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Community: Polls & Surveys

Nostalgia

In autumn 2006 we asked you to take a trip down memory lane. We were nosey enough to ask you about your first snog, sentimental enough to find out what your favourite playground game was and cruel enough to persuade you to reveal your most embarrassing childhood memories.


The basics

  • 150 people participated in the survey
  • Just over half of the respondents were female
  • 20-21 year olds were the best represented age group
  • Less than 5% of respondents were under 16 and just under a quarter were over 25

School days

Most lessons were more fun at primary school weren't they? But for nearly a quarter of you (23%) art was your favourite subject. "I loved getting messy with the paints and making up my own pictures," reminisced one chirpy respondent. English was popular with 17% of you. The chance to use your imagination was the main appeal according to one respondent, who said: "We got to write stories and mine were always stupidly long and generally very dramatic, involving an orphan and fairies and a witch!" The third most popular subject was maths. No doubt many of us will agree with the respondent who said: "I found it easy at that age."


Staying in touch with friends from primary school comes naturally for some, but is a drag for others. The majority of you (34%) still see some of them around, while 22% are still good friends with them. 23% have no idea what's happened to them and thanks to the gossips among us, 21% of you hear about your old school friends through the grapevine.


Your first snog

Not only were you happy to tell us how old you were when you had your first smooch, but quite a few of you also told us where it happened. 36% of you played your first round of tonsil tennis aged 10-12 yrs. Common places for your first snogs at that age include your friends' houses and at parties. The most risqué location was the deputy head's office while he was out for the day. 30% of you were 13-15 years old when you had your first French kiss and 11% were 16-18.

Entertainment


Top five kids TV shows

  • Thundercats
  • Rainbow
  • Tom and Jerry
  • Fraggle Rock
  • He Man

Top ten first computer consoles

  • Sega
  • Nintendo Entertainment System
  • Atari
  • Commodore/Amiga
  • Spectrum
  • Nintendo Gameboy
  • Amstrad
  • Playstation
  • BBC computer
  • Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Top five first albums bought

  • Spice Girls - Spice
  • A "Now" compilation
  • Boyzone - Said and Done
  • Michael Jackson - Thriller
  • Take That - Take That and Party

Most embarrassing childhood memories

Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular responses to this question was failing to make it to the toilet on time. While we could have predicted that, we couldn't have come close to guessing some of the ones below. Surely some of them should come with a 'don't try this at home' warning!

"I remember nearly electrocuting myself from the mains by trying to build an electric Thundercat whip!"

"Putting the cat in the washing machine and then getting caught. (Luckily the cat was taken out just in time.)"

"Painting all my fingers and toes with my Mum's nail varnish, then painted my 'extra finger' also. I was very young."

"I hated having to do Physical Education in just my underwear."

"Wetting myself during Christmas carols round the village."

"I was dragged back to high school after lying to my Mum. I told her that there was a bomb scare at school, and that was why there was me and five were friends in my bedroom when she came home unexpectedly early."

"Falling down the stairs taped to a chair by my mate because we were trying Houdini style stunts and it got more and more dangerous as it went along."

"Getting found out when I lied to my teacher about my homework. She made me stand in front of the whole school in assembly and announce I was a silly liar."

Dodgy outfits

We defy anyone who tries to tell us they dressed well in the '80s and '90s, but some of you were particularly unfortunate in the style stakes. Here are some of our favourite fashion disasters.

"Mine was a red polo neck jumper my mum made me wear for Christmas. My brother kept calling me Scotty from Star Trek."

"A maroon velvet dress with white lace collar and cuffs."

"I went through some old photos a few months ago and found pictures of myself in a pink bunny costume and a wedding hat. I now know why I'm camp."

"Some huge baggy peach trousers and a denim shirt. Oh dear God I can't believe I shared that with you. I should have just said a shell suit like I'm sure everyone else did!"

"Tweed pants, a curtain-esque shirt and braces."

"I had some bright flowery trousers with a matching flowery coat."

"I had hideous Minnie Mouse leggings and a matching top."

"I had to dress up as a lighthouse for Cubs."

Rose-tinted spectacles

Despite the embarrassing memories and cringe worthy get-up, being a kid was actually pretty fun for most of you according to your accounts of the happy times. Here are some of your heart-warming recollections.

"I loved building a climbing frame with my dad. We used a real saw and hammer etc. I was 6 years-old."

"I remember feeding the ducks in my dinky red wellies with my Mum and my Nan at a local pond."

"Lying on the sofa with my Mum or Dad and watching TV."

"I remember going to Australia when I was 11 and properly seeing everything I vaguely remembered as a toddler."

"Playing outside all day in the field behind my house, all of us doing as we pleased until our parents called us in for tea."

"The simple things like playing silly games with my Dad and seeing him on my roller skates."

"Having no responsibilities was great. Sitting scoffing Rich Tea biscuits while watching Live and Kicking every Saturday morning."

"A primary school trip on the canal, my mum took the day off work to help out."



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