most farm kids do have a head on their shoulders, they learn early the stuff that many never do. hard work has its rewards, actions have conseqences, and i think they have a better sence of responsibilty.

 

Well here's how I figure it.

Farm kids are taught from a young age how to drive tractors, etc.

I'm not technically a "farm kid" more like a "construction kid" since my dad owns a construction company. I drove my first vehicle solo (which happened to be a ford with a 7.3 in it) when I was 8 years old.

You learn responsibility because if you aren't responsible someone might get killed. You leave a tractor sittin somewhere without something to keep it from rolling it could go down the hill and kill somebody. You stick your hand in that baler and you could lose it.

I had a girl come up to me in school, she was dead serious, and ask me which pedal was the gas and which was the brake. She's a Sophomore... (so am I)

OP: Sorry for the hijack, but I didn't want to be lumped in with the rest of the morons in my generation.

 

I have to watch the eggshells I walk on in here on disciplining kids. I got an *** reaming over my stand on the southpark video. But I cant stay off this bad puppy.

We have become a nation of pussies for the most part, we as parents in more instances than not have a brood of inconsiderate, wimps and run with our tails between our legs because as kids we were raised in the generation of parents who were told let us be, dont spank, talk, dont hurt self etseem etc.

I saw my daughters dad as a CSM in the army go from getting in the faces of his soldiers when they F'ed up and getting the soldier back on track to having soldiers hand him a "Please back off Im feeling stressed" card and he HAD to back off. The soldiers have learned they can be all that they can be...whiney lazy and disrespectful for the most part. In schools today you CANNOT as a teacher raise your voice, punish etc the wittle children because you scare them and they dont like it, as a playmate you cannot tease or say anything negative because you have damaged the psyche of your "friend" as a parent you cannot spank your misbehaving troll because in schools they are taught if your parent touches you in a way you do not like you are to call the police. If you call your kid a lazy brat they go to school and tell the teachers you called them lazy and POOF your under investigation or hauled into the school to learn better ways to talk to your child.
I learned about tree branches at an early age. DONT PICK THE SKINNY ONES! my grandma swatted me with that and I got the message. I learned about stealing (taking something without paying for it) by her hauling me into the store and making me hand over the gum and tell the manager and clerk what I did. Learn by humiliation of sorts. Or rather accountability.
Yes I am sure there are parents who can say "honey dont do that" and the parental will shall be done as angels above sing but 99.9% of the time it isnt the case.
When my two older girls were little and were fighting like cats and dogs I had enough. I saw the "honey we dont hit those we love" not working so I gave them each a broom and told them to go out back and fight to the death. No one could re enter the house till the other was a bloody pulp and not breathing. SEVERE? yes but they said momma I cant do that to my sister. They ended up playing dragon slayer and having a blast and the physical fighting pretty much stopped.
I also want to add that for me I never "feared" my grandma I feared the punishment. That was my deterrent.
I have also noticed that most "passive" parents are just accepting of their kids behavior and see them as good. While I have actually seen the opposite. I see kids that interrupt their parents, butt in on adult conversations, misbehave etc. Its all how we perceive it.
If it works do it. We can see in real life the kids who have been disciplined and those who have not. We can see the products of society everywhere we look. The biggest thing is nowadays more and more parents are letting the "parental label" go away and replacing it with "my child's friend" Well my take is my kids have enough friends and when they are older, on their own and a more friendship role could take over when my being a mom isn't needed daily. When I hear a parents say " I don't want to be "the police" I want to be their friend. I almost barf because I would never go to a school as a grown woman and look for "friends" at the play yard. I am a parent first. I am their teacher first, I am disciplinarian first, I am a provider first...friends but not in the passive friend, buddy sense.
Goes back to the Ritalin explosion. Take control from parents, teachers, police etc and there has to be some form of control but unfortunately it came in the form of pills. I have to add that it also its also generational lack of parenting or lazy parenting. Its easier to give in than it is to stand their ground.
Back in the day how many of you looked at an album, tape or pair of 501's and actually saved for it or had to wait for Christmas or birthday to get it? We now walk thru wal mart and tell our kid yes you can have that XBox game, CD, DVD etc. We have given our kids just about everything they could want and wish for. We are scared to tell them no.
I am not accusing all parents of this but I am speaking of our culture as a "whole"

 

Well said HB!

 

HB amd I are on the same page. We're raising our kids the old school way. At 8 & 11 YO they both have a sense of responsibility. My 11 YO is looking into a summer job, so She can buy Her own dog. While one of Her friends was over the other day, I heard Her say to my Daughter, " I wish My Grandma would get our cable fixed". Not, I want My parents to get the cable fixed. Grandma is supposed to do it for them?


