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Our society has lost a good deal of its willingness to take risks over the years. Examples include:
1) Removing most playground that’s any fun;
2) Requiring bicycle riders to wear helmets;
3) Children don’t play outside, unsupervised anymore;
4) Children get driven every where and don’t ride their bicycles; and
5) Cars have “passive restraints”
There are other recent examples that I have omitted since this is not P and OC. I want discussion, not insults.
The costs of this excessive caution cannot be overestimated. When I was growing up, where I played, how I played, how I got to leisure activities and the like were parental decisions. When I started bicycling at age seven, my range was restricted to my six-block “neighborhood” bounded by a secondary road. Later, when that road got a sidewalk, I was allowed to go about ½ mile to the boundary of another secondary road. Later, I could go outside those boundaries but only with another child. Now, there is an unreasonable fear of perverts. When I was growing up, the injunction against talking to strangers was quite stern.
“Pickup” baseball games started in late March, and soccer was the rule in the fall. Sledding and ice skating was the rule in winter. In fact, on December 2, 1967 I did fall through the ice, and was treading deep water. I was rescued, taken to the hospital and I’m still alive. I survived monkey bars and see-saws at a younger age. These days, my older son was one of the few that took the initiative to bike around, sometimes going about ten miles to one of his sets of grandparents. There was only one fall with a few scrapes.
Turning to adult pastimes, cars have been increasingly been put out of reach of mere mortals by “passive restraints” such as airbags, and other equipment that costs more than its worth to the average person. When it comes to the recent Covid “pandemic” society was locked down to no net benefit and egregious costs. The moneys saved could and should have been used to allow the vulnerable to be excused from work and having to go out.
My profession, the legal profession, gets some of the blame for this, particularly with regard to playgrounds. Still, common-sense legislation could have granted "safe-harbors" to companies abiding by 'UL" standards.
Now, the government is getting ready to make heating and air conditioning, as well as travel more cumbersome. We live in a democratic society. Is this what we want?
I’m not saying we should have no rules or regulations. But, some cost-benefit analysis please.
Hm. You state some things here as if they are indisputable facts, but I don't see them as true.
I live in a townhouse complex where there are families with children. In nice weather, lots of kids are riding bikes outside, skateboarding, kids playing in the playground in the park in the center of town, older kids on the basketball court.
What playground equipment has been removed that was fun and replaced with equipment that isn't fun? I haven't been to the playground myself anytime lately for an up-close view.
I am not sure what your neighborhood was like growing up, but mine was semi-rural, small town with some wooded areas, creeks, and even a small farm or too still in existence. We had chickens in the backyard as pets. We rode our bikes all over creation, but nowadays, that area is all built up and there's a lot more traffic.
Hm. You state some things here as if they are indisputable facts, but I don't see them as true.
I live in a townhouse complex where there are families with children. In nice weather, lots of kids are riding bikes outside, skateboarding, kids playing in the playground in the park in the center of town, older kids on the basketball court.
What playground equipment has been removed that was fun and replaced with equipment that isn't fun? I haven't been to the playground myself anytime lately for an up-close view.
In the playgrounds where I grew up in Riverdale and suburban Westchester the monkey bars, merry-go-rounds and see-saws are gone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
I am not sure what your neighborhood was like growing up, but mine was semi-rural, small town with some wooded areas, creeks, and even a small farm or too still in existence. We had chickens in the backyard as pets. We rode our bikes all over creation, but nowadays, that area is all built up and there's a lot more traffic.
Mine was denser, closer-in suburban and thus the tighter rules. But these rules were parent-made and often, parents called each other to make sure the rules were roughly similar. When my wife and I made our own family, we were about the only ones encouraging our older son to use his bicycle, which he did. My younger son, on the autistic spectrum, well, it was a matter of giving him the courage to try new ventures. We really "bucked the tide" on that.
Other threads have discussed the impact of Child Protective Services and other state equivalents. I do not want to violate Great Debate rules by cross-linking other, less genteel threads.
We built forts, climbed trees, caught pollywogs, had dirt clod fights.... I knew one kid that fell out of a tree and broke her arm. Cement playgrounds, tall swings, tall slides, dodge ball, king of the mountain. We played rough and got dirty. Life was good. We learned how to interact with people, how to get dates. We didn't need to run to a safe space because of anxiety if we didn't get our way.
I don't see any of those things as causing the "wussification" of society. I am in favor of reducing the number of items that can cause injury, especially to children. Passive restraints in cars save lives and prevent injury and are one reason cars are far safer now than they were 50+ years ago when I was growing up.
Interesting subject, and though the OP is kinda all over the place, I do agree with the general gist of it.
The late, great George Carlin expounded upon this a lot in his comedy bits, here's a good one about his free range childhood swimming in raw sewage in the Hudson River. He lived to age 70+ with one of the best free-thinking brains of our time.
The restrictions are much heavier here in the US than overseas. It has to do mostly with the fact that we here created a very litigious society. Lawyers happily take every, even most frivolous case. I’ve always been fascinated by how trivial and common-sense matters end up in courts.
So, in most cases it's all about liability.
BTW
Re: helmets - in most states helmets are required for children till age 14/16/18 - depending on state
Re: unsupervised outdoors play.
Kids don't have to stay at home on the range in Texas. Instead, parents can let them run outside and play, unsupervised. Texas law states that parents can let their kids engage in normal childhood activities without being accused of neglect.
Re: children's biking on public streets.
It's simply dangerous because we are a car society and don't have designated spaces/lanes for bikes in most places. There are no laws, no education and no awareness. Most drivers consider bicycles on a public roads a nuisance.
Re: passive restraints in vehicles - passive restraints, or passive safety systems, work to protect you during an impact. They are adopted by all Western countries.
When you know better you do better.
I'm pretty much in agreement with safety improvements since I was a child.
Yes I and my siblings rode our bikes pretty far on city streets at young ages. We weren't abducted or hit by a car but that doesn't mean it was safe to do. I totally agree with children wearing a helmet. I don't think safety is "wussification."
But...parents have even more demands on their time now, especially lower income households with 2-3 jobs. They aren't around to show their kids how to do things safely, the easiest choice is to keep them safe indoors, and that is sad. I live in a low crime middle class neighborhood, our street is cul-de-sac, some kids play in their back yards but the majority stay indoors. I assume they get their outdoor fun at school and after-school athletic events.
I can't imagine how/why bike helmets would be a bad thing. ALL ages wear them, no just kids. I don't know if you consider seat belts to be "passive restraints", but they're well-documented to save lives and prevent serious injury.
There must be regional and even neighborhood-by-neighborhood differences in whether kids play outside supervised (I see that going on regularly), and whether kids ride bikes. Of course kids ride bikes; bike manufacturers are still making them for all ages. And don't forget skateboards and skate parks, which are popular.
I have a very hard time understanding how anyone could be AGAINST bike helmets. Or seat belts.
Good grief.
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