I knew that kids back as recently as the 60's or 70's used to roam all over the neighborhood and even the town (me included) but HITCHHIKING? Do you think 6 year olds hitchhiked too?
shareNo I think that's what made it cute. :)
shareShirley was put into a lot of situations that would trouble me greatly if I didn't know there had been an entire film crew and her mother on the other side of the camera.
"I say,open this door at once! We're British !"
My dad also objected to the hitchhiking but my mom and I pointed out she was accepting a ride from someone she knew.
shareNot always a guarantee of safety either, unfortunately.
"Life is uncertain, eat dessert first!"🍨-HOMER J.SIMPSON
Obviously. I can think of two extremely sad cases right off the top of my head, one was a teacher and another a family friend. But no children back then would have thought of that and very few would today.
sharecmashieldscapting says > My dad also objected to the hitchhiking but my mom and I pointed out she was accepting a ride from someone she knew.I can't imagine any reasonable person thinking that would ever be okay.
For the record, Shirley's age in the movie was given as five. My friends and I were wandering all over the place at not much older (six or seven) but by the time we were finishing high school that was becoming a thing of the past. (I was a junior when Etan Patz disappeared.) And, yes, I have seen parents charged with neglect for what in the past was considered good parenting--teaching a child independence.
Read the chapter of The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright about Oliver going to the circus. Of course the author admitted she had never heard of a six-year-old successfully pulling off any such venture, but it's a great story nonetheless.
The original poster was right. In the hitchhiking scene, Shirley actually waves at several vehicles, turning down a ride from an unknown man whose rig was too slow, before accepting the ride from someone familiar. Sadly, this movie may have given kids the idea that hitchhiking was okay, which of course many people of all ages did then.
shareBack in the 70s I hitchhiked when I ten. This was in Nevada. Six is to young.
shareIn the '50s, '60s, and '70s kids were free. At five years old I walked to kindergarten and back, by myself or with other kids, every day. By the age of six I was wandering all over the neighborhood, to the creek, and to the local dairy to pet the cows, with zero adult supervision. It was the same for all the kids I knew. You'd say "I'm going out to play, mom!" and she'd answer "okay, be back by dark!". We rode our bikes every day, not on the sidewalk with mom walking behind us, but in the street with no adults in sight. When I was seven I walked to the grocery store alone, to the park, and to the movie theater downtown for Saturday matinees. At ten years old, my friend and I used to hike up into the mountains and play in the river. When I was fourteen I rode my bike to a museum twenty miles away, then back home. I hitchhiked a lot when I was a teenager, too. People raised later under continuous supervision and control probably can't understand, but it was a great time to be a kid. If there were risks, it was worth it.
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