This Post: 10 Things We Did as Teens That Would Absolutely Terrify Us If Our Kids Did Them
Written By: Nancy Reynolds
How did we not die?
I mean, seriously…
Do you ever look back on your teen years and wonder how in the world you managed to survive? I know I do!
We rode with drivers who had exactly two weeks of experience behind the wheel. We explored abandoned, dilapidated buildings just for fun. We met people we barely knew and called them friends. We accepted rides from people whose names we didn’t even know. And somehow, our parents slept at night.
10 Things We Did as Teens That Would Absolutely Terrify Us If Our Kids Did Them
In today’s world?
If our teens don’t answer our text within 15 minutes, we’re already imagining the worst-case scenario, frantically checking their location, and considering sending out a search party.
Times sure have changed, haven’t they?
It’s funny how becoming a parent changes your perspective. The very things we did without giving them a second thought are the exact things that would send us into a full-blown panic if our own kids did them today.
So before we judge our teenagers too harshly, let’s take a little walk down memory lane and admit this humbling truth:
We survived our teen years through a series of questionable choices, near misses, sheer luck, and parents who were pretty darn clueless about what we were doing and who we were with. (Ahem… but it SURE was fun, wasn’t it?)
Here Are 10 Things We Did as Teens That Would Absolutely Terrify Us If Our Kids Did Them
1. We Left the House and Were Unreachable ALL Day
Remember walking out the door at 10 a.m. and not returning until dinner, when the streetlights came on, OR even later? Just a “See ya, Mom… I’m going to hang out with friends!”
No questions. No “Hey, what time will you be home,” or “Which friends are you hanging with?” Most often, our moms would glance up and say, “Okay… be home by dinner. Meatloaf tonight!”
No cell phone.
No GPS.
No Life360.
No way for our parents to know where we were. And no parental “check-in” texts every hour or so to make sure we were still alive.
We’d hop on our bikes, meet up with friends, and set out for an adventure. Sometimes, it was something simple like hitting the city pool for the afternoon or stopping at a 7-11 for junk food and a Big Gulp. Other times, we ventured out miles and miles to check out an abandoned train someone heard about. And somehow? We made it back safely without anyone calling the police.
Today, our teens require hourly check-ins and a full report when they walk in the door.
2. We Accepted Rides Home From Practically Anyone
Didn’t matter who. We piled into cars driven by 16-year-olds who had their license for exactly 17 minutes.
A friend.
A friend’s older brother.
The guy we met at the pizza place.
It didn’t matter if we knew them well or not at all. If they were heading in the same direction, we hopped in the car. The transportation standards were shockingly low, too. We drove too fast, crammed as many kids into the car as we could possibly fit, and didn’t care if the car was a rickety 1950s light-blue Chevy with the hubcaps missing — it was a ride, and we took it.
Seat belts were optional.
Music was deafening.
Common sense was questionable.
Now, when our own teens get in a car with another teen driver, we ask a million questions, request proof that they passed their driver’s test, and sometimes, call their parent to let them know their child will be carrying precious cargo.
3. We Went Places Our Parents Never Knew About
The lake.
The woods.
The quarry.
The abandoned building on the edge of town.
The cemetery.
The water tower.
The railroad tracks.
The old bridge four miles away.
Our parents thought we were in one place–maybe at a friend’s house, the city pool, or the local arcade. But we were definitely somewhere else.
We spent entire afternoons wandering malls, neighborhoods, parks, and run-down abandoned areas with little to no oversight. Nobody knew exactly where we were. And somehow our parents accepted “We’re hanging out” as a complete answer.
Today, we’d like a detailed itinerary, emergency contact information, and preferably a GPS tracker.
4. We Did Incredibly Dumb… Things for Fun
Let’s be honest. A shocking amount of our entertainment involved making really bad decisions.
Climbing tall trees.
Jumping off rooftops.
Riding things that weren’t meant to be ridden.
Walking on icy ponds because “they looked frozen.”
Exploring construction sites that should’ve killed us.
Building homemade contraptions that were anything but safe.
We thought we were invincible. We never thought anything bad would happen. And now we’re raising teenagers who are convinced of the exact same thing.
Every generation has its version of risky behavior. Thank goodness ours wasn’t documented on social media for eternity.
