# Things that were done in your childhood that would never be allowed today **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-done-in-your-childhood-that-would-never-be-allowed-today/919650 "2020-09-02T23:00:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 39
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-done-in-your-childhood-that-would-never-be-allowed-today/919650/39 "2020-09-03T15:08:37Z")
Bicycling without a helmet, all the time, for years. Swimming in the ocean with one or both of my sisters, and only occasionally with a parent nearby. Walking to and from the neighborhood swimming pool alone. Being left alone with my sisters once while my parents were at a football game. My eldest sister had the bright idea of lighting the Advent wreath… and then we left the dining room and all forgot about it. The smoke later tipped us off that the wreath had burned through the table. My parents were _not_ happy, but were at least relieved that we didn’t burn the house down. My wife, when she was a little girl growing up in a small Vermont town, walked home from school for lunch every day, about two miles, unescorted, then back again. > [@panache45](#): > > …And then there were the naked swimming classes. A thread that may be of interest: > [@High schools, YMCAs, and nude swimming](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-schools-ymcas-and-nude-swimming/379807): > > At one time it was common for YMCAs, schools, and colleges to require males to swim nude unless women were present. What/when was the last YMCA to require it? Last school? Is the pratice still common in other countries? > [@kayaker](#): > > I remember being in the fourth grade and every summer day we would ride our bikes all over. We lived in Squirrel Hill and would ride down Forbes Avenue into Oakland, go to the Carnegie Museum and Phipp’s Conservatory where kids got in free. Pittsburgh, represent! I grew up in a little Ohio River town to the west and Da Boigh was our nearest big city. We went on quite a few family trips there (although I was never unaccompanied; it was an hour’s drive). --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-were-done-in-your-childhood-that-would-never-be-allowed-today/919650)._