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Whenever this kind of opinion props up I wonder how far would you let your child to "fail"? Clearly we need our children to stumble and fail in a low-stake envi

Whenever this kind of opinion props up I wonder how far would you let your child to "fail"? Clearly we need our children to stumble and fail in a low-stake environment before they actually experience them later on in life. This naturally involves taking some risk. I remember being able to walk freely around the village pretty much without any supervision, I did get hurt a lot either from running into walls or getting scratches from sword play. The problem I see is that modern people have absolutely zero tolerance for "failure" in this regard. Clearly I could have been kidnapped, fallen into the river, fall from a tall tree, got run over by the cows or whatever. Let's face it, this comes with risk. But modern society can't seem to tolerate even a single dead children. Is that for the better? Maybe? But I think trying this has a long term cost. Trying to min/max risk taking and maintaining absolutely zero children suffer is just not going to work. We'll probably lose on both ends. Note: I have no children nor do I plan to. Exactly because I have no idea how to deal with them nor do I want them to suffer being with me lol

jeremyjh 3y ago
Yes, I grew up in a small town and pretty much had the run of it from the age of 6 or 7, and quite a lot of freedom even before that. My friends and I would be out all day, every day, all summer long - probably never more than two miles from home but definitely in that range. With my own kids I'm less protective than a lot of parents in my neighborhood but I wouldn't really be comfortable with that, certainly not at that age and even if I was none of their friends would be allowed to do that, most kids stay on their block or cul-de-sac.
seszett 3y ago
> modern society can't seem to tolerate even a single dead children You mean parents can't seem to tolerate even a single dead child. And that's true, especially when most parents only ever have one or two children. Obviously they don't want them to die. To parents, their children aren't an abstract idea or a number that they can rationalize away.
- kajaktum 3y ago
  > You mean parents can't seem to tolerate even a single dead child. And that's true, especially when most parents only ever have one or two children. If every parents react the same way then that is effectively the whole society no? Imagine the reaction of a modern day town if a child had broke their neck from the playground, what would the reaction? I wouldn't put demolishing the playground outside of the realm of possibility. > Obviously they don't want them to die. To parents, their children aren't an abstract idea or a number that they can rationalize away. Yea and this is why this is quite interesting to think about for me. In a way, perhaps it is better that failures to happen in small numbers many times, instead of 1 big societal level failure that only need to happen once. I think part of the problem is that people have access to global news today. Even 1 children choking on some candy or whatever from the other side of the globe would mean that every children would be stripped of this experience.
  - borski 3y ago
    > Imagine the reaction of a modern day town if a child had broke their neck from the playground, what would the reaction? This is extremely locale-dependent. In the US? There would be lawsuits, fences, height restrictions, and so on. In the Netherlands? They’d put up a sign, maybe.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  except when someone shoots up their school, it seems
  - seszett 3y ago
    I don't understand what you mean, but I might be missing something since school shootings aren't a thing here. Are you saying that parents don't care when their children are killed in a school shooting?
    - CatWChainsaw 3y ago
      In the US, it's society at large that doesn't care when children are killed, regardless of how parents feel. Half the country refuses, on principle, any further legislation regarding control of firearms, knowing the consequences, and choosing anyway.

jeremyjh 3y ago

Yes, I grew up in a small town and pretty much had the run of it from the age of 6 or 7, and quite a lot of freedom even before that. My friends and I would be out all day, every day, all summer long - probably never more than two miles from home but definitely in that range. With my own kids I'm less protective than a lot of parents in my neighborhood but I wouldn't really be comfortable with that, certainly not at that age and even if I was none of their friends would be allowed to do that, most kids stay on their block or cul-de-sac.

seszett 3y ago

> modern society can't seem to tolerate even a single dead children You mean parents can't seem to tolerate even a single dead child. And that's true, especially when most parents only ever have one or two children. Obviously they don't want them to die. To parents, their children aren't an abstract idea or a number that they can rationalize away.

kajaktum 3y ago
> You mean parents can't seem to tolerate even a single dead child. And that's true, especially when most parents only ever have one or two children. If every parents react the same way then that is effectively the whole society no? Imagine the reaction of a modern day town if a child had broke their neck from the playground, what would the reaction? I wouldn't put demolishing the playground outside of the realm of possibility. > Obviously they don't want them to die. To parents, their children aren't an abstract idea or a number that they can rationalize away. Yea and this is why this is quite interesting to think about for me. In a way, perhaps it is better that failures to happen in small numbers many times, instead of 1 big societal level failure that only need to happen once. I think part of the problem is that people have access to global news today. Even 1 children choking on some candy or whatever from the other side of the globe would mean that every children would be stripped of this experience.
- borski 3y ago
  > Imagine the reaction of a modern day town if a child had broke their neck from the playground, what would the reaction? This is extremely locale-dependent. In the US? There would be lawsuits, fences, height restrictions, and so on. In the Netherlands? They’d put up a sign, maybe.
red-iron-pine 3y ago
except when someone shoots up their school, it seems
- seszett 3y ago
  I don't understand what you mean, but I might be missing something since school shootings aren't a thing here. Are you saying that parents don't care when their children are killed in a school shooting?
  - CatWChainsaw 3y ago
    In the US, it's society at large that doesn't care when children are killed, regardless of how parents feel. Half the country refuses, on principle, any further legislation regarding control of firearms, knowing the consequences, and choosing anyway.