Vernon Law once said, “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward,” and while kids may not understand this life lesson at first, we all come to recognize it as a hard truth to swallow as we grow older.
For children, however, everything is new. Every place they visit and every feeling they experience becomes a lesson they’ll only fully understand later. Until then, they act impulsively and without much sense of risk, which is exactly how today’s story came to be. Someone asked netizens to share something they did as kids that, looking back, was actually quite dangerous, and the answers did not disappoint.
Read more: Reddit
#1
Mixing random cleaning supplies from under the sink to ‘make potions.’ I’m honestly lucky I didn’t accidentally create a gas chamber in the laundry room.
Image source: Silver_Lavishness723, Kelly Sikkema
#2
Jumped off the garage roof with an umbrella. Thought i was onto something lol.
Image source: soup_overload, freepik
#3
I sharpened my canine teeth with a knife to be like a vampire when I was like 12….
Image source: cosmiccosmo7, Ozkan Guner
To absolutely no one’s surprise, today’s selection is filled with stories about internet dangers. From girls meeting their online boyfriends to the use of the infamous Omegle (RIP, please stay away), the internet has long been a scary place for kids. Nowadays, it’s arguably even worse, given that nearly everyone has an iPhone or iPad in their hands, with TikTok just a tap away.
Researchers in the U.K. have recently conducted a study noting a 34% increase in cases of online grooming involving children. Considering that most kids today have smartphones, and with the rise of AI, this isn’t all that surprising. According to experts, one of the best ways to fight this issue is through active supervision, including enabling parental controls on all of a child’s devices.
#4
I had a RuneScape boyfriend that I “fell in love with”. We had a RuneScape wedding and everything. I was like… 14.
just that alone would not be dangerous but I exchanged my phone and info with him. We would talk a lot in the phone and one day we hatched a plan to meet up at Disney world. I convinced my dad to take me. I didn’t tell my dad about the RuneScape boyfriend.
Anyway it was extremely awkward we got there to this hotel and there was the guy there who I guess was the RuneScape boyfriend waiting to meet me, a scrawny little kid, super creepy looking back. My dad basically stood over staring him daggers and nothing happened.
In the end, he was just another teen but a few years older than me and we both had an awkward experience. We hung out a little that day (supervised by my dad) and it felt very awkward and then we parted ways. After that we simply stopped talking over the phone.
Wherever you are RuneScape boyfriend, hope you’re doing well!
Image source: ShowmethePitties, sand_eater
#5
Went into a friend’s trunk when she ran out of room in her car for a trip across town.
Image source: No_Calendar4193, Andraz Lazic
#6
My cousin was babysitting us one day and we really wanted to do a slip n slide but couldn’t get a water hookup in the spot where we put the slide. My cousin decides the next best option is: gasoline. We had so much fun but smelled so bad and my parents were so pissed.
Image source: Thin_Lunch6935, Vidal Balielo Jr.
As much as any parent or guardian may want to keep their children safe by taking every possible precaution, it’s not always realistic, after all, kids will be kids. Their natural curiosity will peak, and they’ll want to explore their surroundings. According to pediatricians, this is actually healthy, since it helps develop both mental awareness and physical coordination.
However, like anything else, it’s always safer when that exploration is supervised, or at least within a safe distance. That said, many of these stories took place a long time ago, and studies show that a third of children no longer play outside after school. This is partly due to parental safety concerns, increased traffic, and, of course, the fact that screen time keeps kids indoors.
#7
Built and lit a campfire in the middle of my bedroom (a small one). No barbie campout would be complete without one…at least I had a tile floor!
Image source: Mvildosola, Wade Lambert
#8
Climbed trees at least 40 feet off the ground. Fell out of a few, bit luckily they were poplars, and hit many branches on the way down.
Image source: One-T-Rex-ago-go, chi kaufmann
#9
I have no clue how it happened but it wasn’t until I was about 16 or so that i found out you shouldn’t stick forks in the toasters…. Kinda amazed I was never shocked.
