Collarbones
Posted by Affectionate-Leg-260@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 133 comments
Through elementary and middle school it seemed like someone always had a broken collarbone. There was always a kid with their arm in a sling. Now I never see a kid with an arm in a sling. Is it just me?
YorgonTheMagnificent@reddit
Thus my flair
LastBuy4318@reddit
When I was in elementary school a girl broke her collarbone at recess when she fell off of the monkey bars. I haven’t seen many school playgrounds now that still have monkey bars. I suspect monkey bars were responsible for a decent amount of broken collarbones.
Adventurous-Topic-54@reddit
Kids these days just don't know the joy and terror of tying a bath towel around their neck and Supermanning it off the garage roof.
SpaceMonkey3301967@reddit
I loved jumping off my garage as a kid. I'd hold a blanket above my head to use it like a parachute. That never worked. But I perfected the bend at the knees and roll when I landed part.
chamrockblarneystone@reddit
I remember my knees jamming into my stomach and almost pooping myself.
LetsTryAnal_ogy@reddit
Same, but I used an umbrella. Sometimes we’d put a mattress down on the ground that we had a chance of landing on.
poppinwheelies@reddit
That's exactly how I broke my collarbone 🤣My first and only helicopter ride (too bad I was unconscious)
runhello54@reddit
Collarbone checking in!
VoodooKittyS197@reddit
It’s hard to break anything online. We had, “go outside and play” I broke my wrist, nose, my head, chin, tore ligaments. Then I got “you’re alright, go back outside and play”
Affectionate-Leg-260@reddit (OP)
Walk it off
VoodooKittyS197@reddit
Thanks dad 😆
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
One of my best friends broke the collar bone of another of my best friends horsing around during "reading time" in our 3rd grade classroom. Maybe kids were more fragile then?
But really, look at a modern playground. Or see how they banned things we did all the time, like Red Rover or dogeball without a bunch of stilly rules ("no hitting above the waist!").
aogamerdude@reddit
Only the best of helicopter-parents were selected as teachers? Since those jobs are mostly known for not paying good.
Excellent_Jaguar_675@reddit
*Well
1BiG_KbW@reddit
Knowing what I know now, I realize a fair number of these is not from active kids having accidents on bikes or falling after climbing trees, no, it was abuse.
The kids were beaten by adults in their lives.
One_Advantage793@reddit
Kids are always being beaten by adults. Some broken bones may be from abusive guardians and parents but I'd be willing to bet child abuse resulting in broken bones has not gone down a great deal.
Kids protective gear biking, skating, skateboarding, etc., has increased. Safer playgrounds have increased and sedentary lifestyles for kids have increased but child abuse is a self-perpetuating misery machine.
New-Anacansintta@reddit
Our gen was routinely hit and beaten by parents. I don’t know anyone who would hit their child these days.
Excellent_Jaguar_675@reddit
It seems to hapoen now, but it got reported less often than now because it was more accepted (wrongly so)
TKD_Mom76@reddit
I only know one person who broke their collarbone in elementary school and that's my dad. That's an entire story that shows what a badass my grandma was,
TKD_Mom76@reddit
Okay. The Reader’s Digest condensed version. In fourth grade, my dad broke his collarbone on the monkey bars. Despite his pain, no one in the small school he went to thought to send him home or contact grandma. When he got home, she took him to the doctor and they discovered the broken bone.
My grandma, in her extreme anger, went to the superintendent and expressed her anger to him. Keep in mind, Grandma wasn’t even quite 5 feet tall, but she could give a verbal lashing that would make you wish she had just hit ya. He agreed the school would pay half of the doctor bills. She then conspired with the doctor to tell the school it cost twice as much so they, rightfully, paid the entire bill.
This story was told at her funeral. It’ll soon be relegated to family lore.
Grandmaster-HotFlash@reddit
Grandma was a force to be reckoned with, tough AND crafty!
