Thursday, October 24, 2013

It's time to let your kids get dirty

He climbs
London, ON
March 2012
Thematic. Dirty. Here.
I don't think we let our kids get dirty enough. We don't let them take chances, take a fall, disappear from view, or experience the world without the bowling alley equivalent of bumpers on them.

I'm not entirely convinced that this is a good thing. I'm not entirely convinced that this helps them grow into the world they'll someday inherit.

After all, even cakes have to experience some beating blades and a hot oven before they're considered fully formed.

Your thoughts?

5 comments:

Cloudia said...

Seems that children are not given the chance to discover their competence and self reliance.



ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^=

Anonymous said...

By HRW:
I think we are overprotective sometimes. I don't remember my mom & dad raggin' out on me or being concerned as much about me as I was about Ashlee Ann . I believe we grew up with expected freedoms BUT then we saw the world go for a crapper and so we became protective. The world also started telling us what was good and bad for us - no one said Cigarettes, alcohol, war, premarital sex was bad for you and no one ever worried about the consequences in my parents day and age. Diseases like all our bad ones already existed for eons but no one knew what they were so we all went merrily along our paths. Choices were made above us on what was good and bad - need to have a dentist, doctor, etc but it was more about creating economies of scale and employment. The world plagued us with worry and keeps heaping it on us everyday. Terrorists existed for eons, warring factions always fought, etc. We become too "civilized" and our appetite for destruction become great all in the name of protection and self preservation. We have way too many ways to kill these days but if we have to go to swords, lions, and stones maybe there would not be wars. We heaped this and let this get heaped on us. Naturally we pass this down to the next generations. Me wonders if one day a future generation will not want to go outside, socialize with other people, visit other countries as we will all be swept up the the euphoria of our fears. Technology has also brought all this into our living rooms and helped to see all the bad things (and good things) in this world BUT no news is news unless it is bad news - seldom do we have news that is all good - too connected and too in touch.
We have misplaced "reasonable" judgment with fear and worry. We have also taken some of this reasonable judgement (or allowed it to be taken) from all of us - we almost can't make a decision or decisions that our parents and forefathers made with easy.
This is not too say that we are "hover parents" as friends commented on Leanna J Westbrook and I. We have all be conditioned in protectionism and we can't let go - society will think we don't care about your kids - our laws are also made around this as well - further conditioning.
Not too sure what the next generation will be like

sage said...

We all need to get dirty some--but especially kids!

Cami, I am heading through SW Ontario next week (and back the following week) as I need to be in New York the weekend. What would be your recommendation of the top 2-3 things to see. One way, I cross at Detroit and the other at Port Huron. I've seen Niagara Falls more times than I care to admit (on both sides) so something else.

Tabor said...

Many years ago kids were treated as objects to be seen and not heard, to be sent off to work as early as they could make a living and to be mostly ignored otherwise. I think we have evolved to a better place...a little overprotected maybe, but valued as the precious jewels they are.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

It does seem that growing up is far different from when I was a kid.

Our mom used to drive us to Carderock, a park in Maryland that was mainly woods, the Potomac River, and the C&O Canal, then come pick us up hours later along with whatever salamanders, lizards, etc. that we'd managed to find.
~