My 80’s Teenage Years vs My Kids Teenage Years

My 80’s Teenage Years vs My Kids Teenage Years

My 80’s Teenage Years vs My Kids Teenage Years.

Growing up in the ’80s was fun.  I loved it.  The era when I was a teen.  Where time seemed to pass by so slowly, I remember how it seemed to take forever to reach the ripe ‘ole age of 17 so I could start learning to drive (how I wish the years still went that slow!).

My teen years was a time when ‘Apple’ was something you ate and ‘Windows’ were for staring out of, a lot, especially in Maths!

On would go my shiny new vinyl LP, and the air would be filled with the sounds of of Whitney Houston, Spandau Ballet, Michael Jackson (even had his poster on my wall when he looked like he should) and my favourite, Rick Astley all helping with the timely process of applying make up.

It was a time when hair, mine especially, would survive any hurricane, rock hard from a can of cheap extra hold hairspray practically gone in one sitting! occasionally a can of spray in colour would be added which accoriding to the kids is one of the reasons our earth is in the shit state it is!

Hands up who loved Grange Hill and Neighbours? the unforgettable moment when Charlene aka Kylie Minogue married Scott aka Jason Donovan etched in your mind forever, along with their wedding song sung by Angry Anderson! I can hear it now.

Weekend telly consisted of Swap Shop or Tiswas, unlike today’s kids who have an endless choice of programmes to choose from.

It was the decade of questionable fashion, who could resist a pair of satin leggings and neon leg warmers to complete the look! We had trends in schoolbags like the Plastic Jelly Bags, totally impractical, where you had to line them with a carrier bag or everything would fall out!

Fast forward to now and unwittingly I seem to have morphed, somewhat into my parents.  I can often be heard bellowing out to the kids how they “don’t know they are born”, “I would have loved that when I was your age”, and the unforgettable one liner about the Money Tree!

I have put together an insight of what some of the 80s for me had to offer along with how it compares to my kids today.

WALKING (What my kids avoid at all costs)

A large percentage of the 80s was spent walking.  We had no choice back then, anywhere we wanted to go, we walked.  We weren’t privy to the luxury of ‘Mums Taxi’ on standby waiting to ferry us all where we wanted to go, nope we walked.

Sometimes, we would jump on the bus always favouring the back seat just so we could puff our heads off (yes, we smoked…a lot, funded by saving our dinner money) on the way into town!

HOMEWORK

The luxury of tapping in a few key points and oodles of information appearing before your eyes in seconds was, unfortunately not available to us.  We had to trawl through large collections of enclyopedias or text books for hours before finally admitting defeat and writing any old shit.

There was no copying and pasting or the luxury of a delete button, had to write it all up with an in ink-pen and if you made a mistake the page was ripped out and you started again.

Tippex was a stable of the 80s pencil case.

With writer’s cramp and an offering of something, our homework would be complete.  And if we didn’t finish or even start it would be a quick ‘Sorry but ‘lazy arse’ was unable to do her homework because…….’ bullshit note would be written and signed by me on behalf of my parents!

MOBILE PHONES

We didn’t have them.  We had payphones, which we could never afford, so spent a lot of time talking to the operator asking to reverse the charges.

House phones were usually rooted in the hall, annoyingly as there was no privacy.  We would have to wait to ring our friends until after 6pm and then it would be accompanied with shouts of “hurry up on that phone”.  Mine don’t have that worry, they can sit anywhere talking on theirs for as long as they like all paid for my us.

And being able to bypass the phone lock by tapping the black buttons under the receiver.

To be sure of our friends answering and not their parents, we would always give 3 rings first put the phone now and ring again.  We had code words such as ‘polos’ for fags, aptly called as we would eat a dozen on the way home to rid ourselves of the smell, and any fag packets and lighters found in our coat pocket were always our friends, we were just minding it for them.

Our version of texting was passing each other notes throughout lessons or writing messages in each other workbooks trying not to be seen by the teacher.

There was no way of our parents getting hold of us or tracking us on any find my i-Phone.  The only ‘being’ regularly phoning home back then was E.T.

THE TOP 40

We didn’t have a phone to plug our headphones into and listen to 100s of songs, we had Sony Walkman’s.  We had the pain of having to rewind and fast forward to any particular song we wanted, fist pumping when we timed it right the first time!  And when the batteries started running out, well….!

To add insult to injury we also had to endure the bloody nuisance of the ribbon coming loose from the tapes.

