I was a boy in the mid 40's to 50's . We lived in a rural community that didn't have very many amenities. For example, our roads were very poor. We didn't have electricity. We didn't have TV. We didn't have running water. We didn't buy much from the store.
More than half our neighbors were Mennonites. The other half were English of some kind. Half the kids in school were Mennonite. It was an excellent community to live in. We learned many things from each other. So our neighbors were Epps, Friesens, Dicks, Bergens, Wiens, Neufeld, Siemens and Funk.
Now as little boys we had many activities to keep us occupied . We threw stones, climbed trees, wandered through the brush and if our dad's caught us we had some work to do. One day we left the school yard. We were allowed to leave the school yard at noon. There were no teachers doing noon supervision. We were to eat our lunch and then play out side. This system worked very well.
One day we were throwing rocks. We would see how far we could throw and there was always debate about who's rock went the farthest. We would see how high we could throw. This caused many arguments. We would try to hit telephone poles. With all this practice our aim was not very good and there were some errant shots.
So we were by the preacher's house one day and he came out and was very, very angry. One of our rocks must have landed in his yard or hit his house or car. We were some very quiet and subdued boys who quietly walked back to school. Since throwing stones must be in little boys DNA we continued throwing stones but in some other place.
We were very worried that our parents would find out and then we would be in big trouble.
So at the time I was a boy , people didn't hesitate to get after other people's kids. I was not a Mennonite but I got it and so I should have.
Today people just do not reprimand other people's kids. It would be too risky. Some wild eyed parent may become totally unhinged.
