Grateful Dead Question

[weekapaug19]

I\'m just saying I wouldn\'t want my kids (if I had them) watching people drink/smoke and everything else that goes with it.  You would have brought your kids to the puppethouse?  If so, that\'s fine, I just wouldn\'t

[leith]

I\'m just saying I wouldn\'t want my kids (if I had them) watching people drink/smoke and everything else that goes with it.  You would have brought your kids to the puppethouse?  If so, that\'s fine, I just wouldn\'t

Hell no! If I had kids I would never bring them to the Puppethouse. Actually not sure that I would bring them to a Breakfast show unless it were say a PB Family Jam.

That is my whole point. No matter what the reputation Grateful Dead concerts had concerning out of control partying etc. it was an entirely different experience in person at least on the West Coast and in the Midwest. The few East Coast shows I caught were def. less conducive to the "family atomosphere" but I believe that was mainly due to the venues played.

Good Parenting does not mean hiding the bad things in life rather showing the difference in the bad things and good things. GD concerts had plenty of both.

[Yoda]

I think that Weekapaug was probably referring to babies/young kids being exposed to drug and alcohol use/abuse at such a young age.  While I can understand where Leith is coming from, I don\'t think that I would bring any baby to a concert whether it\'s Springsteen/The Dead/Pearl Jam/The Breakfast or any other band until they\'re in their teens.  I may sound like an old man, but that just my 2 cents.

[kindm's]

Two of my best friends kids have been to more Phish festivals than I have.

When they are really young they have no concept of whats going on.

And we are not talking about subjecting kids to drug abuse. your talking about people partying and having a good time. Which is a fine experience for young kids. It isn\'t until they get a little older where they are more aware of the behavior around them and even then it isn\'t a big deal. But it depends on your child and of course the parents.

And it is definitely a way to teach your kids plenty of good lessons. I know in our group when Kids are around we are much more low key about everything from cursing (I am bad at that) to openly smoking cigarettes etc or we just walk away for a while then come back. I find it nice to have kids around (as long as they aren\'t screaming and crying) it makes people a little more respectful in a way.

[skalnbyc]

I think it is good to expose kids to a wide range of experiences.  My parents have a wild bunch of friends (think TKA or worse + 20 years) and I was always around them at a young age.  I didn\'t even realize how much those people drank till I was much older anyway.  

Besides, my parents would always provide social commentary when we saw stupid people.  

I think I turned out ok.  Citroen on the other hand....:idunno:

If I had kids, I\'d definitely expose them to as many good experiences as they would appreciate, concerts included.

[Yoda]

I have to remark on the comment - "When they are really young they have no concept of whats going on." - that\'s not excuse for having your young kids around drug and alcohol abuse.  If you want to party, and I\'m not one to judge on how you party, if you are abusing booze/drugs, you\'re setting a bad example for your child.

Al Z - My Dad\'s friends also partied hard when I was around.  I particularly remember one party down the shore where the landlord at the house we were staying at was drunk on homemade vodka and started throwing glasses at my fathers friend for taking his picture, and then after that decided to start throwing bowie knives at a tree.  But I grew up with the drinking and thought it was okay, but now realize that my father should not have included me in those parties - they were adult parties, not for kids.

Maybe I\'ve gotten a little conservative, but I don\'t think that I\'ll be bringing my kid to any non PG rated concerts for while after he/she is born.

[kindm's]

I have to remark on the comment - "When they are really young they have no concept of whats going on." - that\'s not excuse for having your young kids around drug and alcohol abuse.

tipping a few back, burning one and listening to tunes is not drug and alcohol abuse. Adults are able to maintain while the kids are around. Its the parents responsibility to make sure their kids are ok. but from your example we shouldn\'t take them to football games because people drink there or hockey games because there are drunks and fights.

times are definitely different but thats why we have such a generation of mommas boys and holier than thou types

[jocelyn]

People treat their children as though they are made of porcelain nowadays...

[Yoda]

Tipping a few back is fine.  But toking up in front of your kid is wrong, it sets a bad example for the kid.  We\'ve all had our wild times, but that\'s no reason we should be exposing them to drugs - that will unfortunately happen soon enough when they get into high school and college.  And if you choose to expose them to that at a young age, then shame on you.  I am not holier than thou (trust me), but there are things that I did that I don\'t want my children to do and will not take any part of.

But for you example of taking kids to football and hockey games, I\'m fine with that.  No one says that you have to tail gate with your kids in the lot for hours before the game.  And the only hockey fans that I\'ve seen who constantly get drunk at games are Ranger fans.  

All I\'m saying is that it\'s hard enough for kids these days and eventually they\'re going to have to make their own decisions, but that doesn\'t mean that you should be putting them in compromising situations.  We all have our own set of moral standards to deal with - it\'s obvious that we\'re on different ends of that spectrum, so let\'s just agree to disagree.

[WALSH]

The first \'72 show is the only one with noted "malfunctions" throughout.  I would go withy that  one.

