Tuesday, March 21, 2006
swinging
Okay, I'll grant you that they can be dangerous. The first accident I remember was pumping way way too high and then panicking and stopping so fast that I fell off and cut my face on the side support, and needed a few stitches. But crickey, get rid of swingsets and jungle gyms?! Isn't there a better way to deal with it? On some level, I even wonder if we're inviting worse things to befall our kids if we remove the relatively simple ways of getting into trouble. Along the lines of the idea that kids actually want to tempt fate (safety) so they'll just have to do something even more dangerous. Hadn't we better outlaw football, softball, competitive diving, ice hockey, etc., etc., and not let them drive cars, ever? Life has risks, many of which are awful, but I'm pretty sure that making a cushioned semi-unreal world for little kids as a way to make things safer will actually prepare them badly for the fairly dangerous world that big people live in and which cannot be padded.
Permalink | 
| posted by jau at 9:39 AM
jau — at 9:20 AM, March 22, 2006:
DADvocate — at 10:56 AM, March 22, 2006:
| posted by jau at 9:39 AM
3 more:
jau — at 9:20 AM, March 22, 2006:
Does that mean you think it's a good idea to get rid of swingsets? Is there a less dramatic way to deal with it or do you think it's "yes" or "no"? (P.S. That must have scared your family to death!!!)
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DADvocate — at 10:56 AM, March 22, 2006:
Keep the swing sets but make sure they are properly anchored and supervise your kids.
My mother used to say it was a miracle I lived to see 4 years old.
My mother used to say it was a miracle I lived to see 4 years old.
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I still believe in a certain amount of risk-taking, whatever that means. My rule of thumb, now, is to only take risks that are within your ability of manage, i.e. you have the skills and knowledge to successfully overcome the risk, most of the time anyway.
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