Image source: TheMotleyTomatoeCrew, Vidak
This issue, while arguably scarier today due to concerns about street safety, is not exclusive to modern times. Even without a digital component, experts note that the 1970s were actually the decade when there were the most outside dangers carried out by humans, affecting people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. At the time, nearly every child played outside.
Perhaps due to more awareness, more supervision, or simply more cautious parenting, the risk of physical danger is lower today than it was in the 1970s. The challenges children face now are more likely tied to the digital world, such as scams, social media dependence, and cyber exploitation, which can lead to a wide range of developmental and psychological issues.
#10
Jumping into laundry shoot on the first floor that went to the basement into a laundry basket with a couple comforters in it to cushion the fall, in the vacation house we used to rent every summer! Me and my cousins and siblings did it for for fun and our parents could give two shots as long as we were out of their hair … also using a snow sled to sled down the carpeted stairs.
Image source: Public-Tumbleweed713, Vitolda Klein
#11
Talking to adults in chatrooms, unsupervised when I was a kid. (90s).
Image source: FieryScorp, Getty Images
#12
Riding a bicycle downhill with no brakes thinking I was invincible. Looking back… yeah that could’ve ended very differently.
Image source: Ok-advertisement01, freepik
But what exactly leads kids to be so reckless in their behavior? An adult would never climb electricity pylons for fun or wander into the woods alone with a machete for no reason. According to psychologists, the explanation is just science. Generally speaking, children have areas of the brain that are still underdeveloped, one of the most important being the prefrontal cortex.
So, what is the prefrontal cortex? It’s the part of the brain responsible for impulse control, decision-making, and risk assessment. As we grow, we develop the ability to know danger in our daily lives and feel fear based on our surroundings. In children, however, the prefrontal cortex isn’t nearly as developed, which means they don’t process danger or fear in the same way adults do.
#13
When I was little (like 4-5), I would swallow grapes whole. Just for fun. I eventually stopped because I eventually said “Mommy, watch me swallow this grape whole!” and she naturally freaked out and told me I was gonna choke.
No, I don’t know what was wrong with me either.
Image source: MuseofBadPoetry, Anna Jakutajc-Wojtalik
#14
Swimming in the canal!!! What were we thinking?
Image source: BrionyVictoria, wirestock
#15
Exploring the woods alone as far as I could travel with a machete .
Image source: Punksa_Rin, Joshua Earle
As adults, all of these people are now sharing their experiences of being irresponsible kids (or just being kids), often while unsupervised, so it’s clear they’ve since come to understand the danger of their actions. It really goes to show how much we change over time, and how the world around us shapes our decisions and behavior as humans. Quite a concept to wrap your head around.
With all of that in mind, and after hearing so many wacky and downright terrifying stories, do you have any of your own to share? Maybe it was the time you thought it’d be a great idea to jump over a neighbor’s wall and ended up breaking your arm, or when you decided to explore your town at night with your same-age cousin. Let us know in the comments below!
#16
I cut a pumpkin with an old can lid I found outside. This resulted in a 1cm gash across my thumb underneath my nail. The blood was squirting out like something from a movie and I was kind of laughing it off until I started to get close to passing out. Come to think of it, that’s probably why I hate blood/needles.
Image source: BlaiseAL, Wolfgang Rottmann
#17
This was in the UK. Playing on railway lines, playing chicken with trains and making knives through flattening nails on train tracks. Climbing electricity pylons and too high trees. Competing as to who could run across a motorway (M6) the fastest. Playing on building site foundations. Swimming in quarries, canals and stagnant water.
This was the 1970s.
All of those things that you’ve seen in 1970s UK Public Information films like “The Finishing Line” is true but not everyone died. Some of us survived to be dysfunctional adults with hideously skewed risk appetites.
