When I was Betsy's age I attended a large high school with boarding and day students. As the Boomers grew up there were many boarding schools, especially in the Bible Belt. I never had curfew because my house was on campus. There were campus only phones everywhere so it was easy to call home or for my parents to find me.
By my Jr year we had moved from the Southeast to the Midwest and I was in boarding school with a closed campus. I pulled a lot more pranks, than I had ever pulled before. My boyfriend had made an illegal master key for the entire campus. I kept the key on my person and no one ever suspected. I used it with great delight, and never got caught.
College age I had a curfew either by the dorm rules, or when I went home, my mother had her rules. There still weren't cell phones, only pay phones. I was forever getting home late due to the movie I had chosen or my girlfriends and I hanging out. When I got home I would hand my, sitting up awake mother, the keys and go upstairs to bed. I was too old to ground and she would glare at me for a couple of days until she needed me to pick something up from the store and I would get my keys back.
During high school, my children didn't have a curfew. I knew where they were and who they were with and how to get in touch with other parents. I remember calling the Headmaster at home once, about 1am once because my daughter wasn't home and was supposed to be working on a project with his daughter. He had no idea my daughter was there, but graciously went to look and let her know that her mom was waiting up. We had a little talk the next day about when's a good time to call and let mom know when you will be home.
When each child turned 18, I told them that if they chose to skip school, it was no longer my problem. The school was not happy when I wouldn't sign any papers or forms for my children. I kept reminding the school that these young adults were over 18 and responsible for their own behavior. Both kids had after school jobs and school sponsored extra curricular activities. They didn't want to get into trouble because they wanted to march with their friends at graduation. The school had a policy that prevented students from marching if they had been in recent trouble. Grad night we told them that they could stay out all night and gave the drivers cash to do something fun. The kids had several parties to attend and used the cash to pay for breakfast before coming home and crashing in bed.
Cell phones for both kids happened when the oldest child went far away for college. However it was the early days of this wonderful invention and sometimes you had to lean out a window or stand on your car to get a signal when calling home.
Other than holding the key, I can only recall one incident where I could have gotten in major trouble. I sent a guy friend to my room to retrieve an item that I didn't feel like getting. Fortunately for me, he wasn't discovered.
This school had quite a few students with inquiring minds and probably15% of the senior class knew how to enter places they shouldn't be and not get caught. I'm not sure where Administration's mind was since the girls dorm was locked up every evening but the boys dorm wasn't. If the girls dean forgot to turn on a couple of outside door alarms, which she forgot 80% of the time, things might have been a bit different. More girls slipped into the guys dorm than guys getting into the girls dorm. Many times I slipped out of the dorm at night just because I could. I didn't do anything bad, just honed my skills that came in handy when I got to college.
In today's world, much of what we did couldn't happen now due to advanced technology. There were no security cameras, master keys are handled differently, and secure areas require badge's to enter. In my last job before retirement I programmed employee badges and maintained locks that weren't high tech to allow access to those approved by dept heads.
By the way the students pushing the limits were those who knew how to stay under the radar. My closest friends to this day are the ones I made at that school.
<<my parents had no way to communicate with me when I was out and about.>> This. I graduated HS in 1986. Did not get a cell phone until my work insisted long into my working career. My kids were the last to get cell phones. In my oldest's 7th grade, a teacher had the kids raise their hands who did not have a cell phone. My daughter was the only one. I thought the other parents were nuts. We did get her one the next year as it was getting harder to arrange pickups after sports practices. Youngest son did not get one until his junior year of high school, he said it was too much responsibility to not lose it and keep it charged.
I graduated hs in 1988 and same. Same story with my daughter, too. She was the only one in 7th grade with no cell phone, so we gave in. Stipulation was that she pay it off herself (saved up gift money and then jobs) and she has ever since.