I used to spend hours turning the little wheel with a pen, sometimes one bit too much with the bloody thing snapping.

VIDEO RENTAL SHOP

Who doesn’t love a Movie night!  The difference between our movie nights now to the 80’s is the way it’s viewed!

Watching a newly released movie in the 80s meant, renting a video from the local video shop.  Making yourself up to look older for the 15+ films, rehearsing your date of birth en route just in case, which would often be all in vain as the film would already be on loan by the time you got there.

Today it’s much simpler.  Movies are streamed onto your computer, tablet and television right from the comforts of your own home.   There is no problem with it being out on loan or having to make yourself up to look older, its just a press of a few buttons to confirm they are old enough, having worked their way around any parental control, smart kids of today!

SELFIES

A selfie back then was holding a throwaway camera as far as your arm would let you, at a certain height hoping you were all in the shot.  The disappointment when having waited 2 weeks, picking up your photos from the developers, to find photos of half heads or blurry ones!

Instant ‘selfies’ were only available with a Polaroid camera, and only if you or a mate were lucky enough to own one.

We didnt have the freedom of deleting and trying again, you were stuck with what came sliding out.

PLAYING OUTSIDE

We pretty much lived outside.  From morning to night, we would be out and our parents would have no way of knowing where we were or being able to contact us.

No phones with trackers to find out where we were.  Home time would usually be either when the street lamps were coming on or you were hungry.

We literally have to prise our kids out of the house nowadays, preferring to keep in touch with their friends by gaming, texting or face time, and that’s usually when in the same room as them!

SHOPPING

Walking, again, we would go into town where we would scour the classics, C&A, Chelsea Girl (always way out of my budget) Tammy Girl and testing out the make up in Miss Selfridge.

Today, my 2 teenage kids prefer shopping online.  All from the comfort of an armchair, with bank card at the ready…my bank card!

Back in the 80s, town was full of punks, large stereos blasting out and a crowd of people, us included, watching kids breakdancing.

How we would spend hours in the shop Athena flicking through poster after poster, I mean what 80s teen didnt have at least one Syd Brak design on their walls at home?

Then before heading home, it would be off to the pub for a quick drink and a fag age 14!

DIRTY DANCING

How I wished I was the one having the ‘time of my life’ with Patrick Swayze!

THE HERE AND NOW

Although a lot has changed over the years a lot still remains the same, its just jazzed up with fancier names.

The end of school disco is now a more lavish affair called a ‘Prom’ costing anything upwards of £300.  Everyone parades in all their fine attire in front of proud parents before disappearing into some expensive venue.

I look back on my teenage years with great fondness, a time when we laughed, a lot, and worries were few and far between.

i often think if the technology today, had been around when I was a teen, I don’t think I would have got away with half of what I did.

Not that anything I did was bad, it was just all teenage stuff!

I wonder what my kids will grow up remembering from their teen years?

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30 Comments

  1. February 25, 2017 / 3:14 pm

    Good old C & A. They don’t know what they’re missing! 🙂

  2. Debs
    February 25, 2017 / 4:26 pm

    Brilliant ! That is exactly how it was, great memories x

    • Shazzab
      Author
      March 3, 2017 / 11:35 am

      And great memories they are 🙂

  3. Bernadette
    March 1, 2017 / 10:42 pm

    Wow all you said was so as it was back in the day.. just a few to add on.. Saturday morning pictures.. youth clubs and Wednesday night disco for 13s to 18.. truly the best years. As much as I love technology sadly it has ruined our children of today… thank you for this post has brought so many good memories back xx

    • Shazzab
      Author
      March 3, 2017 / 11:34 am

      Not forgetting the Roller Discos! lol the 80s were great times 🙂

  4. Ellen carvalho
    March 2, 2017 / 9:00 pm

    So good and so true

  5. March 3, 2017 / 9:55 am

    Oh I love a nostalgic post and this one was brilliant! I was saying to someone the other day how much I miss a good old video shop – when renting a film was a whole day affair involving going to the shop, choosing nibbles, I miss those days!
    #coolmumclub – thanks for linking

    • Shazzab
      Author
      March 3, 2017 / 11:33 am

      Thank you 🙂 lol yes renting a video was never quick, ah the good ‘ole days eh!

