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Exactly. The risk to which we expose kids must ramp from "as close to zero as we can make it" for newborns, to "non-permanent injuries are acceptable" during c
by donw 4y ago
Exactly.
The risk to which we expose kids must ramp from "as close to zero as we can make it" for newborns, to "non-permanent injuries are acceptable" during childhood, and, while this is incredibly unpopular, "serious injury or death" needs to start creeping onto the table during the teenage years.
No, I'm not advocating for burying landmines on football fields, which is what safety cultists would have you believe ("You can never be too safe!" is their customary mantra). But teens need to engage in dangerous activities in order to develop fully into adults, meaning that a non-zero number are going to be maimed, crippled, or killed.
And yes, I have kids, and once they're old enough, they're going to do seriously dangerous stuff. Maybe one will break his neck end up in a wheelchair from downhill mountain biking. Or get stabbed and bleed out during a fight. Or lose a hand while working with power tools. Or...
I can and will do my best to prepare them, to train them to make good decisions, but what I can't do is try and keep them locked in a crib for their entire lives, because if I did, they would never develop the skills to handle real-world dangerous, life-or-death situations.