Graduated in 81 and my kids had cell phones before me. I still almost never take it with me and a large portion of time, it is either off or the ringer is. I drive people nuts (everyone needs a hobby)
My sisters and I went to a Catholic high school. I will never forget the time my older sister and I ditched and went to the mall. We ran into my mother.😂
Tell me she and her friends also have "Titanic" as their current favourite movie and they'd be exactly the same as my former classmates from her age. We were at similar time of our lives meeting at cafe's and first starbucks, but more often in McDonald's, or instead of spending time after school there. Some had "homework sleepovers" with their best peers, spending the afternoon doing projects and writing assignments and riding with the host's parents to school the next morning. Yet I was rarely involved in the latter, not being too close with most of those people and seeing Starbucks as too pricey. With guys we visited the malls only to eat fast-foods and inspect computer gear, clothes shopping was the girls thing. Or we were just simply hanging out in a flat of someone living in the city. Coming back and informing where we were hadn't been too much of an issue, as long as we were getting home with the last daytime tram/bus, with the policy on phoning being "call only in an emergency that's NOT the need of a ride". We preferred gaming/pirating movies and series over cinemas (or using the then-crawling earliest streaming services). Instead of videocalling (nobody liked showing themselves or their rooms/houses) we were having only audio/chat via discord or teamspeak, which worked best for homeworks and gaming (often at the same time), with sending photos or memes when it was necessary.
The appeal of Starbucks is universal. If Betsy actually drank coffee, McDonald's would be a good choice. The coffee is much cheaper. Consequently, that's where my retired father-in-law hangs out with his friends. He's living his best life.
Yeah, you're right. McCafe is the best coffee out there, especially on the longer trips. And hanging out in McD's is great, although in my case that's rather with family. With friends we usually go to KFC.
In high school, I had friends with pagers, you always had to have change to call anyone. My 7th grader finally got a phone this past summer. She was one of the few in her class who didn't have one. She does like going to the mall. Her style is Hot Topic. Occasionally, she meet a friend there and they will hang out, but she's fine going with just me or her grandparents too. There's a new arcade at her preferred mall that has a dance game she likes. One of her friends had their birthday party there last summer and it is now the place to go. lol
I've never known anyone who wasn't a doctor who had a pager. That's a very specific era when it was push technology. Good for your daughter for hanging out at the arcade. Way cooler than a coffee shop.
Oh, this was a fun walk down memory lane. It wasn’t Starbucks for my group of friends, it was Pretzel-on-a-Stick at the Mall. And cell phones didn’t exist until after I graduated university…so pay phones it was, if we felt like it. Otherwise our parents just had to pray. Now if one of my kids stops responding, I give it 10 min for them to get within range of another cell tower, and then start texting asking if they’ve been kidnapped. In the small town where we live, all the teens hang out in the local school’s football field — or they walk between various schools of a night or weekend. Crazy! We’ve a mall 10 minutes away by train, and that’s about the only popular place kids go; there isn’t much else.
My youngest got a phone in 6th grade, because of things happening in school. They were not supposed to use them, but I told him if he needed help, he better use the phone and worry about it later, or else I would be the one he was in trouble with. In HS , they weren't supposed to use them and I had to pull him one day and the attendance lady told me to just text him...ummmm??? Spectrum kids are so hard to explain grey areas to, I finally went there is an exception to every rule and I am it. Worked like a charm LOL
One of the most thoughtful passages in this hilarious newsletter was the comment about how people used to go on months-long voyages halfway across the world just so that a noble could have a dash of pepper (or other spice of choice) with the meal, but nowadays you can shop for items from dozens of countries all in one place like Target - and no worry about getting scurvy either!
Never think that you have stopped collecting enemies. 😉
True. I should never underestimate my ability to gain more.
When I was Betsy's age I attended a large high school with boarding and day students. As the Boomers grew up there were many boarding schools, especially in the Bible Belt. I never had curfew because my house was on campus. There were campus only phones everywhere so it was easy to call home or for my parents to find me.
By my Jr year we had moved from the Southeast to the Midwest and I was in boarding school with a closed campus. I pulled a lot more pranks, than I had ever pulled before. My boyfriend had made an illegal master key for the entire campus. I kept the key on my person and no one ever suspected. I used it with great delight, and never got caught.
