Getting Crazy About Child Safety

[Redmage]

I've thought for a while that we, as a society, are getting a little nutty about issues affecting child safety. Naturally it's important to keep children safe, but I can remember the things we got into when I was growing up 30-40 years ago (remember dirt? I've gotten it on my hands!) and I know full well that a lot of what we took for granted would be considered far too dangerous for today's kids. Hells bells, I've seen playgrounds paved with rubber, for pity's sake.

A couple of stories in recent news have reinforced this impression for me. On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered libraries to begin removing from their shelves any children's books printed before 1986. The theory is that the ink used in such books might contain lead. Now to me, this is common sense: there's no evidence of an epidemic of lead poisoning among young readers before 1986, so this rule is just silly. The only justification is the paranoid need to insulate children even from imaginary risks. It's adults seeing monsters under the bed.

Then we have this case from the Free-Range Kids blog. Free-Range Kids is a site devoted to the idea that children can climb trees or walk to the corner store without fear of death. Here, we learn about the mother who let her 10 year old son walk a whole 1/3 mile to soccer practice at a nearby school. Window-peeping neighbors actually called 911 to report this "emergency," and the "endangered" child was picked up by police! The mother was warned of possible criminal charges! Eventually she got an apology from the authorities, but the fact that neighbors would even report such a thing and that police would take it seriously tells me that we're well down the road to craziness here.

 

[venray]

We cant go back Red...I have pondered many times over how I didnt meet catastrophy head on in my childhood..

Good Lord...I used real scissors....played with all metal erector sets that had hundreds of tiny parts..ate bacon and eggs at leat 3 X per week..after school we went out and played all over town with our friends, walked to the movies on weekends and pretty much only saw our moms at lunch and then again at suppertime...

There were no cell phones or any way to keep in constant contact and we didnt get rides anywhere unless necessary......

Times have changed .... sometimes not for the better where our kids are concerned....they are forced to grow up too quickly and do not get to enjoy their formative years like we did growing up....

 

[BellaRisa]

Red, I actually agree with you in theory, I definitely think our society can go a little overboard on these issues...but other than the kid walking alone your examples aren't terribly over-protective. Trust me as a mom and a preschool teacher, rubber mats on the playground is WONDERFUL. They're there because we had enough little bashed-in skulls in the '70's and the '80's that something was done about it. Why should I spend the night in the ER because some people want my kid to be 'tougher'? We were lucky not to get dead or injured by what did hurt many, many kids; personally I'll never forget one friend who fell off the monkey bars onto concrete and was badly, badly hurt. Same for kids who weren't wearing bike helmets and never woke up, and kids who ingested lead paint and their brains were never right again (like one cousin of mine).

These things only seem like too much if it's never hurt our child. I want our kids to be strong and tough, but I want them alive too.

 

[..Glamorous..]

Wow, talk about ridiculous! As I type, my kid is covered in cookie and playing with metal toys cars.

 

[Aragon]

Yeah, it does make you wonder. Though, I will say this. When I was growing up in the late 80s and early early 90s, we took rifles to school and had them in the back of our vehicles because we hunted. When I got out of the Corps and went back home to Tennessee, about a month later it was all the news that a kid had taken a loaded pistol to school to show it off and accidently pulled the trigger.
Now, as a rule, we had gun safety training in school and my grandfather taught me. Fathers always taught their children about guns, as hunting was normal there. Yes, I did say children, as I hunted with a couple of girls growing up. The father to that kid didn't pay any attention to him. The father worked all the time and the kid acted up. Not to say I didn't act up with the way I was raised, but I had my grandfather who guided me.
Now, there are no guns on school property, at all. I agree with the rule on it because we live in a world now that says it's okay for there not to be a father in the child's life, both parents, if there are both work too many hours instead of raise their own kids and TV and school should raise your kids. I personally think we need to go back to having lower salaries to bring the costs down, go back to having both parents having to be responsible (no matter if it is 2 straight or 2 gay, you adopt or actually bring a child into this world, they're your responsibility.), and get the government out of all of it. If I had a child, the kid, male or female, would have the choice of what they could do. They want to hunt and fish, cool, be a astrophysicist, awesome. I will be there for them as my grandfather was for me. Now, any of you guys out there that think it's cool to hit it and quit it, you need to get your head out your posterior, so we can go back to idealic times.