[leith]

Tipping a few back is fine.  But toking up in front of your kid is wrong, it sets a bad example for the kid.  We\'ve all had our wild times, but that\'s no reason we should be exposing them to drugs - that will unfortunately happen soon enough when they get into high school and college.  And if you choose to expose them to that at a young age, then shame on you.  I am not holier than thou (trust me), but there are things that I did that I don\'t want my children to do and will not take any part of.

But for you example of taking kids to football and hockey games, I\'m fine with that.  No one says that you have to tail gate with your kids in the lot for hours before the game.  And the only hockey fans that I\'ve seen who constantly get drunk at games are Ranger fans.  

All I\'m saying is that it\'s hard enough for kids these days and eventually they\'re going to have to make their own decisions, but that doesn\'t mean that you should be putting them in compromising situations.  We all have our own set of moral standards to deal with - it\'s obvious that we\'re on different ends of that spectrum, so let\'s just agree to disagree.

Why is alcohol consumption OK and Marijuana not? Because one is legal in more states than another? How is one a worse than the other?  They are both drugs that alter your state of mind. One more radically than the other and that\'s the one that\'s legal.
A child is going to see more offensive behavior from a group of people intoxicated on alcohol than from those on Marijuana. Esp. when those same drugs are abused. Add in an event which stirs strong passions such as sporting events and only trouble comes of it so I find your logic there puzzling.

Yes it is hard enough for kids these days :rolleyes: but being a parent means helping them through it and not just hiding bad things from them.

[FrankZappa]

Besides, my parents would always provide social commentary when we saw stupid people.  

I think I turned out ok.

anyone want to take this one? anyone? rotfl

[Yoda]

I didn\'t know that there were states in the US where marijuana is legal (besides medical majiuana).  And I\'m not saying that it\'s okay to excessively drink in front of your kids - I don\'t agree with that either, but if you\'re lighting up in front of your kids, then you\'re essentially telling them that it\'s okay to break the law because it feels good.  And I personally don\'t think that booze should be sold at sporting events - especially after a drunk driver plowed into a car and left Antonia Verni a quadriplegic after vendors at Giants Stadium decided not to stop selling David Lanzaro beer even though he was highly intoxicated.

This all started because the topic came up about bringing kids to Dead shows.  I personally would not bring them to any Dead or Phish shows where people are not only abusing pot, but acid/*********/coke/horse or any other drug and you can\'t deny that wasn\'t or isn\'t going on.  That was the point I was trying to make.

You raise your kids the way you want and I\'ll raise mine the way my wife and I want.  When my kids are old enough to make those type of decisions, they will.  For me, it just shouldn\'t be at that young of an age...

[kindm's]

I didn\'t know that there were states in the US where marijuana is legal (besides medical majiuana).  And I\'m not saying that it\'s okay to excessively drink in front of your kids - I don\'t agree with that either, but if you\'re lighting up in front of your kids, then you\'re essentially telling them that it\'s okay to break the law because it feels good.  And I personally don\'t think that booze should be sold at sporting events - especially after a drunk driver plowed into a car and left Antonia Verni a quadriplegic after vendors at Giants Stadium decided not to stop selling David Lanzaro beer even though he was highly intoxicated.

This all started because the topic came up about bringing kids to Dead shows.  I personally would not bring them to any Dead or Phish shows where people are not only abusing pot, but acid/*********/coke/horse or any other drug and you can\'t deny that wasn\'t or isn\'t going on.  That was the point I was trying to make.

You raise your kids the way you want and I\'ll raise mine the way my wife and I want.  When my kids are old enough to make those type of decisions, they will.  For me, it just shouldn\'t be at that young of an age...

Supporting the idea that alcohol shouldn\'t be sold at sporting events does kind of make you a holier than thou type. Sorry but drinking and driving happens all the time. I dont agree with it but to blame the sporting event and not the perp is just nanny state knee jerk reactions. Same goes for the facility. People do dumb shit all the time everywhere. Not just a Phish Shows and Dead shows.And isn\'t it interesting that they will set up "Safety Checkpoints" on the way in to a festival, but you don\'t see them outside of football games etc etc I wonder why that is, hmmm.

As a matter of fact the Wormtown events are the most kid friendly fests around. There are tons of kids at those shows. They have kid activities, they have musicians play just for the kids, arts and crafts, singalongs, parades etc etc. Gabrielle (she runs the festivals with her husband Mark and they have 4 kids of their own maybe more) does a ton of work to make the kids have fun and to have activities that the kids can enjoy with their parents (it not a dump them off and babysit our kid place) She also runs a very similar setup at the Gathering of the Vibes festivals as well. They have all sorts of cool stuff for the kids to do. The real life puppets etc etc. It isn\'t all people getting F-d up. Sure their are disrespectful people sometimes but thats life.

You should see all the smiles on the kids faces it is a day outside meeting new kids, socializing, dancing and they have family camping areas to help as well.

I totally get your idea of not exposing your kids to bad habits but I think your ideas about what goes on is a little misinformed. But they are your kids so good luck and may they be healthy and happy.

[Stephengencs]

The bottom line is that NO MATTER what kind of environment you raise your child in, instilling many or no values, there is still a 50/50 chance that your kid is gonna be a Class A Fuckup.......Just do your best and let other people raise their kids how they want to....its just life, nothing too complicated.