Danger

Danger!

I was listening to a local talk radio host here in Chicagoland, and the topic of child safety came up. The host mentioned that he was walking home one evening when he spotted a woman walking along, pulling a wagon with two children inside. The woman was walking at a leisurely pace. The children looked to be about three and seven years of age and the wagon had a rubberized edge around it that sort of looked like a tire. The children had full helmets on. When one of the children stood up, she screamed at him to sit! Sit! Sit! Maybe she was afraid he would fall off the wagon and get a scratch. (Sigh.)

I remember the "good ol' days" when we used to really have fun. We didn't wear helmets or face guards or knee pads or full body armor to go out and play. Our playgrounds were covered in gravel, blacktop or asphalt - not soft wood chips. We learned that we did not want to fall a great distance and hit those surfaces. We got plenty of scratches and scrapes, and those taught us to be at least somewhat cautious in our actions. Our parents were not afraid that we might get a few "owies." After all, "owies" teach us. They're a part of childhood. We learn to at least try and avoid what hurt us previously. Child athletes who won were given trophies. Child athletes who lost were not. I believe this made for true competition where you strove to be the best. Now, everyone gets a trophy, no matter what, because "no one is better at anything than anyone else" and "we don't want to hurt feelings".

We taught our dog to pull us in our wagon, racing down the street without headgear or rubberized protective barriers. We rode our bikes in the park on trails at breakneck speeds without protection. We found golf balls at the edge of the golf course and took them with us just to frustrate the golfers. We rode our home-made sleds down snow-covered hills in winter and hoped for a total spin out. Fun! We climbed trees. (Did I mention that I was a tomboy?) I climbed to the six-inch ledge on the second story of our field house at the park on several occasions and walked around the entire structure above a lagoon, and I couldn't even swim! None of the boys would join me. Ha! I showed them.

As we grew older, during summer vacation, we woke up early, met up with friends, made plans for the day and explored our world. We stayed gone all day, checking in briefly on occasion with our parents, who were not worried that we might get a couple "owies."

By today's standards, I guess we should all either be dead or horribly traumatized in some way. How do children learn anything about the real world if they are constantly coddled and made to feel fragile? I believe that when these children finally get shuttled out into the real world, the lessons they learn and the obstacles they have to hurdle will be far more traumatizing than it would have been had they been allowed to learn lessons as children.

I'm curious to know what others did as children that would give today's parents a grabber on the spot.