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“What are the chances of falling off the roof?” he argued vociferously when we tried previously to hash it out. Have I ever known anyone who has fallen off a ro

“What are the chances of falling off the roof?” he argued vociferously when we tried previously to hash it out. Have I ever known anyone who has fallen off a roof? Anyway, he said, it’s not as if he doesn’t give his kids any limits: They are not allowed to play ball or tag up there." Yes, but most kids are not allowed or encouraged to play on their roofs. If they were, the rate of injury would likely be much higher.

barry-cotter 10y ago
> Yes, but most kids are not allowed or encouraged to play on their roofs. If they were, the rate of injury would likely be much higher. I used to play on the roof of our shed. I have no idea what I did up there but I think it was mostly being deliberately up high. I dangled and jumped many times and jumped at least once before deciding that kind of hurt and deciding not to do it again. You overestimate the stupidity of children who are familiar with the concept of consequences. I also had my thumbnails fall off multiple times after hitting them with hammers and burned off the skin on my little finger once on a stovetop seeing exactly what these burns were that were so scary. I never even broke a bone and I have less than five wounds that should have received stitches. I had a boring, safe childhood.
- wonder_er 10y ago
  Same. I spent lots of time on the roof of our house. I'd jump off into the snow, sometimes, or sometimes just onto the dirt. Loved it. I hope my kids get a similar experience.
  - duderific 10y ago
    Sounds like your roof was not all that high. In the article I think they said the roof was 25 feet, which would very severely injure you (at least) if you fell off.
durandal1 10y ago
As a kid, me and my friends would climb any roof we could. Of course adults would chase us down if they saw us, but we would just do it again when they were gone. This was rural Sweden in the 80s. You don't want to raise conformist children, you want to raise rebels.
- sosborn 10y ago
  > You don't want to raise conformist children, you want to raise rebels. I disagree. I want my kids to be smart enough to know when to conform and when to rebel. Time and place :)
- eliwjones 10y ago
  You don't raise a rebel by telling them it's okay to play on the roof. You raise a rebel by telling them "I don't want to see you on that motherfucking roof!" Then, when they are ready, they will go to the roof. You provide the back pressure and their job is to overcome it. How much back pressure? That's an exercise left to the parent. For my money, I want the few rebels who survive helicopter parents. These kids may be milquetoast with no sense of evaluating risk.

barry-cotter 10y ago

> Yes, but most kids are not allowed or encouraged to play on their roofs. If they were, the rate of injury would likely be much higher. I used to play on the roof of our shed. I have no idea what I did up there but I think it was mostly being deliberately up high. I dangled and jumped many times and jumped at least once before deciding that kind of hurt and deciding not to do it again. You overestimate the stupidity of children who are familiar with the concept of consequences. I also had my thumbnails fall off multiple times after hitting them with hammers and burned off the skin on my little finger once on a stovetop seeing exactly what these burns were that were so scary. I never even broke a bone and I have less than five wounds that should have received stitches. I had a boring, safe childhood.

wonder_er 10y ago
Same. I spent lots of time on the roof of our house. I'd jump off into the snow, sometimes, or sometimes just onto the dirt. Loved it. I hope my kids get a similar experience.
- duderific 10y ago
  Sounds like your roof was not all that high. In the article I think they said the roof was 25 feet, which would very severely injure you (at least) if you fell off.

durandal1 10y ago

As a kid, me and my friends would climb any roof we could. Of course adults would chase us down if they saw us, but we would just do it again when they were gone. This was rural Sweden in the 80s. You don't want to raise conformist children, you want to raise rebels.

sosborn 10y ago
> You don't want to raise conformist children, you want to raise rebels. I disagree. I want my kids to be smart enough to know when to conform and when to rebel. Time and place :)
eliwjones 10y ago
You don't raise a rebel by telling them it's okay to play on the roof. You raise a rebel by telling them "I don't want to see you on that motherfucking roof!" Then, when they are ready, they will go to the roof. You provide the back pressure and their job is to overcome it. How much back pressure? That's an exercise left to the parent. For my money, I want the few rebels who survive helicopter parents. These kids may be milquetoast with no sense of evaluating risk.