My rant on child rearing, hope to offend any dead beats out there.

 

[bellystrokes]

I agree we should not make children paranoid or afraid of all the big bad strangers and monkey bars out there. But being I live in an area with two current active Amber alerts where the children were just walking to school and many of the Atlanta children murdered in the late 70's or early 80's were just out and about doing their thing, I understand the concern about children walking by themselves.

I realize most missing children are abducted by someone they know etc etc, but most parents would not like their children to be the rare actual kidnap victim.

Mof us don't abduct children, we just have to live in a world where some people do and cope with that. Parents shouldn't have to apologize for protective methods.

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

FOR GOODNESS SAKES.....WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!



Drew

 

[Dr. Vollin]

I've got to agree with Redmage. Of course we should be concerned for kids' safety, but these overreactions have become somewhat ridiculous. For instance, a recent Newsweek article on food allergies mentioned a case where a school bus was evacuated because someone saw a peanut shell on the floor.

Once not too long ago, a friend and I were on a way to a barbecue; we were supposed to bring our own meat, so we stopped at a grocery store on the way. As we looked around the meat section, there was a young boy sitting in a shopping cart nearby, with his dad a couple of feet away. When my friend came to a section near that cart, the boy cried "Daddy, there's a man by me!" As if just by standing within a few feet, he posed a threat. Luckily, the father didn't make anything of it. Still I felt kind of sorry for that kid, that his parents had taught him to be afraid of anyone and everyone.

 

[Lord Doctor]

The more society tells a kid it can't, the more it will ignore society.

Trap a child with too many rules and regulations and you take away it's childhood.

Wrap a child in cotton wool and it will become a weak adult with little or no self esteem

As always a ballance has to be struck with how society is in it's darkest areas and over-reaction

 

[MoonShadow]

Times have changed .... sometimes not for the better where our kids are concerned....they are forced to grow up too quickly and do not get to enjoy their formative years like we did growing up....

And in some cases they are protected to such an extreme that they don't get to grow up at all and become dependant on others to do everything for them.

 

[Sanhael]

Childhood entails a certain amount of risk inherent in the "why does this work and how" exploration, and no matter how long you protect your child, they're going to go through that phase sooner or later. In the end, the things your "child" can "learn the hard way" at the age of 8 are far less risky than the things they're liable to learn the hard way at the age of 18.

IMO, we should stop restraining our children quite so much, while simultaneously taking people who commit acts of rape, or who abduct and molest children, or who sell heroine and meth to high school students, and cut out their sexy bits. Then, we make them cook them, and eat them. Anybody who comes through that smiling gets burned to death on general principle. While we're at it, let's toss a few of the media vultures on the barbecue; some of the people who give those who commit unfathomable atrocities for the sake of a sick, twisted desire for attention exactly what it is that they're after, as well as rendering society in general increasingly paranoid due to increasingly widespread exposure of things which have always happened with whatever frequency.

We seem to have forgotten, as a society, that if a woman walks around a college campus buck-naked except for a sign which reads "RAPE ME," and somebody does... the fact that she was raped is not her fault. It's the fault of the person who raped her, unless you're going to try and tell me that the average person simply could not resist the temptation. The degree to which we protect and shelter our children is simply a reflection of the increasing pervasiveness of the "blame the (potential) victim" attitude.

 

[Bugman]

I've thought for a while that we, as a society, are getting a little nutty about issues affecting child safety. Naturally it's important to keep children safe, but I can remember the things we got into when I was growing up 30-40 years ago (remember dirt? I've gotten it on my hands!) and I know full well that a lot of what we took for granted would be considered far too dangerous for today's kids. Hells bells, I've seen playgrounds paved with rubber, for pity's sake.