TKD_Mom76@reddit
She really was.
Grandmaster-HotFlash@reddit
Come on! Don’t leave us hanging like this.
TKD_Mom76@reddit
Posted it.
Digitalispurpurea2@reddit
Well, we’re waiting…
TKD_Mom76@reddit
Posted it
PrisonNurseNC@reddit
Take a look at school play grounds and you will see your answer. We grew up on hard service play grounds with things like jungle gyms, monkey bars and swings that sent you 30 some odd feet into the air. Our slides were metal ending either onto black top or mud puddle. We played games like Red Over, Keep Away and Kill the Carrier. We didnt play touch football. Today a play ground is soft with at least three inches of soft aggregate. There are no more jungle gyms or twirly whirls. Slides are small and all plastic. Today, when a kid gets a cast, its soft.
NerdyComfort-78@reddit
Unless they are playing a sport, kids don’t get out much these days, which is sad.
New-Anacansintta@reddit
The 90s.
New-Anacansintta@reddit
Kids used to “crack their head open” all the time. Safety has become much more of a concern. Remember when the monkey bars were over concrete?
redbanner1@reddit
Hard to get injured playing Roblox on your tablet all day long with your mom no more than 10 feet away from you (or even closer if you're under sixteen).
hightlanders@reddit
Kids today might dodge broken collarbones, but they’ll never know the thrill of questionable playground stunts that defined our glory days.
snarf_the_brave@reddit
Or the questionable stunts that failed and gave us those nicknames we couldn't shake for years. Like Faceplant, the kid that took a header off the slide or the monkeybars or something (I don't remember anymore) when we were about 8. We called him that until we were in high school. And, no, it wasn't me.
upsetmojo@reddit
We recorded our leveling up with scars and tales told about us.
dolphgal13@reddit
Broken collarbone and then refractured here! Initial injury, I climbed a tree and tied a rope to swing on it. It was great for 5 minutes until the rope broke and I came crashing down. I didn't tell my parents until the next day, when I was paralyzed with pain. Fast forward to gym class a month later, and I am feeling much better. I was sick of sitting against the wall during weight lifting stations, so I hopped in and did the deadlift... and SNAP. I was in so much trouble (and pain) with teacher, school, parents....yikes. Quite a vivid memory though. 😆
DaveDankland@reddit
The severity of injury from minor accidents has decreased significantly due to the advance of safety equipment.. pads and helmets change the way we fall. Kids are no longer playing on hard pack playgrounds. They are generally cushioned by recycled tires or deep sand. That couples with parents who are more involved in their kids lives to reduce childhood injury.
supershinythings@reddit
And some schools are getting rid of “The Monkeybars Of Death”, to which multiple bones are sacrificed annually so that the rest of the children can live.
One_Advantage793@reddit
We literally had an asphalt playground at my elementary. Faĺl off the monkey bars? Your gonna break something.
GenXrules69@reddit
Asphalt playground with the 10 story slide with a few humps and of course the merry go round of terror
EvilDan69@reddit
The one made with either wood or burning steel? The ones that bash heads legs and arms and would pinch finger tips near the joint? :D Yeah those were a blast.
GenXrules69@reddit
Wood & steel where you could hook legs and lean out to get the full effect. Had to have the fastest on the outside pushing like Conan on that grist mill!
EvilDan69@reddit
I'm quite big. I used to have my friends spinning so fast I'd check myself and slow down lest they let go and bad stuff happened. Thankfully never went bad. :D
Gotthold1994@reddit
And the basketball nets that were made about of metal.
GenXrules69@reddit
Ah yes the chain nets that one may get a finger caught in....had one classmate missing one finger joint. That "net" took on a mythos of its own after that incident.
Epc7165@reddit
My yard backed up to a school and an orphanage with the old school playground monkey bars , teeter totters and swings.
All metal , chains and solid wood planks.
And of course the 16 foot metal slide.
