What was going on when I was born?

The White House sought today to dampen public statements about Israel, backing away from personal criticism of Prime Minister Menachem Begin and focusing attention on the diplomatic drive for a cease-fire in southern Lebanon. As a matter of diplomatic strategy, White House and State Department officials today put their stress on an even-handed American call for military restraint by both Israel and Palestinian forces and voiced some hopes about moving toward the cease-fire that has so far proved elusive. But Administration officials acknowledged that in spite of this public stance, President Reagan and his senior advisers had been privately dismayed over the Israeli air attack on Beirut last Friday and upset at the setback they felt it dealt to peacemaking efforts and to American interests in the region. About 300 people were killed and 800 wounded in the attack on a densely populated Beirut neighborhood that contained Palestinian guerrilla offices.

In recent years, the manner in which American society deals with its youngest criminals has changed in dramatic ways. After eight decades of attempting to put the interests of juvenile offenders first, a number of legislatures and courts have begun to place greater emphasis on protecting the public from violent young offenders and on imposing ''adult'' punishment on those guilty of serious crimes. In the process, children's rights to special treatment in the courts are being severely restricted. In most states and in the Federal courts the judicial system treats as juveniles children under age 18, but in New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and Vermont only those under 16 are so treated. How the New York City courts handled two recent cases, involving somewhat similar homicides by juvenile assailants, illustrates some of the recent changes and the attendant problems. On March 4, 1976, Geraldo Delgado, 15 years old, of the Bronx killed James Leak, 13, after a dispute by stabbing him with a knife. On Dec. 3, 1978, in Lower Manhattan, Arnold Stokes, 15, of Brooklyn killed Irene Maxwell, 31, a Scottish fashion designer, after a robbery attempt by stabbing her with a knife. Both Mr. Delgado and Mr. Stokes were judged in court to have committed second-degree murder. Mr. Delgado was set free. Mr. Stokes was sent to prison.

House and Senate conferees agreed today to retain the Social Security minimum benefit until February. The decision provides six months for Democrats to find a way to stave off the elimination of the provision. ''This is going to affect the life styles of a great many people,'' said Representative Dan Rostenkowski, Democrat of Illinois, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, in arguing for a delay in eliminating the $122-a-month benefit. He said that Congress needed to give the affected people time to apply for Supplemental Security Income and ''make other adjustments.''

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1981 International A muting of U.S.-Israeli discord and a halt in public criticism of the policies of Prime Minister Menachem Begin was sought by the White House. Publicly, officials stressed an even-handed appeal for military restraint by both Israeli and Palestinian forces, but privately they acknowledged they had been dismayed by the heavy Israeli air attack in Beirut last Friday and upset at the setback they felt it dealt to peace efforts. (Page A1, Column 1.) New shipments of F-16 jets to Israel were urged by the leaders of 34 American Jewish organizations. They said that President Reagan's suspenion of the deliveries would appear to be ''one-sided punishment of Israel'' that encouraged ''those committed to Israel's destruction.'' (A3:1-2.)

Over the last few decades, the First National Bank of Boston, a proper and prosperous institution, has developed an unorthodox style of specialized commercial lending centered in a ''special industries'' division and catering to more risky or troubled borrowers. While the bank's involvement with special or troubled companies - including unusual fees and extensive bank involvement in the borrower's affairs - has often worked well for both parties, it has also, on occasion, created trouble for the bank. Perhaps most embarrassing for a discreet institution in a discreet profession, this involvement has at times resulted in attention being focused on some of the bank's lending practices. The bank's specialized lending came under a cloud after the slaying on May 27 in Tulsa, Okla., of Roger M. Wheeler, the chairman and chief executive officer of the Telex Corporation, an investor in jai alai and a customer of the bank. Just recently, investigators from Tulsa were reported to be in Boston pursuing information linking Mr. Wheeler's killing to his jai alai investments, which were arranged by First National.

