This generation in almost its entirety could never have survived the world I or my children and grandchildren grew up in.

The world has changed, as have parenting techniques and viewpoints have. Sadly, the world isn’t as safe as it was, so even vigilant parents can no longer allow children the luxury of adventure and being turned loose in their neighborhoods as free spirits without strict rules and a close eye.

As a kid, adults wearied me with tedious diatribes about how hard things were. They spoke of walking five miles to school every morning … uphill … both ways — and barefoot.

Note to self: Don’t lay a bunch of malarkey like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they’ve got it.

However, as an adult, I can’t help but notice the youth of today. Talk about having it easy. Seriously, when compared to my childhood, they live in Utopia. And, I hate to say it, but the kids today don’t know they have it so good. All the while they aren’t learning a thing about being responsible, accountable, obedient or self-reliant.

They are so comfortable with being entertained that they couldn’t survive a week (as well as some of their parents) without electronics or a drive-thru.

We didn’t have the internet, but the best homes had a set of encyclopedias. If we wanted to know more about a topic we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves in the card catalog.

There was no texting or messaging. Unless you used paper and pen and actually wrote a letter, taking days to deliver and more days to get a response — if they wrote back and had a stamp right away.

Child Protective Services, by whatever names it goes by where you live, didn’t seem interested in knowing our parents whipped the snot out of us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all our friends had permission to paddle us good if we needed it. So did the teachers. And the principal and superintendent.

If we had an undying desire for a special toy or clothing, etc. we had to save our own money to get it. Few even got allowances, but we could save birthday money, nickels spotted on the way to school or imagine actually earning your own money. Now there’s a foreign concept.

If you wanted to listen to music, you turned on the radio — or figured out on your own how to play an instrument. My son worked, saved and bought a harmonica when in the sixth grade. Then he saved to buy a book about how to play it. He practiced all the time and got pretty good at it, too.

Most homes had a record player. Music shops had sound booths where you could listen to an entire album before purchase. Loiterers were asked to leave. My kids were blessed with the joys of an eight track player in the car — only used while it was on the road. That’s how we rolled.

We didn’t have a phone most of my growing up years and early marriage. Then, we had one phone with a short cord, and there were up to nine other homes connected to our “party line.” Sometimes tempers flared when waiting to receive or place a simple call, usually by the habitual eavesdroppers on the shared line.

We used a pamphlet called the TV Guide to find out what was on the four channels we had access to. Remotes hadn’t been thought of. We had to wait until Saturday mornings to watch cartoons.

We didn’t have microwaves, but frozen TV dinners became popular in the ‘60s and ‘70s, though considered a poor substitute for a home-cooked meal.

When we weren’t doing chores, we played outside unless it was raining sideways. If you came inside otherwise, you were found more chores to do.

Unless you were the baby, we were thrown in the backseat and hung on.

Saying “I’m bored” was a huge mistake that I made only once. Mom put me to work if she even thought I might be bored, hence the busy little beaver I became.

Never in a million years would one expect their parent to entertain or provide entertainment for a child, aside from a made up on the spot bedtime story. They had plenty of their own chores to do.

We learned to work — hard. We learned not to whine or complain either, because that simply turned into more work.

Kids today have it way too easy. They’re mostly entitled and spoiled rotten. They wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in the ‘70s or any decade before.

Stay tuned. To be continued.