I was probably given too much responsibility as a kid growing up. In the summers us 3 kids were out the door early in the morning and never returned except for lunch and dinner. We were always told there were consequences and if we did anything bad the punishment would be severe. Other than skinned knees, fights with other kids and tattered clothing we survived.
We weren't necessarily always up to good things. During the summer we would sometimes light off fire crackers in back alleys late at night fooling people into thinking guns were being fired or to just wake people up. Other times we would put dog crap into paper bags and light it one fire as we rang peoples door bells. Thankfully our parents never found out and we never got caught.
We did have this one neighbour who would spy on us kids and try to report any wrong doings they would see. Other times they would take our football or hockey ball if it ended up in their yard. Lets just say the rest of the parents on our street didn't like those people. In fact I remember they had a cat they would let out doors often. My dad would see the cat often and sick our dog on it. Shorty would chase that cat up the tree much to the anger of the people across the street
Computers/internet and social media wasn't invented yet when we were growing up. More time was spent out doors and we were probably a lot more active than the kids growing up today. It was non stop street hockey during the winter months where we would often challenge other streets within our area to tournaments and it always ended up in our own version of a Stanley Cup final. Cars were often dinted or scratched from being hit with sticks or street hockey balls. The summer was filled with football, baseball, hiking, building tree forts etc. We were pretty creative with our free time.
IIRC I was 11 years old when my parents allowed me to take the bus downtown or go to junior hockey games in the old Corral. My brother and sister were never given that same privilidge when they got to that age and complained bitterly.
One of my friends parents had a subscription to Playboy and he would sometimes sneek a magazine out of the house so we all could look at the centerfold girl. IIRC we used to call womens breasts back them watering cans as we always wondered what they were filled with.
The strap was nearing the end of it's life cycle when I was in school. Legendary stories about who got in trouble and how it hurt kept us in line most of the time. We never knew if the stories were true but we sure didn't want to find out.
If a teacher smacked your hand or head the response I always got was.. "Smarten up! You probably deserved it! Teachers back then hand more freedom to discipline kids and I think it made thier jobs a lot easier than the ones today. Failing a grade meant failing a grade. You were not coddled or protected and if you if you failed a course or grade you had to repeat it. There was no parents running to schools to complain about failed courses or grades
In the end i'm not sure why my parents gave us 3 kids so much trust and freedom to do what we wanted. I'm guessing it was because they wanted us to grow up with a sense of adventure and no fears of trying different things and taking responsibility for our own actions.