College age I had a curfew either by the dorm rules, or when I went home, my mother had her rules. There still weren't cell phones, only pay phones. I was forever getting home late due to the movie I had chosen or my girlfriends and I hanging out. When I got home I would hand my, sitting up awake mother, the keys and go upstairs to bed. I was too old to ground and she would glare at me for a couple of days until she needed me to pick something up from the store and I would get my keys back.
During high school, my children didn't have a curfew. I knew where they were and who they were with and how to get in touch with other parents. I remember calling the Headmaster at home once, about 1am once because my daughter wasn't home and was supposed to be working on a project with his daughter. He had no idea my daughter was there, but graciously went to look and let her know that her mom was waiting up. We had a little talk the next day about when's a good time to call and let mom know when you will be home.
When each child turned 18, I told them that if they chose to skip school, it was no longer my problem. The school was not happy when I wouldn't sign any papers or forms for my children. I kept reminding the school that these young adults were over 18 and responsible for their own behavior. Both kids had after school jobs and school sponsored extra curricular activities. They didn't want to get into trouble because they wanted to march with their friends at graduation. The school had a policy that prevented students from marching if they had been in recent trouble. Grad night we told them that they could stay out all night and gave the drivers cash to do something fun. The kids had several parties to attend and used the cash to pay for breakfast before coming home and crashing in bed.
Cell phones for both kids happened when the oldest child went far away for college. However it was the early days of this wonderful invention and sometimes you had to lean out a window or stand on your car to get a signal when calling home.
A master key for the whole campus?! I can only imagine the shenanigans. What an amazing power to put in the hands of a teenager.
Other than holding the key, I can only recall one incident where I could have gotten in major trouble. I sent a guy friend to my room to retrieve an item that I didn't feel like getting. Fortunately for me, he wasn't discovered.
This school had quite a few students with inquiring minds and probably15% of the senior class knew how to enter places they shouldn't be and not get caught. I'm not sure where Administration's mind was since the girls dorm was locked up every evening but the boys dorm wasn't. If the girls dean forgot to turn on a couple of outside door alarms, which she forgot 80% of the time, things might have been a bit different. More girls slipped into the guys dorm than guys getting into the girls dorm. Many times I slipped out of the dorm at night just because I could. I didn't do anything bad, just honed my skills that came in handy when I got to college.
In today's world, much of what we did couldn't happen now due to advanced technology. There were no security cameras, master keys are handled differently, and secure areas require badge's to enter. In my last job before retirement I programmed employee badges and maintained locks that weren't high tech to allow access to those approved by dept heads.
By the way the students pushing the limits were those who knew how to stay under the radar. My closest friends to this day are the ones I made at that school.
I made friends with the SRO, so I could go in his office and smoke. No one ever messed with me LOL
You can't beat those lucky good moves ;o)
<<my parents had no way to communicate with me when I was out and about.>> This. I graduated HS in 1986. Did not get a cell phone until my work insisted long into my working career. My kids were the last to get cell phones. In my oldest's 7th grade, a teacher had the kids raise their hands who did not have a cell phone. My daughter was the only one. I thought the other parents were nuts. We did get her one the next year as it was getting harder to arrange pickups after sports practices. Youngest son did not get one until his junior year of high school, he said it was too much responsibility to not lose it and keep it charged.
Sadly, the era of feral, free range children has come to an end.
I graduated hs in 1988 and same. Same story with my daughter, too. She was the only one in 7th grade with no cell phone, so we gave in. Stipulation was that she pay it off herself (saved up gift money and then jobs) and she has ever since.
I was out of college before I got my first one. Now I'm buying them for elementary school kids. How the mighty have fallen.
Graduated in 81 and my kids had cell phones before me. I still almost never take it with me and a large portion of time, it is either off or the ringer is. I drive people nuts (everyone needs a hobby)
My sisters and I went to a Catholic high school. I will never forget the time my older sister and I ditched and went to the mall. We ran into my mother.😂
The worrying doesn’t stop, ever!
