I was a child of the 70's and probably shouldn't be alive today at all.

My baby cot was covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

I had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When I rode my bike, I wore no helmet, just flip flops and fluorescent 'clackers' on the wheels.

As child, I would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the front passenger seat was a treat.

I drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle - it all tasted the same.

I ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

I shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this.

I would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out I forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, I learned to solve the problem.

I would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as I was back before it got dark. No one was able to reach me all day and no one minded.

I did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 156 channels on the black & white TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms.

I made friends - I went outside and found them.

I played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt.

I fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits. They were accidents. I learnt not to do the same thing again.

I had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue - I learned to get over it. (AND MOVE ON)

I made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff, and although I was told it would happen, I did not have very many eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside me forever.

I rode my bike in packs of 7 and wore my coat by only the hood.

My actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of my parents bailing me out if I broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the coppers. Imagine that!