Children need to have an accident

[Gromit]

The head of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says that a skinned knee or a twisted ankle in a challenging and exciting play environment is not just acceptable, it is a positive necessity.

"We do not believe in extremist health and safety ideas which would keep children wrapped in cotton wool."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml =/news/2007/11/12/naccident112.xml

So, are we more anxious as parents or has the world become more dangerous. Are our children mollycoddled or looked after better?

[Pippa68]

LOL...I sound awful, I must admit.

I have broad shoulders, and used to be on the javelin team at school.

Oh dear.

[Supernick]

I used to play all sorts of really violent games as well when I was growing up. It's as if regular games didn't cause enough injury, and as boys we needed to spice things up a bit. So a game of cards degenerates into 'Raps & Daggers' where players are smashed on the knuckes with the deck. A simple game of heads and volleys isn't dangerous enough even when the ball is being smashed at you from a couple of yards, so add 'Beats' into the equation, where if you let in 3 goals every player is entitled to punch you in the arm.

[bigmamma]

We played outside for hours and got into lots of scrapes and breaks , as did lots of kids then , I sported a broken arm at aged 3 but not through bad parenting , my brother a broken leg at 9 , sister both collar bones broken from falling backwards off the gate , though mum had warned us not to swing on it . The list goes on as there were 8 of us but I won't go on . :-) xx

[Gromit]

So everyone is agreed then,

children now are better looked after now, and our children cannot benefit from the freedoms we all had because the world is a much more dangerous place now.

[warpig3]

I blame the parents, lol.

I was walking back from the shops the other day and a little toddler was walking with her mum, holding her hand. The child tripped but did not hit the ground, no hurt knees, no nothing, just a little shocked. The mother got down and started pampering the child with 'oh, are you ok sweetheart, blah, blah, blah' then the child started to cry, not 'cos she hurt herself because of the mothers reaction, what ever happened to 'oops a daisy'!!!

Children need to be children, scraped knees, sprained whatevers, its part of childhood and it teaches them.

[Pippa68]

I am not sure if 'better looked after' is the right turn of phrase, Gromit.

My kids are always saying how horrible it must have been when I was a kid because I didn't have this or that and black and white TV was all I had.

*Sigh*

I had my freedom. Sure, things happened to kids in those days ~ but is it any better today? I am remind of the parents whose daughter died on a school trip...they have said that their daughter died doing something she loved, and with freedom.

[BillyBB]

Consequences of your own actions, this is what kids need to learn.