent until proven guilty. Clearly sensationalism sells tabloids and as much as I hate to admit it “mud sticks” and then even those proven innocent never recover
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That’s a question I often ask. Like to think we were safer then but perhaps all sorts of stuff happened and it was hushed up.
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I think it was most definitely not discussed back then unlike the world we live in today where nothing is taboo and even unjust allegations make headlines
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We weren’t safer than! There are probably more bad apples now — both in number and percentage of population because back then they weren’t identified and weeded out. Covering up rot only encourages more rot to grow. Now that rot has spread to the point that we can no longer ignore it. It breaks my heart to think of the deep lifelong generational hurt one perpetrator inflicts both directly and the ripple out over decades. They never stop at one victim. If not stopped they become decades long serial predators.
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You have raised some very valid points and inevitably a lot of these predators go uncaught which is devastating and the very sad thing is someone (other than the victims) knows about them and yet fails to do anything about it
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Reblogged this on madebysteffieb and commented:
This will make you think x
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Thank you so much
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It makes me so scared when I think about having a child. As much as I hate hearing it about it all, I guess being informed means we can try teach our children and try to minimise the risk for them. It clearly happened back then when you see the news and trials of certain people, at least as we go on people might feel more confident they will get justice and speak up sooner rather than later. Somehow I don’t think this is a new thing. That’s just my opinion 😉 xx Fab blog xx
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Bless you for you kind words, I’m not sure the world was a better place back them probably just a less informed one but I think its a hard thing for parents. How cosseted can you keep your kids; I don’t know the answer to that one
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I don’t either to be fair.
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To turn your question a bit on its head…. I’m wondering how much the media encourages some of the nasty behavior. Here in the states we seem to be on an insane spree of cops killing civilians and then me have so many mass murders that it’s hardly a sensation any longer. What a crazy world it is.
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Sorry for the late reply Gunta, dropped my laptop on the floor & its in the shop! Its is indeed a crazy world and you’re right sensationalism sells newspapers and celebrities aren’t the only ones who have become wise to this
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Honestly, I think it is a bit of both. The eye of media has made us more aware, but in doing so I think it has also brought the nasty out in some of us.
Terrible to consider isn’t it?
Hope you are well and still mending.
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I am nearly back to full mobility & thanks for asking. Some days I just cannot bear to read some of the stories posted on social media and in tabloids & I despair about some of the individuals we get to share our planet with
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I am glad you are getting about more. Yeah, me too.
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good question. I think social media and 24 hour news has highlighted much. That said, my siblings and I have often commented that when we were younger there may have been alcohol, but no drugs. As to sexual attacks, they surely did happen, the difference being it is only now we are prepared to believe and respond.
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My mother thought she had her hands full with us but we never got into trouble with the police, never played truant, no teen pregnancies & no drugs. Maybe our expectations has changed
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I think it wasn’t a safer place (judging from celeb sexual predators back then, and their ilk) back then as it is now. You’re right about ‘events’ less spoken of back in the day. Things were hush hush. I grew up in another part of the world, but that’s a blanket reality I suppose in most cultures. As we don’t hear of these evil acts and untoward events as much as we do now, we were simply more trusting of other people before. We generally knew the people next door, or even probably in the next village. But nowadays, when more immigration and mass exodus have been happening, we don’t know much about the people around us. That makes a difference. Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking post.
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We were brought up in a village community too where safety wasn’t a consideration which of course, gave us a false sense of security as we grew up thinking it was the same for the rest of the world
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Whatever the truth about whether these things happened, which I’m sure they did but maybe not as much, it seems such a shame that children are not allowed to be children for long these days. They lose their innocence too quickly. We can’t halt the ‘progress’ of news media though, so not sure what the answer is.
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I couldn’t agree with you more Chris & don’t get me started on inappropriate kids clothing …
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We live in a complex and connected world that demands our full participation. What you are writing about is defined as a “wicked problem” which is “a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize.” But I do believe that we can all make a difference, by embracing a holistic lifestyle that encourages creativity and compassionate conversations. That is what you do in every one of your posts.
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Well, I try but not sure I pull it off. Think sometimes living in a village I have a simplistic view of the world but there again if all the mothers got together globally most problems would be sorted out compassionately, with common sense & efficiently
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I agree with you wholeheartedly. Compassion and common sense are powerful tools to counteract the darkness. Always a joy to stop by…
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Hi Dallas,
An interesting question! I think terrible things have always happened, but people didn’t talk about it. Families wanted everything to be hushed up and nicey nice, at least on the surface. It’s much better for kids (and grownups) to be informed and aware, eyes open, and the adults who love them should be aware and watchful on their behalf too. Keeping the peace or worrying about what the neighbors would think is no consideration when it comes to the well being of a person, and especially a child.
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I often ask myself the same question. I lean towards the idea that there have always been horrible people committing heinous acts of violence, but we didn’t have news and information constantly streaming to us 24/7. Prior to the internet and 24 hr cable news, the amount of information newspapers and the 5 o’clock news they could get to the public was limited so they only gave us what they deemed the most important. Now we have access to all of it all of the time. I’m not so sure that all of that information is such a good thing
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Times have changed and we are more aware. I will always have that small town girl mentality where I trust everyone until they prove otherwise which in today’s society is not such a great thing
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