Joanne Jacobs links to a British educator who states the obvious - well, it's obvious to everyone outside of the education world, that is.
Of course, schools are bound by law to be concerned with children's safety. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's motto, 'That which does not kill me makes me strong', is catchy, but it makes poor childcare advice. But the culture of fear has rarely resulted in reasonable policies and accurate information. In fact, reactions are likely to prove more harmful to children's development and education than the risk from which they are being protected.
For example, in the early 1980s the TV programme That's Life ran a series of stories on the risks of school playground surfaces causing head injuries, showing films of china plates smashing on the floor. But children's heads have little in common with china plates, and serious head injuries from falls do not appear at all in the statistics on playground injuries.
When a 15-year-old boy tragically drowned in a pond in 2000, a national newspaper launched a campaign, backed by politicians and other public figures, urging parents to fill in their garden ponds. It is indeed true, as TV presenter Esther Rantzen solemnly put it, that 'toddlers can die in the shallowest of water'. But should one accident lead us to abolish water from children's experiences?...
An overcautious approach makes for dull environments. Such environments present too little challenge for children, and some children respond by looking for other opportunities for adventure, sometimes with much greater risk of personal injury.
I believe I learned to swim by falling into a lake, although my grandmother was pretty quick to yank me out by my heels. I also got knocked out when some kid climbing down a metal jungle gym wasn't looking below him and kicked me in the head and off the contraption entirely. If I recall correctly, that kid got a talking-to from the principal like I've never seen before - but the jungle gym stayed in place. I'm sure it's been replaced now with safer plastic construction, but as long as kids continue to be kids, the dangers will be there. Better to have them learn the rules in a reasonably-safe environment than to try to remove all risk entirely.
Update: Perhaps I should clarify. When I say that parents should not be over-cautious, and should allow their children to roam and risk danger, I don't mean this (first letter). Or this. Allowing children to experience danger doesn't mean abdicating all sense and responsibility, or letting your young daughters spend a lot of time around complete idiots.
Posted by kswygert at November 29, 2004 11:44 AM