Reasons Why Kids From The 60s And 70s Are Lucky To Be Alive.

 #12  Reasons Why Kids From The 60s And 70s Are Lucky To Be Alive.

All of us have an older person in our lives that likes to start sentences with the phrase, "Back in my day..." Most of the time, they're referring to some idealized memory of the way the world used to be when they were young. However, if this post is any indication, "back in my day" refers to a world that was a lot more dangerous than it is now -- especially for little kids.

#1. Dangerous Toys

Back in the day, toys were a lot more dangerous than they are now -- and had a lot more risks associated with playing with them. We're talking hot plates, noxious odors and sharp metal objects -- how did anyone make it out alive?

#2. No Seatbelts

People didn't really buckle up back in the day, and children often rode in the front seat or on each other's laps. We're glad that things have gotten slightly safer on the roads.

#3. Front Seat Driving

As we mentioned above, the lack of seat belts meant you could sit wherever you wanted -- and that meant that often, babies would sit with their parents in the front seat.

#4. No Helmets

Kids popped wheelies and raced each other without helmets, making this hazardous oversight similar to the seatbelt thing. We'd love to see some stats on head injuries from back then.

#5. Chemical Trucks

Back in the '60s and '70s, kids would often run behind these chemical/pesticide trucks when they passed by. Lungs be damned, apparently.

#6. Unsafe Playgrounds

Anyone remember swinging so hard that one part of the swing set would come off the ground? Or what about the burns we suffered sliding down scorching metal slides during the summer, not to mention the spiky, rusting metal all over the place.

#7. Kids Going Solo

If you let yourself into the house after school, you were a latch key kid. By today's standards, this seems pretty dangerous -- then again, most who did it seemed to turn out okay.

#8. 12-Year-Old Babysitters

If you were at least 12 and able to dial 9-1-1, then you got some pretty sweet babysitting gigs. Considering the fact that today's babysitters often have certification, the idea of a 12-year-old doing the job seems pretty wild.

#9. Ridiculous Diets

Believe it or not, there was a time when processed food was considered the best, and very few people were "eating clean."

#10. Secondhand Smoke

There was no escaping the haze of cigarette smoke back in the day, because you could smoke literally everywhere: Planes, cars, restaurants, and even libraries.