25 Things Every Kid Did Before 1980 That Would Get Their Parents Arrested Today

From walking to school alone at five years old to riding in the back of pickup trucks at highway speed, this is the lost world of American childhood. Every item on this list happened millions of times, to an entire generation of kids who grew up to run the country. Try any of it today and somebody calls 911. This video covers the forgotten freedoms, banned games, and vanished rites of passage that defined growing up in America from the 1940s through the 1980s. New videos every week. © 2026 Forgotten American Childhood. All rights reserved.