Friday, July 24, 1981 Companies Joseph E. Seagram & Sons increased its bid for Conoco yesterday to $92 a share, or $4.1 billion, for a 51 percent interest in the nation's ninth-largest oil company. Seagram, Du Pont and Mobil, competing bidders for Conoco, have all set deadlines to accept stock in response to their offers. With Seagram's deadline coming first on midnight last Wednesday, Wall Street professionals flooded Seagram with an estimated 25 million shares. (D1.) The Washington Star, a 128-year-old daily, will cease publication on Aug.7, Time Inc. said. Time, the Star's owner for the past three and a half years, said the paper was losing about $20 million a year and that its 25 percent share of the Washington-area advertising market was not improving. (A1.)

Romantic Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island will be the setting tonight for the Eglevsky Ballet. The company will perform two works choreographed by George Balanchine, two by Edward Villella and a pas de deux by Michael Vernon. Gates open at 6 P.M., so there will be time to stroll through the gardens and enjoy a picnic supper from home before the ballet starts at 7 o'clock. Admission is $3 for nonmembers, $2 for the elderly and $1 for members and those 6 to 12 years old. From New York City take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 39 south. Old Westbury Gardens is on Old Westbury Road between Jericho Turnpike and the expressway. Information: (516) 333-0048.

In an article in Business Day about the shoe industry (June 27, 1981), the trademark ''Candie's'' was used incorrectly to refer to a type of shoe. The mark ''Candie's'' is the registered trademark for shoes, clothing and accessories of El Greco Leather Products, Inc. The company said sales of shoes bearing the ''Candie's'' trademark had doubled in the last year.

Despite sharply higher housing costs, consumer prices rose only seven-tenths of 1 percent in June, the Government reported today. It was the fourth straight month that the rise in the Consumer Price Index has held below 10 percent, if projected on an annual basis. The rate for June, if it continued for 12 months, would produce an annual price rise of 8.8 percent. In the New York metropolitan area the index rose one-half of 1 percent in June, the fourth consecutive month in which the increase was half of 1 percent or less. (Page A17.)

President Reagan and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives decided today on a one-vote, all-ornothing strategy in which the House will choose between the Democratic tax bill drafted in the Ways and Means Committee and an Administration bill being sweetened to appeal to as many members as possible. Signaling that the Republicans would not try to rewrite the Democratic bill with floor amendments, Representative Barber B. Conable Jr. said upon leaving the White House, ''I think we will have an upand-down vote.'' Mr. Conable, a Republican from upstate New York, is the ranking minority member on Ways and Means. He, other committee Republicans and the House leaders met with President Reagan for 70 minutes in the Cabinet room. Afterward, Mr. Conable told reporters that ''there are going to be substantial changes in our bill'' to make it attractive to the largest possible number of Representatives.

The sale of 13 abandoned city-owned brownstones in Harlem through a lottery that would favor Harlem residents was approved yesterday by the Board of Estimate. The lottery would give Harlem residents three times the chance of nonresidents to purchase the property. But the advantage was less than had been sought by about 70 Harlem residents and community leaders who argued against the plan during four hours of testimony before the board's vote. They contended that so many nonresidents would apply to buy the landmark brownstones that the advantage for Harlem residents would be effectively destroyed. Instead, they argued for a ''point system'' that would more clearly favor Harlem residents.

In a dramatic move that could bring the multibillion-dollar bidding contest for Conoco to a close before long, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons yesterday increased its bid for the nation's ninth-largest oil company by $7 a share, to $92, or a total of $4.1 billion for a 51 percent interest. ''Unless something sensational happens now,'' one Wall Street professional remarked privately, ''it's all over, and Seagram will have won.'' Seagram, Du Pont and Mobil, competing bidders for Conoco, have all set deadlines to accept stock in response to their offers, and with Seagram's deadline coming first, at midnight last Wednesday, Wall Street professionals flooded Seagram with an estimated 25 million shares. Although Du Pont's deadline is tonight and Mobil's is Sunday, one major Wall Street investor maintained that most other significant investors would leave their stock with Seagram unless Du Pont raised its bid to at least $100 a share, or $8.6 billion in cash, for the entire company.