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> I remember when we had no seat belt laws or child seats There's really no downside to putting on a seat belt, or using a child seat. There's a big downside f

• dahart 11y ago
  I'd wager my personal preferences align with yours, but I'm playing devil's advocate as an exercise in trying to be open minded before deciding what I think about the new laws. There was a lot of uproar about the downsides of seat belt laws when they were proposed. It took government action in the face of industry and some public opposition to make it happen. It doesn't seem like there are downsides now, but in fact there was a fight, and hindsight is 20/20. Do we have proof and data that being over-protective has big downsides? Do we have proof that driving kids to school amounts to being overly protective? Is it really clear cut? Is it possible to be protective about physical safety and lax about social development? I don't know that, even if I suspect it. I'm personally afraid of being over-protective of my children. And, like I said, I send my kids to school on foot. But I might be able to withhold my own incredulity toward the idea of this kind of policing until more evidence has stacked up. ;)