5. We Went to Parties Where We Had No Idea Whose House It Was
Someone heard about it from someone who heard about it from someone else. “Just go down Maple Lane, turn left at the old barn, and look for cars… the party is there.” That was the plan.
We showed up at a random address full of strangers and somehow thought: “This seems fine.”
The parents weren’t home.
A keg (or two) was in the kitchen next to a pile of red solo cups. (Or maybe we brought our own bottle of Boone’s Farm wine.)
The music was loud, the laughter was louder, and we were all friends by the end of the night.
Was it stupid? Yep. Was it dangerous? Yep? Did we know? Did we care? No. To us, it was a normal Friday or Saturday night.
Throw a party these days with underage drinking, and you’re likely to find yourself in a heap of legal trouble.
6. We Drove Around for Hours (Miles Away) With Absolutely No Destination
Gas was cheap.
Life was simple.
And nothing made us feel more free or grown-up than driving around with the windows rolled down on a summer night.
No plan in mind.
Just us and our friends… nothing better.
We’d drive around for three hours doing nothing but listening to music and seeing who was out.
Today, if our teen said, “We’re just driving around,” we’d need details and possibly reimbursement for gas.
7. We Were Trusted With Far More Responsibility Than We Were Ready For
We babysat young kids and infants when we were 12 (for $2 an hour), we mowed lawns in the neighborhood without really knowing what we were doing, we stayed home alone, took care of our brothers and sisters, and handled responsibilities that would make some modern parents, well… freak out.
If we had a problem? Our parents told us to “figure it out.” If we made mistakes? Our parents told us to “learn from them.” And, when we were bleeding? Our parents said, “But are you dying?”
And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson of all. Our parents didn’t “rescue us.” We rescued ourselves.
8. We Bought Concert Tickets and Figured the Rest Out Later
We bought a ticket.
Asked if our friends wanted to go.
Grabbed a ride with anyone we could find and eventually found a ride home.
No transportation plan.
No real planning or coordination.
No “official” way to get home… we were always just winging it.
We were carefree, spontaneous, adventurous, and, yes, dumb. But those were the days, weren’t they?
Now we expect our kids to give us specifics about who’s driving, parking details, emergency contacts, weather updates, and, oh… make sure they bring a portable charger.
9. We Let Our Friends Drive Way Faster Than They Should Have
Probably one of the DUMBEST things we did… (and we did A LOT of dumb things).
Every friend group had that one kid. You know, the one who treated every patch of road like it was the Daytona 500. They sped up too fast, went 30 miles over the speed limit through winding curves, braked even faster, and left us all feeling nauseous and mildly invigorated.
And yet… we all got in the car anyway. We threw caution to the wind and prayed for the best. We trusted our friend’s judgment–honestly, this could be the scariest one on the entire list!
If parents today heard about an incident like this, their teen would never be allowed to talk to that kid again, let alone step foot in their car.
10. We Got Home, and Nobody Knew If We’d Been Safe
No “Hey Mom, I’ll be home by 10 p.m.” text.
No “I’m home!”
No parents (at least me and most of my friends) waiting up to make sure you got home safely. I’m not sure if our parents blindly trusted us or if it was just a sign of the times when parents simply refused to hover over their kids’ every move…
We just walked through the door, sometimes popped our heads in our parents’ bedroom to let them know we were home, and headed to bed. And, apparently, that was enough.
That was the norm for a lot of us.
The Funny Truth About Parenting Teens
As much as we laugh about the things we did growing up, there’s a deeper reminder here. Every generation worries about the next one.
Our grandparents worried about our parents.
Our parents worried about us.
And now we have location-sharing apps, read receipts, and still somehow we worry even more about our kids.
And honestly? Some of those worries are justified. The world has changed. It’s not as safe as it once was, and there are challenges our teens face that we never had to navigate.
But sometimes it’s worth remembering that we weren’t exactly models of perfect decision-making either.
We got lost.
We took risks.
We made mistakes.
We learned lessons the hard way.
And somehow, with the help of parents who loved us, guided us, and occasionally panicked about us, we found our way.
Our teens will too.
Maybe that’s the real comfort in looking back at our own teenage years. Not that everything was safer or simpler, but that growing up has always involved a little uncertainty, a little freedom, and a lot of figuring things out along the way.
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