Pen and Paper: I DON'T KNOW WHY WAS THE UK OBSESSED WITH TRYING TO FREAK OUT THE KIDS OF MY GENERATION?

Aunty to two nieces and a nephew, I think its fair to say that I love them all BUT sometimes, just sometimes, when I read their FaceBook pages I could quite cheerfully deny any knowledge of them.

Oh, Niece #2 isn't generally too bad but Niece #1's page is usually her daily horrorscope (whoops, did I say horrorscope when what I meant was horoscope?) Whilst, Nephew's is usually football related OR concerning him 'marrying' some girl or other that he has never met other than on FB ........ where is the gadget that lets you do this? Something only the young must know about as I've never found it.

Anyway, there I was typing away one night when I got my eye on Niece #2's FB page which was a video clip accompanied by the comment in which she questioned ......

Why was the UK obsessed with trying to freak out kids in the 70's and 80's?

The video clip that she was talking about?

One of the many Public Information Films (PIF's) I grew up with, Charley Says Never Play With Matches .......

Quite scary I admit, and as she says in her comment box "You shouldn't be worried about him playing with matches. You should be more worried about what drugs he has taken to understand the freaky cat.", but what scared me more as a child was Willy Weasel being knocked down by a car in this Tufty PIF.

Just two of the many PIF's, I saw as a child, this third one was always my favourite though.

Interestingly enough this was shown again a few years ago but in this updated version Petuna was seen listening to an Ipod whilst Joe called for help using his mobile phone ...... ah, how times have changed.

10 comments:

Kelly said...: It's interesting how times have changed in the ways we warn our children and youth about dangers. And sad in some of the things we now have to warn about.; 2 May 2012 at 15:34
Gina said...: Have to agree about the "sad" part Kelly mentioned there...it truly is in some cases. They do the "freak out" thing state side as well....I guess the point no matter how scary is to make you remember it and the message it delivered. So, see...it worked!; 2 May 2012 at 16:18
anilkurup59 said...: Well usually the ad on a life insurance policy too works scaring the hell out by instilling the fear of death.; 2 May 2012 at 16:26
Suko said...: You are so funny, Petty. I enjoyed watching these PIFs.; 2 May 2012 at 16:52
ashok said...: as long as the message gets delivered...its ok i guess...; 2 May 2012 at 17:11
The Bookworm said...: Times have changed! Sadly my daughters school has 'active shooter drills' where they train the class on what to do if God forbid someone walks in with a gun :(; 2 May 2012 at 21:44
Melissa (Books and Things) said...: I would worry about that cat's neck too. LOL

Well, at least you remembered it! :); 2 May 2012 at 22:21
NRIGirl said...: Ha ha ha...; 2 May 2012 at 22:30
DMS said...: I hadn't seen any of these clips before you posted them. It is always interesting what you will find on someone's fb page. I can see what your niece was saying! :)

~Jess; 3 May 2012 at 01:48
Karen said...: Those are so funny!

I'm sure their kids will be making fun of their commercials in a few decades too.; 6 May 2012 at 17:50