We had a blast needless to say
upsetmojo@reddit
We had red clay packed hard as bricks. Did not turn to mud unless it rained for days.
DaveDankland@reddit
Oh absolutely! Ours was concrete with a giant playset made from old telephone poles and railroad ties. It was badass, but it wasn't safe for kids at all. We had a classmate break his back in the fifth grade. After that they dismantled it and just left the iron rebar anchor spikes sticking up about three feet
supershinythings@reddit
I used to date a first grade teacher. He told me all about “The Monkeybars of Death” in the playground. Every year one or two kids - including one of his own kids - broke bones on it. Usually it’s an arm bone but collarbones and legs happened too.
216_412_70@reddit
Broke mine three times. They put a bra like strap on me each time to hold the bone in place,
Blossom1111@reddit
We were outside ALL the time. The playgrounds back then were not safe but we loved them. There were no computers, phones, internet. We had bikes (no helmets), sports (played to win), adventures (be home before dark). The kids now are indoor sloths.
tauregh@reddit
Bubble wrap. Kids these days wear helmets whenever they’re on a bike. They don’t play in the street. Sports are organized. There’s less sand lot ball. They rarely play outside alone with no adults alone. Their parents drop them off at school and pick them up.
I just compare that to my childhood. I walked to school 3rd-6th grade, then rode the bus for Jr High, except during the spring and fall when I walked two miles across the golf course to get home. I got home and got my BMX bike and went and rode my bike until dinner time in the woods (on private property that was technically trespassing… my parents knew it and told me not to get caught). We built jumps in the woods. When I broke my arm, I had to make a sling and walk home.
My parents never worried about me getting kidnapped or harmed. I was riding my bike on the frozen pond by my house before I even got my cast off.
BobcatOk7492@reddit
Thanked my mom once for raising me free range. She just thought "that was the way it was done back then..."
tauregh@reddit
I totally agree. I mean, it’s not like I was the only kid living that way. I’d be riding with all my neighbors. And hell, my brother got a dirt bike when he was 14. I would have too, but I sucked with a clutch and never got good at riding motorcycles.
EvilDan69@reddit
kids used to climb trees, roofs, .. I was one of them, but always made sure to stick the landing. A few friends of mine, or at least one's sister didn't. She crashed her bicycle and broke her collar bone.
Fitz_2112b@reddit
I haven't seen a bunch of kids building a ramp to jump their bikes over in 20 years. Correlation?
BobcatOk7492@reddit
They wouldn't be allowed to, anymore
Fitz_2112b@reddit
I don't know, I'd be pretty thrilled if I saw my young teenage sons outside doing that
JoeyDawsonJenPacey@reddit
That’s actually an interesting point. I hadn’t thought of that.
The only bone I’ve ever broken in my life was my collarbone at age 7 because I slipped on my shoelace while running down the grocery store aisle.
CMDR_Bartizan@reddit
Broke my collarbone on a BMX track doing jumps and my arm playing around in the woods. I doubt you’re going to break anything playing video games and tik tok.
BobcatOk7492@reddit
Yeah, and the woods have long been paved over...
Dorothyismyneighbor@reddit
I am one of those kids that broke my collarbone. However it did require a horse bucking me off to do that and where I live I hasn't seen a horse since St. Patrick's Day and the mounted police were ambling around.
Epc7165@reddit
No one is jumping their bikes off ramps. Climbing trees and playing outside anymore
nvdagirl@reddit
Two of my sons broke their collarbones. We are trying as a family to help the shortage.
yoyoyarnballs@reddit
My kid and 2 of my friend's kids had broken collar bones. All were sports related.
Jay4usc@reddit
Bc kids now days are glued to their devices rather than playing outdoors with other kids. I remember playing outdoors until 10pm during the summer days.
dofrogsbite@reddit
I was playing rugby in highschool and buddy right next got the ball and was tackled hard, the sound of his collarbone snapping was crazy. He wasn't too phased by it and said it was the fourth time it happened. He had unusually wide shoulders.
