By Lina Bryce
Despite the statistical facts that show that kids are much safer today, and FBI crime reports showing America is still getting safer, the 24-hour news cycle would have us parents believing otherwise.
Children experiencing the simple pleasures of playing freely while observing and interacting with the world around them have all been lost to the growing irrationality, that the children need to be protected from everything. They would have called us “Free-Range” children. In contrast to where “Helicopter Parenting” is more the norm, these hovering parental units are producing a bunch of whiney, self-entitled, needy, know-it-alls, who when push comes to shove, never learned how to resolve a conflict without their parents intervening.
Lighten up, parents. It was more dangerous back then-yes, it was-our parents only heard bad news at the five-o’clock and eleven-o’clock news segments. Today’s 24-hour news cycle has created a natural negativity bias and it’s time we recognize this and unplug, or at least use some common sense. We survived a helmet-free, carseat-free, hose-water drinking era. But most of all, we developed something you can sign your kid up for at the YMCA… common sense.
So, cut the cord, turn off of the T.V., and reminisce on some of the things we did as children that they can no longer enjoy in their innocence.
#1. PLAYING WITH TOY GUNS
“BANG! You’re dead!”
“Hope your mom knows a good lawyer.”
With so much media hype on gun violence, all common sense has been thrown out the window. Children always played cops and robbers, used bows and arrows, and even sling shots as weapons to play with. Today, if a child so much as uses his fingers as a pretend gun, they are suspected of being cold-blooded killers.
There is a value to role-playing with props such as weapons, it would be a hard sell to someone who is anti-violence, but as one author writes, it’s O.K. for kids to play with toy guns, as it can help develop a fundamental sense of morality.
HuffPost Parents writes:
Will weapon play lead to violent character traits? The simple answer is no. Violent people typically display warning signs that include cruelty to animals, extreme isolation and rejection and a feeling of being persecuted and misunderstood. Pretend weapon play for kids brings the opposite. It’s social, cooperative and part of developing morality. Kids recognize weapons hold power, and they explore power and fears in their play. Instead of picking on play themes, our real job is to help kids cope with emotions and conflict.
RELATED: School Suspends 6-year-old for Pointing Finger Like Gun
#2. KEEPING SCORE
No scores! Kids don’t need that kind of pressure right now! They are inundated with their parents’ incessant need to over schedule them with organized extracurricular activities.
This is probably the biggest killjoy of all: The constant need to protect our precious snowflakes from the disappointment of losing to the better team. They think that children would stress over this “unnecessary competition”, so everyone gets a trophy. Everyone wins! Nobody loses!
They are wrong.
There was a time when competition was recognized as the driving force of America’s greatness. Now we competitive types are looked upon as evil-doers, who want to crush little spirits just because we are keeping score.
News flash, parents! Kids are keeping score anyway, so why not let them revel in it and learn a bit of math too, while they’re at it. Let them learn know what it’s like to lose to a better team while they are still young enough benefit from the lesson as well as the awesome thrill of beating the other little league team fair and square!
#3. PLAYING DODGEBALL
Stop pressuring our children with this institutionalized bullying!
My kids love playing Punch Buggy whenever we’re in the car together. Remember that one?
“Punch Buggy Yellow!”, WHACK!
I’m certain that it isn’t an approved travel game in most families today. Just a hunch.
Another childhood favorite that has become a major “no-no” is Dodgeball. It’s mostly banned in school playgrounds because they claim it to be some sort of “institutionalized bullying”. Who says the bully wins, anyway? Wasn’t the best part the ability to get away with pegging that kid that had been bothering you all year-long and getting away with it? The satisfaction of wiping the smirk off his face with that maroon-colored rubber ball?
I digress.
I never would have thought to feel humiliated about this competitive sport, unless some over-bearing adult said so. Making hyperbolic claims that a sport would traumatize a child is not only crazy and irrational, but it is hurting more than it is helping. Just stop the nonsense.I don’t know anyone who doesn’t hold some sort of fond memory of this game. If you are one of the few who loathed it, I’m guessing you just weren’t very good at it.
So, have your little rebels play Duck, Duck, Goose, engage in a Snowball Fight, and start-up a round of Musical Chairs with their friends. None of which are deemed “appropriate” in a child’s world today.
#4. SLEDDING
Nope. Not allowed. No sledding for you!
At least, on government-owned properties anyway, which is where it’s safest to sled in all likelihood. Of all the dangerous implications of child’s play, sledding is one of them! Although the exact numbers of sledding bans isn’t recorded, more cities are prompted to ban sledding due to liability concerns. A New York Lawyer says so:
Most people realize that cities must restrict potentially dangerous activities to protect people and guard against costly lawsuits, said Kenneth Bond, a New York lawyer who represents local governments. In the past, people might have embraced a Wild West philosophy of individuals being solely responsible for their actions, but now they expect government to prevent dangers whenever possible.