That is unfortunate news. I was afraid that was the case.
Pretty sure you knew that already!
Tell me she and her friends also have "Titanic" as their current favourite movie and they'd be exactly the same as my former classmates from her age. We were at similar time of our lives meeting at cafe's and first starbucks, but more often in McDonald's, or instead of spending time after school there. Some had "homework sleepovers" with their best peers, spending the afternoon doing projects and writing assignments and riding with the host's parents to school the next morning. Yet I was rarely involved in the latter, not being too close with most of those people and seeing Starbucks as too pricey. With guys we visited the malls only to eat fast-foods and inspect computer gear, clothes shopping was the girls thing. Or we were just simply hanging out in a flat of someone living in the city. Coming back and informing where we were hadn't been too much of an issue, as long as we were getting home with the last daytime tram/bus, with the policy on phoning being "call only in an emergency that's NOT the need of a ride". We preferred gaming/pirating movies and series over cinemas (or using the then-crawling earliest streaming services). Instead of videocalling (nobody liked showing themselves or their rooms/houses) we were having only audio/chat via discord or teamspeak, which worked best for homeworks and gaming (often at the same time), with sending photos or memes when it was necessary.
The appeal of Starbucks is universal. If Betsy actually drank coffee, McDonald's would be a good choice. The coffee is much cheaper. Consequently, that's where my retired father-in-law hangs out with his friends. He's living his best life.
Yeah, you're right. McCafe is the best coffee out there, especially on the longer trips. And hanging out in McD's is great, although in my case that's rather with family. With friends we usually go to KFC.
In high school, I had friends with pagers, you always had to have change to call anyone. My 7th grader finally got a phone this past summer. She was one of the few in her class who didn't have one. She does like going to the mall. Her style is Hot Topic. Occasionally, she meet a friend there and they will hang out, but she's fine going with just me or her grandparents too. There's a new arcade at her preferred mall that has a dance game she likes. One of her friends had their birthday party there last summer and it is now the place to go. lol
I've never known anyone who wasn't a doctor who had a pager. That's a very specific era when it was push technology. Good for your daughter for hanging out at the arcade. Way cooler than a coffee shop.
Oh, this was a fun walk down memory lane. It wasn’t Starbucks for my group of friends, it was Pretzel-on-a-Stick at the Mall. And cell phones didn’t exist until after I graduated university…so pay phones it was, if we felt like it. Otherwise our parents just had to pray. Now if one of my kids stops responding, I give it 10 min for them to get within range of another cell tower, and then start texting asking if they’ve been kidnapped. In the small town where we live, all the teens hang out in the local school’s football field — or they walk between various schools of a night or weekend. Crazy! We’ve a mall 10 minutes away by train, and that’s about the only popular place kids go; there isn’t much else.
Every teen group has its weird, random hang out spot. Maybe our parents were happy they couldn't keep tabs on us. It might be better not to know.
Teenage years...constant nervous stomach.
Not sure how my parents dealt with it, especially if i didn't have a quarter for the pay phone to let them know I was fine!
It is an unfortunate state of human development for everyone involved.
It was easier for them, as long as the street lights were not on, they did not worry LOL
My youngest got a phone in 6th grade, because of things happening in school. They were not supposed to use them, but I told him if he needed help, he better use the phone and worry about it later, or else I would be the one he was in trouble with. In HS , they weren't supposed to use them and I had to pull him one day and the attendance lady told me to just text him...ummmm??? Spectrum kids are so hard to explain grey areas to, I finally went there is an exception to every rule and I am it. Worked like a charm LOL
One of the most thoughtful passages in this hilarious newsletter was the comment about how people used to go on months-long voyages halfway across the world just so that a noble could have a dash of pepper (or other spice of choice) with the meal, but nowadays you can shop for items from dozens of countries all in one place like Target - and no worry about getting scurvy either!