A couple of stories in recent news have reinforced this impression for me. On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered libraries to begin removing from their shelves any children's books printed before 1986. The theory is that the ink used in such books might contain lead. Now to me, this is common sense: there's no evidence of an epidemic of lead poisoning among young readers before 1986, so this rule is just silly. The only justification is the paranoid need to insulate children even from imaginary risks. It's adults seeing monsters under the bed.

Then we have this case from the Free-Range Kids blog. Free-Range Kids is a site devoted to the idea that children can climb trees or walk to the corner store without fear of death. Here, we learn about the mother who let her 10 year old son walk a whole 1/3 mile to soccer practice at a nearby school. Window-peeping neighbors actually called 911 to report this "emergency," and the "endangered" child was picked up by police! The mother was warned of possible criminal charges! Eventually she got an apology from the authorities, but the fact that neighbors would even report such a thing and that police would take it seriously tells me that we're well down the road to craziness here.

Red,i agree.The story about the books is just unbelievable.

But you know,it's not just with kids.An increasing number of people seem too think they should be protected from any possible harm or danger that is part of life.

 

[Saeria]

Because it seems as if times are different, and if not different, we're simply more aware of the dangers out there. Just as onsite newscasting did for the Vietnam war, we now hear of the latest atrocities done to children as common news.
TO use the old "back in my day" cliche, I'd like to describe the things i did when i was 7, my daughter's age. During the school year, I woke up to the alarm clock (usu 5:30 am). I dressed in clothes my mother pulled out for me the night previous. Because my family was not eligible for free or reduced school meals (who knows why, we were dirt poor) I made my own breakfast. Now there's only so much instant microwavable oatmeal a girl can eat, sometimes i fixed myself an egg sandwich, or biscuits and jelly. I brushed and put up my own hair, tied my own shoes, checked the temperature on the 6 am news in the late fall and early spring to see whether or not i needed a jacket. I made sure i had everything i needed then walked down to the bus stop. The bus stop, because i lived in the middle of absolutely nowhere, was nearly a 1/4 mile down the road. 6:30 am in the spring time is pitch dark so i had one of those sturdy playskool flashlights with the cool little colorchaning wheel on the side. ( I was terrified of the occasion raccoon or possum i would encounter on the road in the dark).
I spent my summers waking up barely after sunrise, disappearing into the woods with a sack lunch and playing all day in the deer stand by the dried out creekbed. I sometimes didn't come back until well past dark. Back then i wasn't afraid of coming across wild pigs or coyotes or poisonous snakes. When i did happen upon them i just coolly walked the other way.

NOW, when i think about my kid doing any of these things it makes me cringe. NEVER ina million years would i let her wander aroundin teh woods by herself amidst dangerous animals. Or let her go anywhere by herself, much less in teh dark. Too many kids get snatched by weirdos in the dark. She catches the bus at the end of a driveway, and i'm at the window, after making sure she dresses and is cleaned up, to make sure she isn't accosted before the bus arrives. She isn't even so much as allowed in the kitchen while i'm cooking, much less cooking anything by herself on teh stove, too many kids are reported as pulling hot thing onto themselves, or setting a kitchen on fire. And even if i did let her do the things i did when i was a kid, surely i'd be reported to CPS and i would suffer an investigation for neglect.
It was easier when i didn't know the dangers out there. In ignorance we thrive in freedom, through knowledge we thrive in safety.

 

[alchemy]

I've thought for a while that we, as a society, are getting a little nutty about issues affecting child safety. Naturally it's important to keep children safe, but I can remember the things we got into when I was growing up 30-40 years ago (remember dirt? I've gotten it on my hands!) and I know full well that a lot of what we took for granted would be considered far too dangerous for today's kids. Hells bells, I've seen playgrounds paved with rubber, for pity's sake.

A couple of stories in recent news have reinforced this impression for me. On Monday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered libraries to begin removing from their shelves any children's books printed before 1986. The theory is that the ink used in such books might contain lead. Now to me, this is common sense: there's no evidence of an epidemic of lead poisoning among young readers before 1986, so this rule is just silly. The only justification is the paranoid need to insulate children even from imaginary risks. It's adults seeing monsters under the bed.

