Are We Too Safe?

I'm going to be 50 yrs old this year. What I want to know is how I survived childhood without car seats, sunscreen, helmets, knee pads and a fence around my pool and trampoline.

I hear it's the law now to put a fence around swimming pools. Here's a thought - why don't we teach our children to swim? Especially if we have a pool. That's fine, you say, what about other children who may venture into your yard? Drown and then their parents sue us? Ok, note to 'other parents' - teach your children to stay out of strangers and others yard without permission. Know where your children are. That way they won't fall in someone else's pool and drown, causing you to sue the other parents. How hard is that?

Our society has gone 'safety' crazy. Everything must be made safe so no one gets boo-boo's. Besides, it hurts to take off those band-aids.

How do you think I learned to ride my skateboard? Because when I fell off, it hurt! I didn't bounce right back up from my comfy knee and elbow pads!

You know they sell 'corners' you can put on your living room furniture? This way, when Junior is learning to walk, he won't get an owie. First of all, if your furniture is so darned sharp on the corners, you might consider getting some new stuff, especially if you have a little one toddling around the room. But really, getting a bump on the forehead from the coffee table is a part of life. It's not the end of the world. Again, it's one of the things that help us learn to walk. It can hurt when we fall down.

I rode my bike until I was in high school, and for some time after that. No helmet. And yes, I am here to tell about it. I had bike accidents. I had one pretty nasty one, but I'm still here! All the helmets in the world won't keep you from falling off a bike. And if you smash your hand (like I did) a helmet won't help anyway. (Better add protective gloves to the safety list.)

The way it works, there is one child somewhere who was hurt badly, perhaps handicapped or possibly died from an accident. While so far in this piece, my attitude has been pretty flippant, I am in no way flippant when I say "I'm sorry for your loss." It's tragic when you lose a child. But this doesn't mean the rest of the world needs to put on helmets, erect fences around pools or slap knee pads on every moving youngster.

I recently saw pictures of life in Holland. Everybody rode bikes. From old to young, they rode bikes. Moms rode bikes carrying the little ones on the back. Gasp... no helmets or safety belts! They were all happy as clams. Moms riding bikes with little ones in the back, talking on her cell phone at the same time. Oh my. Something must be done!

There is good sense behind good ole cloth training pants. Yes, they are uncomfortable when wet. That's how your child learns he doesn't like this sensation. Now, they specifically make disposable training pants to 'feel wet' when your child goes. Why would you spend money on these? They are so much more expensive that cloth pants that already do that! Cloth pants you can wash and use many times. Is it the washing that is so disagreeable?

We are making our children afraid of everything. They don't know what to do when they fall down and hurt something not covered in plastic or elastic. We slather them in sunscreen, make sure they have their shoes on, and only let them outside for minutes at a time. Oh yes... sunshine and skin cancer. Are we really sure it's not the sunscreen causing skin cancer? I never had it on when I was a kid. I never put it on my kids. No skin cancer among us. Again, no disrespect intended to those with skin cancer.

In high school, I used to slather baby oil on myself, and head to the beach. Fry in the sun, for that suntan look every high school girl had. I had some lovely tans, and if I had the time, I might lay in the sun again. But I'm old now, and I really don't want to scare my neighbors or any small children that may venture into my yard.

We take everything so seriously now. Children are shuffled through preschool, and playgroups, lessons and outings ... why can't they just go outside and play? Children need time to daydream, to be left alone long enough to learn how to entertain themselves. They need to build forts, play in the mud, find bugs, lie on the grass and watch the clouds. Play in the sprinkler and run with the dog. Climb fences and get slivers. It used to be part of childhood. I hope those things aren't gone. That would be tragic.