Firstly, congratulations. Most of us survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and many lived in houses made of asbestos.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and we pedalled our bikes without helmets or shoes and rode in cars with no seatbelts or air bags.

Take-away food was limited to fish'n'chips as there were no pizza shops, McDonald's, KFC, Subway or Red Rooster. Shops closed at 6pm on Friday and opened on Mondays but we didn't starve nor died of germs sharing a bottle of soft drink with friends.

We collected old drink bottles and scrap metal like lead and sold them to buy Fruit Tingles and firecrackers to blow up things.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and milk but weren't overweight because we were always outside playing or catching tadpoles and tortoises in creeks.

We built go-carts out of scrap and rode down hills without brakes. We also built cubby houses and canoes from sheets of tin, holes sealed with hot tar.

There were no video games, cable TV, taped movies, mobile phones or PCs. We had friends and we went outside and found them, or read books. We fell out of trees, got bad cuts, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits afterwards.

Only girls had pierced ears.

We were given slug guns and sling-shots for birthdays and rode bikes or walked miles to school and friends' houses. Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet.

Footy had try-outs and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, learnt to deal with disappointment.

Our teachers used to thrash us with canes and leather straps and bullies always ruled the playground at school, though we fought back with fists and stones.

Parents didn't bail us out if we broke the law; they actually sided with the law. They got married before they had children and didn't invent stupid names for kids like [insert your favourite].

This generation produced some of the best risk-takers, problem-solvers and inventors ever, with an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Imagine that.