Then we have this case from the Free-Range Kids blog. Free-Range Kids is a site devoted to the idea that children can climb trees or walk to the corner store without fear of death. Here, we learn about the mother who let her 10 year old son walk a whole 1/3 mile to soccer practice at a nearby school. Window-peeping neighbors actually called 911 to report this "emergency," and the "endangered" child was picked up by police! The mother was warned of possible criminal charges! Eventually she got an apology from the authorities, but the fact that neighbors would even report such a thing and that police would take it seriously tells me that we're well down the road to craziness here.

I could not agree with you more, Red. You are absolutely right! Personally, I blame the post-boomer generations. To quote George Carlin, this is a further example of the "pussy-fication" of our society. You know, the "junior can't ride his bike without his helmet" bullshit. I started to notice this shit in the late 80's when the self-help boom really began to take off. TV ads started running non-stop about keeping children SAFE. The news started using scare tactics to make parents frightened of child predators. Advice columnists started pontificating on the hazards of modern life and lawsuit after lawsuit started popping up from these yuppie scum bastards because their brainless children hurt themselves in some feeble way.

Fuck the children!!!

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[ticklishmikey]

In this day and age, there is no such thing as being too careful. Then again. I'm slightly paranoid. Lol.

 

[BellaRisa]

In this day and age, there is no such thing as being too careful. Then again. I'm slightly paranoid. Lol.

You're not paranoid, you have a brain and you observe the world around you.

The problem is that good, valid safety precautions get lumped in with the over-the-top nonsense, usually by people who don't have kids or haven't had to care for little kids in the last few decades, and that's not fair. Calling the police because a 10 yr old is walking alone is absolutely ridiculous. Bike helmets and padded playgrounds are life saving and *marvelous*; a bloody 3 yr old with a possible concussion can really mess up your day. Little kids having cell phones may be a bit much. Little kids wearing pads to avoid dislocated elbows while they rollerblade is freakin' awesome. I say again: why should we parents and teachers have to spend hours in the ER with screaming bent and broken children because cranky old people think our kids are being 'pussified'? It reminds me of my grandmother ranting about the current better-tasting Listerine; if she had to suffer through the nasty tongue-melting old stuff why shouldn't I?

Seriously though, modernization and updating of child safety occurs when enough parents have buried their babies for changes to be made. And in general there's nothing 'pussy' about it, it's common sense and a love and responsibility for our little ones.

 

[Excess]

Children should be kept chained to the floor in the basement, where they belong. That way they can't eat the scissors while sitting too close to the TV on top of a construction site that they got to because someone took their eyes off of them for 5 seconds. Am I exaggerating? Well that's what THE FUCKING CHILD SAFETY PEOPLE DO!!! GET SOME COMMON SENSE DAMNIT!

 

[Redmage]

Of course it's possible to be too careful. If you're creating a great deal of trouble and/or expense for people who don't deserve it, for a situation that isn't really all that dangerous, then you're being too careful.

There is a difference, for example, between worrying about lead in paint and worrying about lead in books. It's both a chemical difference - there was a LOT of lead in lead-based paints - and a practical difference: children ingested lead in paint mainly through paint dust, and it caused damage over time. Children don't normally eat books (and books for very young children can be handled differently).

So ordering children's books off library shelves is indeed being too careful. Treating a 10 yr old walking to soccer practice as an emergency is being too careful.

Somehow or other I seem to be being accused of arguing against bicycle helmets. But I can't find the words "bicycle" or "helmet" anywhere in my post, so I'm not sure where that's coming from.

 

[BellaRisa]

Somehow or other I seem to be being accused of arguing against bicycle helmets. But I can't find the words "bicycle" or "helmet" anywhere in my post, so I'm not sure where that's coming from.

Not you personally Red; usually when the 'overprotected kids' issue is brought up someone mentions how wussy bike helmets are, and that annoys the bejeezus out of many parents and caregivers. Cracked skulls and concussions are not a badge of honor