I’m all for keeping kids safe, but sometimes I think we’ve taken things too far.
When I was growing up, life was a free-for-all. We didn’t have childproof cabinet latches, table corner protectors, electrical outlet covers, safety gates, bike helmets, knee and elbow pads, anti-tip furniture straps, and rubber playground surfaces. Most of the time, even adult supervision was largely nonexistent.
About the only requirement in a parent’s safety arsenal back then were training wheels, and that’s if the hand-me-downs from your brother’s bike weren’t already broken by the time they got passed down to you. We didn’t even wear seat belts until I was in my mid-teens.
We played by Darwin’s rules, and most of us survived and were made stronger as a result of our many bumps, bruises, burns, and broken bones. We played with illegal fireworks, flaming tennis balls, slingshots and steel ball-bearings, bows and arrows, and BB-guns. We had chemistry sets with which we concocted powerful explosives. The parent’s medicine cabinet and booze cupboard were readily accessible. We experimented with household electricity, backyard ballistics, and rocket propulsion.
But sadly, those days are gone, killed by the world’s do-gooders, lawyers, and marketing specialists.
It seems like you can’t turn around these days without seeing some warning against a myriad of stupid behaviors, planted on the products we buy by manufacturing companies looking to avoid a lawsuit. They figure if they tell you it’s dangerous to let little Johnny play with plastic bags, then when the kid asphyxiates himself by showing his buddies how long he can go without air, the parents can’t sue.
When I was a boy, the only warning I remember was against climbing into abandoned refrigerators and letting the door close behind you. As a result, I was scared shitless of refrigerators when I was growing up. To this day, I’m still leery of having my back to one, figuring it’s going to sneak up from behind and grab me.
Yes, those old refrigerators are still around. And despite all the safety devices and warnings, growing up is still a dangerous thing.
Excellent commentary and oh so true!