LyricalLife19@reddit
Let me introduce you to my nephew. He has broken his collar bone at least 3 times. Also broke his arm and multiple toes. He's 16, but lives like a GenX.
Ok_Entrepreneur_8509@reddit
Nowadays a lot of broken bones are treated surgically with pins and plates, when they would have used months in a cast in our day.
In general, I think recovery times have dropped a lot, meaning you are a lot less likely to see someone still recovering.
Mindless_Baseball426@reddit
Protective gear has gotten better, safety measures have improved, and kids have gotten less sporty. It all adds up to a big reduction in what used to be considered normal childhood injuries.
Kids used to constantly be breaking bones falling out of trees; using trampolines, stacking it on their bikes. Now you rarely see kids on bikes or climbing trees, and trampolines usually have safety nets.
Lord_of_Entropy@reddit
Just you, I think. My son fractured his collar bone when he was 5. My wife as freaked out, but, given he was 5, it healed in a week, give or take.
Nolte_35@reddit
How many kids do you see riding bikes on the street in the burbs or less congested areas? Might answer your question.
Affectionate-Leg-260@reddit (OP)
We also made some sketchy ramps for bicycle jumps.
EttaJamesKitty@reddit
Nothing like maneuvering your bike at high speed on top of a 2x12 balancing precariously on a couple of cinder blocks.
hdckurdsasgjihvhhfdb@reddit
Cinder block and a worn piece of 2x4 from a nearby construction site! You never knew if you were going to make it up the “ramp“ or drive off of it and go ass over teakettle
NCSubie@reddit
Every single day. Nothing was too thin or too narrow or too splintery to lay on a couple of concrete blocks.
Without_Portfolio@reddit
We had this game we’d play where we rode fast downhill on our bikes and then tried to jump off them in a way that allowed the bike to continue ghost riding down the hill. Got some nasty scrapes and bruises from rolling on the concrete after jumping. Yeah we’d aim for the grass but the priority was keeping the bike straight.
Fartina69@reddit
I live in a neighborhood with lots of kids, but mine seem to be the only ones who play outside.
schmearcampain@reddit
Less skateboarding these days
La_Mano_Cornuta@reddit
Broke my collarbone at a high school wrestling match during the qualifiers for State. The ref saw my face and immediately stopped the match. Because the match was in the middle of nowhere, drove for an hour + to get to the hospital.
funkcatbrown@reddit
We were jumping off of roofs trying to be stuntmen and other wild and crazy stuff. Yeah, we got hurt. Bad. And in trouble. But that never stopped us.
Retiree66@reddit
My grandkids show me how they jump off a swing at the top of the arc and I tell them I used to do a backflip off the swing and land on my feet.
lwillard1214@reddit
I tried to show my daughter how I would jump off the swing at the top of the arc and I thought I would die when I landed. Everything hurt. Nothing broke though!
Retiree66@reddit
Did you land on your feet or some other way?
lwillard1214@reddit
I tried to land on my feet, but everything collapsed and I ended up in a pile!
Primary-Initiative52@reddit
I have a vivid memory of being about four years old, playing on the swingset, and leaping off at the height of the swing. That feeling of being suspended in the air before gravity took hold...amazing! My feet did hurt on the landing but hey, I was four...not too much weight. Cool part of the memory too...I was wearing my FAVOURITE shirt...it looked like the shirt Ernie (the Muppet) wore on Sesame Street. SO COOL.
NCSubie@reddit
Jumping off a roof into a pool was pretty cool.
Ad an adult I tried to jump into my pool off the kids’ trampoline. Good physics reminder that day…
Motor-Ad5284@reddit
Lol..
funkcatbrown@reddit
Ha ha 🤣 you still got it. We were ruff and tuff kids.
