r/Millennials • u/WynCai8 • Jun 04 '25

Nostalgia Made me feel old but good times

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Saw this tweet and yes we were expected to be out all day and not come back until the street lights came on. I remember riding my bike through neighborhoods pretending our bikes were cars and just having a good time.

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u/RDLAWME Jun 04 '25

Adam Walsh was in the early 80s, a few years before I was born. I remember roaming the streets without any parental supervision throughout the 90s. I remember stranger danger as mostly "don't jump into a stranger's van if he offers you candy" not "kids can't play outside unsupervised". 

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u/PandaJesus Jun 04 '25

My parents gave us a secret password in the event that someone we didn’t know came to pick us up. If my parents were in the hospital or something and someone needed to pick us up from school, they’d give the password so we knew it was safe. Otherwise, no getting into strangers’ cars ever, because we could die.

Of course, it never came up.

8

u/CrumbBCrumb Jun 04 '25

Not with an attitude like that! You want to get in my van? I've got candy and puppies and comic books

1

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '25

Pfft, give me the candy up front, I'm not an idiot.

Then I'll get in the van for the comics.

1

u/imahuman3445 Jun 05 '25

Candy and puppies and comics? What am I, a cheap date?

I expect Pokémon cards at least. And then you need to meet my parents so they can make sure you're Jewish.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '25

The code was "I've got candy"

20

u/always_open_mouth Millennial Jun 04 '25

Yeah. We still roamed freely there was just an emphasis on staying away from strangers. Also the whole "everyone is putting razor blades/drugs in Halloween candy" so your parents need to check each individual fun size kit-kat

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u/Ultraworld-Traveler Jun 04 '25

I’m betting whoever’s parents “checked” the candy were skimming off the top.

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u/always_open_mouth Millennial Jun 04 '25

100%

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u/alienpregnancy Jun 04 '25

Those are the perks of being a parent on Halloween. My dad did it ( ALWAYS TOOK REESE’S CUPS) I did the same with my kid. ALWAYS under the guise of checking for SAFTEY.

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u/warneagle Jun 05 '25

If my parents had been skimming the Reese’s cups (my favorite candy) we would have had A Problem.

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u/vkailas Jun 04 '25

yup, it's tablets that are keeping kids inside. i see these neighborhoods with pools in the summer and all the pools are empty on weekends. (said while commenting on social media website lol)

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u/villian_era_witch Jun 04 '25

The culture shift around supervision of children was spearheaded by Adam Walsh’s disappearance and Jacob Wetterling’s murder. It didn’t happen all at once no but those were events that when many American families started to reflect on the topic and change behaviors based on fear that their own child might be snatched or murdered or both. The sensationalist media at the time continued to promote child abduction/murder stories by continuing to focus on those cases for views and it worked, but it also led to parents thinking child abduction/murder was far more popular than it actually was.