Dear Mr. Dad: I’ve read stories about people having ID numbers etched into their children’s teeth, and not letting their kids play outside. Like most parents, I want to protect my kids, but I think we’ve gone overboard. Am I wrong?
A: Nope, I think you’re absolutely right. The reality is that, factoring out the threat of nuclear war, the world is not any more dangerous for children today than it was a few generations ago. But thanks in large part to the media, which repeats stories over and over and over, too many parents are in a panic. And our children are paying the price.
When I was as young as eight, growing up in Oakland, Calif., I took city buses all over town to visit friends, grandparents, even go bowling. And all the other kids I knew were doing the same thing. But I’m pretty sure that if I put my 10-year-old on a bus by herself today, I’d get arrested.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take reasonable precautions to keep our kids safe. Of course we should.
We should teach them to look both ways before they cross streets, wear helmets when they ride their bikes or skateboards, wear seatbelts in the car and not take candy from strangers.
And before sending our kids off on a playdate, we should try to make sure that the adults in charge are responsible and trustworthy.
But we can’t protect them from every possible danger. Not letting our kids explore their neighbourhood (or even their own backyards), not allowing them to get a few bumps and bruises once in a while, and filling their heads with stories of dangerous strangers lurking behind every tree, we’re keeping them from developing the independence, self-confidence and ability to make decisions that they’ll need as they stumble toward adulthood.
Part of the problem is that we’re way too concerned with what other people think.
Let me give you a few examples.
A recent study of more than 3,000 children and parents found that while half of parents played outside at least once a day when they were young, only 23 per cent would allow their own children to do the same. Why?
Well, 53 per cent of those parents said they were worried about traffic. And 40 per cent said they were concerned about “stranger danger.” I get both of those, even though the fears are exaggerated. But the statistic that really got me was that 30 per cent of the parents who keep their kids cooped up indoors feel that they’ll be harshly judged by their neighbours if they let the kids play outside unsupervised.
Another recent study was even more horrifying. This one talked about how a growing number of daycares have banned physical contact between caregivers and children out of fear that the adults might be accused of molesting the youngsters.
In some cases, daycare staff is being told that cuddling small children is bad because it could make them too dependent. What a crock. Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes around small children knows how much they’re comforted by physical touch.
Many experts say that depriving kids of being cuddled or held or, gasp, kissed, increases their stress levels and can have serious, long-term negative consequences for their development. It also seems positively cruel.
