Back in the day, you didn't have to live in fear being out all day. Most of the time you just told your parents that you were going to be over at "Johnnies" house playing, and that was sufficient to explain your entire day. We didn't have cell phones back then, so if something came up, then your parents called Johnnie's parents and you were told to come home. If your parents didn't have Johnnie's parents number then they used the phone book, or asked your other friends parents how to reach them. Since we all traveled in the same circles someone would probably know how to get in touch with you at Johnnie's. If not, in all likelihood the police would never be involved. When you finally arrived home at dusk, or dinner time or whenever your time was, you would be told to make sure that you give Johnnies number to your parents so next time they would be able to contact you at Johnnie's.
But keeping in touch is just a minor difference. We used to do all kinds of dangerous things. We never had ultra high-tech child safety seats, and I doubt that many of the cars we traveled in had the seat belts to secure them. We played sports without pads, rode bikes without helmets, and had toy guns that actually shot plastic projectiles. We shot fireworks at fourth of July parties, and played ball in the street, and yet the survival rate was incredibly high.
Today it seems like the world has changed so radically from what it was just 25 years ago. Now kids have cell phones, and are rarely out of contact with their parents. They have all kinds of safety devices that are designed to protect them from every possible eventuality. The chances of getting hurt in today world are far less then the one I grew up in, and yet are kids really safer? Do all of the protections put in place to ensure their safety, keep them from getting hurt at the expense of their education about life's perils?
Where are all of the baby Jessica's? When is the last time a baby fell into a well in this country anyway? Don't you think baby Jessica learned her lesson about the peril of wells from her two day ordeal? I bet that she hasn't been as close as three feet from an open well in 15 years. I think the trauma of being stuck in a well combined with the stigma of being perpetually labeled "Baby Jessica" cured her of her curiosity about wells.
Now I'm not suggesting that we roll back all of the safety regulations of the last two decades. I guess that I'm saying that a little natural selection can be a good thing. I don't need to read the choking hazard warning label to know that small things might not make it down my esophagus, and the kid who tries to swallow the item so labeled is probably to young to read.
I think that it's time to use some good common sense. What was true way back in my day is just as true today. Sometimes you need to fall down a few times when learning to walk. Sometimes when fighting with sticks someone is going to lose an eye. That's just the way of the world. The magic is learning to look cool in an eye-patch.
- ND