Firm-Criticism-4531@reddit
My children and grandson have carried on the proud tradition of breaking bones. Only I have broken my collarbone, though. Horse
clauderbaugh@reddit
Yup. Broke mine in a car accident when my father was sent flying into me smushing me against the door.
nojam75@reddit
I broke my collarbone on a slip-n-slide. I (49m) had to wear a brace -- which looked like a backwards bra. Very embarrassing for a chubby teen boy.
AZAHole@reddit
My son broke his collarbone when he was like 4. He's 7 now. Some 4th grade kid at school shoved him down.
gt0163c@reddit
All the cool kids today are tearing their ACLs. I know three high school kids who have torn ACLs in as many months. Of course, I live in Texas and it is football season. But it does seem a bit excessive.
Illustrious_Letter84@reddit
Hang out at the Mountain Bike Parks. It’s the #1 injury.
PirateJim68@reddit
Kids don't play outside nearly as much as we did as kids. They also don't have the fearlessness or imagination we did.
I broke my right collar bone and shoulder blade at 15, trying to see who could climb the highest in a tree. I not only climbed the highest, but also came down the fastest when the branch I was holding on to broke. I still hold the record amongst my friends. We are all now in our mid and late 50s.
butcherandthelamb@reddit
4 times I broke my collarbone. 1-brother slid into me on a slip and slide. (You were supposed to wait your turn Scott!)2- My friends mom let us hold onto the back of her car like Back to the Future. Speed wobbles and a roll. 3. While boogie boarding I went to pull back over a wave, it caught me and slammed me into the sand. 4. As an adult I hit gravel on my motorbike and my shoulder hit the asphalt. I think my clavicles are made of toothpicks.
jenacom@reddit
I broke mine roller skating and had to wear a posture brace for about six weeks. I have recently been dealing with bulging discs (yay 50’s) and mentioned that to my Dr. I was surprised to learn they no longer really do much for broken collar bones. They just let them heal. 🤷🏼♀️
MyriVerse2@reddit
I've never known anyone in my life who broke their collarbone. A few arms and legs. One wrist. One skull. One back.
aksf16@reddit
I broke mine when I was 5 attempting a cartwheel on concrete. My mom didn't believe that I was actually hurt until she tried to lift me under the armpits a day or two later and I screamed.
Helena_Bed@reddit
I broke my collarbone when I was 10. Spent a good chunk of the summer sleeping upright in a recliner. Now my shirts fall off one shoulder constantly. Zero stars…do not recommend
Motor-Ad5284@reddit
I'm with you,except it's my bra strap that has been falling off for 60+ years.
Putrid_Department_17@reddit
My sister broke both her collar bones at the same time in the 90’s at primary school!
mhchewy@reddit
I broke my collarbone as a kid and can now feel the weather in my bones. It’s great to be alive.
Tensionheadache11@reddit
I have an injury prone kid who played football - unfortunately for me that trend never went away (he’s 24 now and on a first name basis with everyone at the orthopedic office)
Strange_Dogz@reddit
Collarbones, since at least the 80's, are treated with figure 8 braces that go under your clothes. They pull your shoulders back and fasten in the back.
https://www.amazon.com/Copper-Compression-Posture-Corrector-Women/dp/B07M7RQCQ5
day_of_duke@reddit
I’m an emergency room nurse. Very rarely use the figure eight strap now. Haven’t really for 10-15 years
OctopusParrot@reddit
I don't know - I was one of those kids who broke his collarbone and holy SHIT that was painful. Completely screwed my back up for years, too. Can't say I would wish that on anyone.
Chile_Chowdah@reddit
My kid has a big old plate keeping his collar bone in place, a throwback to the good old days. How'd he do it? Same way all our friends did, getting crushed after way too big of a jump on his bike.
wein14756@reddit
Mine was because of a bike accident when I was 10.
omgkelwtf@reddit
They don't even stand at the ends of their driveways alone to get on the bus. They're not given the opportunity to get hurt.
