Earlier this week, while I was having a conversation with my close friend Betty Bonar, the mention of our school recess made us think of so many things. It brought us back to our school days.

Our conversation led to recess time and what we did during our school days. She mentioned that she did not remember any kids in her school being overweight in her whole school. I thought about it and only remembered two that were just “a little pudgy” in my class.

Then we discussed why this probably was. One reason was at recess, we spent a lot of time jumping rope, and that involved a lot of exercise. I remember playing tag or dodgeball while the boys would play basketball or even play dodgeball with the girls.

Everything we did required action. Even if it was a day that was supervised by a physical education teacher or our own classroom teacher, it was action-packed. I remember just having to run laps in the gym on one P.E. day.

In the spring or early fall, the boys played softball in one area and the girls played in another part of the playground. Even playing ping pong required a lot of movement.

Another thing I thought of was that a teacher never got a break from her students once she entered the school building. She ate lunch with them and had to supervise them at lunch and during play time, except when a P.E. teacher came once a week.

I even remember having two play times a day during the early grades. I admit one is plenty but kids need some kind of exercise during the day.

As I grew up, we got our exercise by working on a farm or doing chores at home, plus I had to walk a very long way to catch the bus. It was easy even for me to tell those who did not get much exercise at home because when we did run laps, I would run the required amount of laps plus about five or six more than the other kids.

Of course, this is not the normal today since very few people have farms. Some kids do get to play sports, but not all kids have this opportunity for one reason or another.

While I realize we need to keep up with the world around us and other states, we fall short in other areas.

Few parents take the initiative to see that their kids have the exercise they need and most of today’s kids are glued to a TV set, an electronic game or a cell phone.

I am going to switch gears now, as during our conversation I began thinking of other things. My age group may not be tech savvy but we are savvy in other ways that I feel are just as important.

I could not help but think our age group can read and write and will be able to read the documents in our history which is something I find a lot of kids in today’s world can not do.

A lot of the kids have trouble reading, and since cursive is being taken out of schools, there is no way they will know how to read the written documents. We are able to count back change without depending on a cash register to tell us what to give back.

We have respect for our elders and would never think of yanking something out of our parents hands or demanding things from them. For one thing, it would probably be the last time we ever would be allowed to say anything else in our lifetime.

Most of us would know how to survive without the niceties of life even if we, too, have come to love them.

When I see the commercial with the young man telling his dad over a cell phone that, sure he knew what a lug wrench was to fix a flat tire. However, as soon as the conversation was over he asked his friend if the tool he was holding was a lug wrench but it definitely was not a lug wrench. The other teen did not know either and that is pretty much how it truly is today.

While in our day, tires were often patched up to get through until a new tire could be bought and young boys had to learn how to change a tire very early in life, or at least my brothers did. I do not know if the driver’s education class still makes the girls have to change a tire before they can get out of the class or not but I think it is a great thing in case a situation ever called for it.

While there are many years differences in the kids of today and my age group, there are a lot we can learn from one another.

We are all in this world together and one thing we probably all have in common is the fact that we all need more exercise and respect for one another.