  6. Nige
    March 29, 2017 / 7:30 pm

    This took me back I loved the 80’s and Jacko was the best saw him live twice and I love the selfies so true fab post #tweensteensandbeyond

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:14 am

      Oooh how lucky seeing Jacko live!! I was never that lucky. What a legend 🙂

  7. March 30, 2017 / 12:30 pm

    Love it! Areally great reminder of my childhood. Then there was the whole ITV v BBC thing. My boss admits he never watched things like Magpie because his parents wouldn’t let him watch programmes on ITV because they were common. (And, no doubt, because they didn’t want him asking for stuff he’d seen during the ads). BBC only for him.

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:07 am

      Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it, love the ITV programmes being common, your poor boss!!

  8. March 30, 2017 / 2:15 pm

    We shared the same childhood Sharon! The handwritten tape cases of all the faves – oh the joy – and swap shop and – well just everything you say. So much has changed in such a short space of time considering we are only young ……………… Thanks for sharing with #TweensTeensBeyond Nicky

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:13 am

      Lol handwritten tape cases replaced on a regular basis when we re-recorded over the tapes!! Thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it brought back many happy memories.

  9. March 30, 2017 / 3:33 pm

    I was a 90s teen rather than an 80s one but 95% of your post was completely true for me too! I can’t work out whether it’s harder or easier for teens these days, it’s a totally different experience, that’s for sure! #TweensTeensBeyond 😍

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:11 am

      Interesting point, I think its probably harder for teens theses days as we didnt know half of what our peers were getting up to socially whereas nowadays its plastered all over social media platforms where, teens, can maybe feel excluded from certain groups etc, etc. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

  10. March 31, 2017 / 10:42 am

    Popping back for #TweensTeensBeyond. Loved this trip down memory lane – feeling quite nostalgic. may have to put Dexys Midnight Runners on now!

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:08 am

      Love a bit of Dexys Midnight Runners 🙂

  11. March 31, 2017 / 6:45 pm

    I love this Sharon, as I sip my glass of wine on a Friday night waiting to be taken out by hubby, it was a real trip down memory lane. The Top 40 – that was so unmissable! Every Sunday night was the same. Fantastic. And of course how did we all manage to survive without 24 hr contact with our friends and family?? It would be lovely to wind back the clock and put our kids there and see how they cope. Thanks for making me wistful! #TweensTeensBeyond

    • Shazzab
      Author
      April 3, 2017 / 11:09 am

      Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 🙂 i would love to wind back the clock just to see how our kids would get on, I can just imagine how mine would….!!

  12. April 4, 2017 / 8:17 am

    I wouldn’t wish my teenage years on my children at all, sadly I see the 80’s has already been retro and been and gone, but my kids being older (all adults) remember us playing records, they rewound video tapes and recognise most of our favourite music. I tried to find a phone box the other day and there was a cash machine inside it, when I did find one it was a minimum of 60p for a call, I found myself telling passer bys ‘in my day it was 2p’ #tweenteensbeyond

  13. May 7, 2017 / 2:30 am

    I used to make so many mix tapes off the radio! The kids are seriously missing out on that one. Also, I get Spandau Ballet stuck in my head all the time. I still listen to that stuff half the time anyway. #Blogstravaganza

    • Shazzab
      Author
      May 7, 2017 / 10:30 am

      Cant beat a bit of Spandau Ballet love them, got to see them a little while back even remembered all the words to the songs!!! Thanks for reading 🙂

  14. May 7, 2017 / 4:38 pm

    What a great throwback. I remember being outside all of the time and rocking back up as the sun went down! I’d be terrified of letting my children do that these days! Thanks so much for sharing with #Blogstravaganza xx

    • Shazzab
      Author
      May 8, 2017 / 9:08 am

      Thank you 🙂 how times have changed in a small space of time really eh!

  15. August 20, 2017 / 9:56 am

    I wish I was from the 80’s. I love how you actually had to get out of the house if you wanted to do anything lol, we’re a generation that’s got everything at their fingertips now! x

  16. February 12, 2018 / 4:21 pm

    This just brought me back! All those things. Kids will never know trying to wind up a cassette tape with a pencil! #mondaystumble

  17. February 12, 2018 / 4:52 pm

    OMG, that took me right back. I was a Durany (nt Spandau) and a Swap Shop (not Tizwas) girl. You had to make your hair big to balance out the shoulder pads! #mondaystumble

  18. February 18, 2018 / 1:58 pm

    Walking, biking, the start of MTV, and I was lucky enough to see Jacko live, twice. Awesome times, simpler in many respects. Thank you for this great read. #mondaystumble

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