Image source: educationacademic, freepik
#18
Nobody stopped us cause nobody knew, but we used to build a raft every spring and float it down the creek as it raged through spring thaw .
Image source: Slow-King-3086, Getty Images
#19
Set stuff on fire with a magnifying glass, totally unsupervised.
Image source: GlorifiedCarny, Fellipe Ditadi
#20
Breaking open mercury thermometers and playing with the liquid.
Image source: r7ndom, Curated Lifestyle
#21
Too many things, so many instances of near ending, probably the worst was trying to jump on moving freight trains.
Image source: Lonely_Sale9707, Getty Images
#22
I hitchhiked everywhere. I 61 f, hitchhiked from Philadelphia to San diego one time when I ran away when I was 16.
Smoked cigarettes. Both of my parents smoked. In fact everybody’s parents smoked. The teachers smoked in the teachers lounge and doctors smoked during office visits. Everyone smoked. I started smoking cigarettes when I was 12 . When I was in high school the school had designated smoking areas for the highschool students.
Image source: Lacey_Dawson1012, pvproductions
#23
Shooting my bow straight up in the air.
At night.
Image source: FreakOnALeash72, wirestock
#24
I jumped out of a treehouse near the top of a very tall evergreen tree and slid down the branches to the ground. It was maybe a couple stories high in comparison to a house. I guess it was dangerous, but I calculated that the branches were like a slide and it would be awesome. I walked away with only a few scratches.
Image source: Choice_Philosopher_1, Brooke Cagle
#25
I practiced rappelling with a dry rotted water hose.
Image source: HonestNature9117, Malachi Brooks
#26
I went swimming after 28mins. after eating food.
Image source: Mediocre-Break4537, Lavi Perchik
#27
All of what’s mentioned minus internet. Grew up in the early 70s in the outskirts of town. How we survived, I don’t know.
Image source: Medium-Comfortable, Boston Public Library
#28
I used to hitch hike. It was normal at the time, but darn….
Image source: Status_Emotion6390, Curated Lifestyle
#29
Swimming in rivers with strong currents—alone.
Image source: pipedownme, Radu Alexandru
#30
When I was young I would jump off really high things slowly getting higher because id seen super heroes and such do it and thought it was just a fear thing or like scared of somehow hitting your head and being done but one day I jumped off something so high it took me like 30 mins to extend my legs thankfully i was young and i just chilled and never told anyone.
Image source: BroomSweeper99, Curated Lifestyle
#31
Licking batteries.
Image source: Aggravating-Day-2864
#32
We used to play in the storm drain sewer. It was down a big slope and went through and under all of the hydro fields near where we lived. It was really interesting to us as kids, especially when we went underground. I remember my parents couldn’t find my brother once, we went to search for him and found him in the storm drain sewer with other kids. I still dream of it sometimes.
Image source: Eggcoffeetoast
#33
Play with fire unsupervised.
Image source: CompetitiveLab2056
#34
Wandering around all by myself all day.
Image source: Mockturtle22
#35
In 1976 I lived on a council estate that used to be an old RAF base. It’s called Bircham Newton. I found an old cannon shell all covered in mud. I used to play with that until the army came and took it away when I was at school.
Image source: AndrewHinds67
#36
I would wander around the neighbourhood from 3-4 years old.
My and my friend next door would be outside all day climbing trees, jumping off things, seeing how many stairs we could jump off. One time we poured methylated spirits on the road and set it on fire. I’m lucky I didn’t get any serious injuries growing up. I never broke a bone. Lots of my friends got broken bones or ruptured spleen on trampolines. But not me.
Image source: meowkitty84
#37
We used to jump off a single storey roof onto the trampoline. Bonus danger points if we’re playing crack the egg and the “egg” goes absolutely flying. That ended the day our mam caught us doing it. In hindsight, it’s a miracle none of us were seriously injured 😂.
Image source: Bubbly_North_2180
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