External-Dude779@reddit
Worse thing they have to worry about is early onset arthritis in their fingers from typing on this tiny keyboard
Agent7619@reddit
Because nobody climbs trees anymore
InviteIll7292@reddit
I broke my collarbone when I was 6. So, I was that kid.
quality_erectors@reddit
I broke my right collarbone three times and my left collarbone once. Yay me.
jcstrat@reddit
I broke mine playing smear the q… we can’t say that anymore. I don’t know what to call it now. But do kids even play things like that anymore?
zoomzoom71@reddit
I broke my collarbone at age 51, while riding my mountain bike. It was my first ever broken bone. I wasn't much of a risk taker as a kid. I wonder if more kids these days are doing inside things VS outside things, where the risk for breaking a bone is higher.
BonsaiOracleSighting@reddit
I broke my friends’s collarbone playing backyard football. We both kinda dove/slid for a fumbled ball and just collided wrong. I felt awful when he showed up to school the next day in a sling.
TakeNameInVain@reddit
Got my collarbone broken because of a tackle during flag football, so at least you were playing fair.
SpaceMonkey3301967@reddit
It's hard to break a bone when yer sitting at a computer all day playing video games.
mac_daddy_mcg@reddit
There's a new skatepark in most communities tho. Many have ten foot deep bowls (?)
NCSubie@reddit
Broke mine. Jumped (pushed) off a dresser. Same kid’s mom gave me the mumps. 🫤
Strangewhine88@reddit
Only my dad in a sledding accident in his 40’s, a cycling slide out in his 50’s. Multiple scratched corneas in the family from freak encounters with random things.
Fellowshipofthebowl@reddit
Broke my collarbone 3 times as a kid. WWE acting. I’m 57 now.
sophandros@reddit
Is this a call to action?
crab_races@reddit
Between my 3 kids --all now in college-- we had five broken arms, three broken wrists, a broken leg, three heel fractures, and a back injury. About half were sports-related --football, cross-country, and basketball-- and the rest were dumbassery. The last one I still kick myself for. "DUDE. That is not how you deadlift! No, not like that, with your legs... no... oh shit." Dumbass. But you can't tell a 14 year old boy much. He still has two bulging disks to this day.
All that said, I do remember costant broken bones in the 70s, largely from bike crashes, falls from trees, roofs, lofts, etc. Kids don't do that stuff as much anymore. And are super helicoptered. :)
Tippy4OSU@reddit
Only bone I’ve ever broken. 9th grade wrestling
golfingsince83@reddit
It’s hard to break bones when their faces are buried in their phones 24/7
Haselrig@reddit
Lots of sword fights with two-by-fours and BB gun fights when I was 11 or 12. That was after jumping over crap on our bikes.
BrettHutch@reddit
My brother broke his collarbone twice once in a fight and then right after it healed he tripped over the dog and landed just right to pop it again and I broke mine once coming off a dirt bike at speed. Several friends broke theirs rough housing with each other. Kids today do not “thread the needle with danger” like we did growing up.
Leading_Attention_78@reddit
Given that can be a fatal injury, I’m ok with this progress.
No_Dependent_8346@reddit
I swear to God, my class pictures from kindergarten on have at least one kid in a cast, 5th grade had James and John (class twins) in mirror image arm casts from a bicycle-jousting mishap.
Sensitive-Question42@reddit
When my son was aged about 5-8, we knew heaps of kids with broken bones, collarbones included (my son is now 11, so not too long ago)
Kids at this age - in their late early childhood - break their bones so easily because they are past their “bouncy” toddler years.
Toddlers bones are more flexible, so they can get away with more bumps and falls. But some kids are still pretty clumsy, even when they are past the toddler stage.
The kids who I knew with broken bones often did something only relatively minor, like fall off the couch or trip over a bag, to cause their break.
It certainly still happens.
gravity-bastard@reddit
This new generation is too busy on their phones to do anything that would result in a broken collarbone.