Maybe it’s time to take some of that liability away from the public, hmm?
#5. RUN A LEMONADE STAND
There’s a war on corporations in this country and it begins with your kid’s lemonade stand!
There’s a war alright! It’s the war against teaching children the value of hard work, entrepreneurship and good old-fashioned American capitalism.
Texas sisters Andria, 8, and Zoey Green, 7, wanted to raise about $100 to take their dad to Splash Kingdom as a Father’s Day present, so they set up a traditional neighborhood lemonade stand.
Cops shut it down because Texas law prohibits the sale of any food items that could spoil without proper temperature control and lemonade is included. In addition to a permit, a health inspection must take place before a permit is granted.
Seriously, Texas?
The real lesson these sisters walked away with was the hard lesson that pitfalls of an economy absent of a free market. Remember girls, you are free to make money and start a business, just don’t cross that line…and that line…oh! And THAT line, too. In fact, forget about working, just ask the government to pay for dad’s gift.
#6. PLAYGROUND FIGHTS
Sometimes, kids need to duke it out. Not all conflicts at this age can be resolved through diplomacy and communication.
If there was a kid who bullied everyone, eventually, he would get his. No one is advocating for fist fights over every little tiff. I certainly wouldn’t advocate being proud of a child who was fist-fighting, but rather be proud of the fact that my child chose not to be a victim in that scenario.
Today, they’d both be sent to the principal’s office, suspended, or worse. Facts don’t matter anymore and justice, even less. The reality is that sometimes it’s the only way to stop a bully from beating another child. A banner suggesting “Zero Tolerance On Bullying” in a school hallway is just as effective as posting a “Gun Free” Zone sign in the doorway stopping a deranged shooter.
Oh, and if you enjoyed the classic film A Christmas Story? It may be too “scary” for children to watch too. People are seriously questioning if Classic Christmas Movies are Too Scary For Today’s Kids?
They aren’t trolling you.
#7. PLAYING AT THE PLAYGROUND – UNSUPERVISED. ON EQUIPMENT MADE OF METAL. OH MY!
Are you kidding me? Today, there is a movement to ban trampolines, there is no way children would be able to climb a jungle gym. Good luck finding anyone who would take the risk in liability putting anything like this on a playground today. Unattended? The police would be called to take you away.
Yes, times have changed and in many ways, playground equipment have gotten more sensible. However, sometimes people take the idea of safety a bit too far, leaving little enticement to go to the playground anymore. The jungle gym has become a childhood relic along with the see-saw and merry-go-round, and other playground equipment they don’t make like they used to.
Ellen Sandseter, professor of psychology at Queen Maud University in Norway thinks that there is such a thing as playgrounds being too safe.
Children need to encounter risks and overcome fears on the playground. I think monkey bars and tall slides are great. As playgrounds become more and more boring, these are some of the few features that still can give children thrilling experiences with heights and high-speed.
She concludes by saying that “if you just think about danger you’re never going to get ahead in life.”
#8. RIDE YOUR BIKE TO SCHOOL
It’s unsafe. It’s cruel! How could you make your kids ride to school all by themselves?!
Actually, they love the freedom, not to mention, it’s also giving them much-needed exercise.
As childhood obesity rates continue to rise, schools and parents look for ways to get kids off the couch. But statistics show that the number of students who walk or ride their bikes to school has dropped from 48% in 1969 to just 13% in 2009.
Parents are more concerned about the government mandating dietary restrictions for the sake of health, but ignore the face that they are getting less activity. We live in the world illustrated in the film Wall-E.
#9. PLAYING WITH FIRE
Kids used to satisfy their curiosity of reaching for the stars, and it was encouraged. They might shoot off home-made bottle rockets or perform science experiments. It was all good.
Science was made fun so that children wanted to learn more about it. It also made them safer by being keenly aware of the consequences. What sometimes starts out as a little bit of kids having fun can also result in the fulfillment of a life-long dream for some. People like Homer Hickam, one of the “Rocket Boys”-a story that the film October Sky documented.
Hmm… reasonable threat and knowledge of making explosives? Be careful, Stacey and Homer. Today, you would be on some Terrorist Watch List if you tried to pull any of these stunts.
#10. WORKING A PAPER ROUTE
Or working at all before your teens. That would be breaking child labor laws today.
It was a great way for my husband to earn some money, get some fresh air, exercise, buy baseball cards, and chewing gum. He developed a sense of personal responsibility, pride, and a bit of pocket-money before the age of 14. Today, you are more likely to see an adult driving a wagon around to deliver the paper, if it’s delivered at all. The main idea is that sometimes, well-intentioned laws end up having unintended consequences. Sure, it was cheaper labor for the paper, but that was okay as far as my husband was concerned. Best of all, he never asked his parents for a dime.
Today, parents are too frightened to give children this bit of responsibility. Now parents are paying their own children to earn “A’s” on their report card.