Here's something along the same lines as the OP > NOAH TODAY...

 

Same thing here buddy. Got my truck last May and paid 9000 for it that I earned on my uncles farm. I think every teenager in America should have to work on a farm of some kind. My uncles does not tolarate any fooling around while we are working, but if someone from my school worked there they would probably work 5 minutes and be "tired". I laugh everytime some teenage girl in her car bought by her parents, on her cell phone gets mad when I'm driving a tractor down the road. When they speed past I just give a friendly wave(after all, its a teenage girl).

 

Yep. Then 2 miles down the road you see the car wrapped around a tree.

I have to disagree with making everyone work on a farm. A farm is not a babysitting facility meant to teach a work ethic to lazy kids.

There are kids in my school who whine and complain about how they can't find jobs and nobody will hire them blablabla

I tell em "Well you can unload hay on the farm for minimum wage."

"Oh no I don't wanna do that." "Then don't ever complain to me about how you can't find a job."

For the most part I agree with what you're saying though. The best is when you're on a narrow road towing a wagon and soccer mom is busy on her cell phone behind you and she's all impatient. Then when the road gets wide enough for them to pass they speed by you and flip you off. It just makes me laugh at how stupid some people are.

 

..and sometimes when they pass they get off the road a little bit much and end up stuck in the ditch......and expect YOU to pull them out. the worst ive had happen was a old jeep wagoneer passing a JD "A" and the back bumper of the truck caught the L.R. tractor tire (and it was a new tire) the just-mounted cultivator set kept the tractor from flipping and fluid from the tire went everywhere. i was about 8 at the time. back then there were no cell phones, just impatience and poor judgement.

 

Yeah they want the money, but they don't want to do the work. Guess they think they are to good for that. I always tell them that its pays more than what you are making now which is nothing. Gotta love workin on the farm though and people think its crazy that a 17 year old is driving a huge tractor or a grain truck up and down the road. Then see the look on their faces when I tell them I've been doing it since I was 15.

 

I'm sorry, but I refuse to tow someone out of a ditch if I don't already know them very well.

1: It's probably their own stupid fault

2: If I pull them out they won't learn

3: If I pull them out and my chain scratches the paint on wherever I hook to they'll blame me and try to sue me.

Not worth it. Sorry.

Funny you mention a JD model A because that and the Super M are what we use to move wagons.

I've had cops pull me over while I was driving a tractor. He tries telling me I need a license to drive a tractor on the road. I informed him that I did not, in fact, need a license I only need to be 16. He goes back to his cruiser and types on his computer for a minute and tells me I'm right and lets me go.

That must've been a hell of a sight to see. A JD A and an empty wagon pulled over on the side of the road with a cruiser behind it.

Fortunately for me all my SMV placards were in place. Had they not been he would've had a valid reason to harass me.

 

There should be a special place in H**L for folks who impatiently ride the a** of farm machinery and then flip off the farmer when they pass.........I guess they dont like to eat?,.....Never thought that he is doing his JOB!?......Most states farm machinery has the right of way!.....Sit back and wait,.....Wal-Mart will still be there.

 

You can't let it bother you. Just laugh at how stupid they are and move on.

 

[QUOTE=7.3 Rocket;7275480]I'm sorry, but I refuse to tow someone out of a ditch if I don't already know them very well.

oh, i never said id pull them out, i said its funny when they do something stupid , then think you owe it to them to be pulled out. i rarely carry log chain when im on the highway with a tractor. the "A" was always the tractor of choice for me due to the hand clutch, the other tractor at the time was a '64 ford 4000 and had a difficult-to-control clutch pedal, i had to jump on it to push down and a controlled release was about impossible until i got to be about 14. out other tractors include a 2N, oliver 1650 & 1855 diesels and a 8N with a backhoe / loader rig. we didnt get the olivers until i was almost out of high school. the 2N was bought new the year dad was born, has the sherman overdrive.

 

ever heard the song "international harvester" by craig morgan? google it if you havent, the video for it is pretty good too.

 

I grew up on a farm in the times when guns in a gun rack were common. I doubt the average city kid could do a day of farm work. Its a daylight to dark job & its hard work most of the time. Farm live does let a child face reality in where their food comes from & why we raise animals for food. You don't see many PETA members that came from a farm background.
I had a JD A & I still have a JD Model 70. I made a bunch of money using those 2 tractors when I was growing up. I got the A when I was 14. it was a 1948 model I out grew it & got the 70. Its a 1957 model.It has about twice the HP of a A. It still runs good. A hand clutch is sure different from a foot one. I like using a hand clutch.