Cynicism aside it seems to my eyes that we are babying kids and youth at a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, warnings are important. Anything that has a likelihood of leading to serious danger should be warned against. We need to protect our children, but I’m not talking about the serious stuff like forks in power sockets or hair dryers in bath tubs. I’m talking about the little things, the things that older generations did as a kid, I’m talking about eating dirt.
A study this year by a team at Harvard found that allowing kids to have access to minor micro bacteria can actually prevent a lot of other illnesses or conditions in a child's early life. They found that lifestyles free of all micro bacteria could lead to Asthma and other conditions. It’s not life changing evidence and it was tested on mice, sorry animal lovers! But still, is there something we can learn from it?
I believe that there is a certain line that needs to be drawn and unfortunately many parents draw it too close. Children need to be protected, definitely, but they also need to learn lessons. I know for a fact the biggest lessons I have learnt were at the result of my own mistakes. More than that, children need to live life courageously and in a care free way, otherwise, it’s like we’re trying to make them grow up quickly.
Take trampolines for example! Since when did they have nets? The way I see it, nothing wakes you up or teaches you resilience like your feet stuck in the springs. And yes, I’m being silly, but I think we need to allow kids to be kids.
Kids will get dirty, kids will get sick, kids will fight and kids will cry and don’t we all do the same? I work with children all the time and my number one priority before fun is safety, but I can tell you that I have worked with kids that are nothing more than big softies!
If our kids don’t have a taste for the real life, if they don’t know what resilience means, how will they cope at school or college, in exams or in the workplace? Let’s get kids back into eating dirt, jumping off things and skinning their knees. After all they're kids.
What do you think? Do we go over the top with safety procedures for kids or are they warranted? Comment below and tell me how it is.
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