Society made them weak!

Throwing out old ideas in substitution of better ones is almost always a good thing. Even though the end result may be a good one because of these changes, there are often unforeseen and detrimental side effects. One great example is how society is almost entirely ridding our nation of old fashioned playgrounds. No more metal slide, merry-go-rounds, see-saws, or as some said, teeter totters. No more wooden structures or metal jungle gyms, and certainly no more tire forts, which were AWESOME. These were not the safest playground structures, but there's the glory of it which made it so fun. All of these things had an inherent risk that came along with their use, giving us a more exciting experience. One other thing that makes our playgrounds "safer" is new ground/play flooring. Instead of the traditional pebbles or wood chips we now have foam/rubber matting. With pebbles and even wood chips you could have wars by throwing them at each other, what can kids do now with these synthetic floors? The main reason that all of these things which make children safer are bad is they are making the kids grow up to be wimps. They don't get bruised, scraped, scratched and beat up as much and it's babying them. My generation learned to take it and walk it off, deal with it. In a way I suppose you could say that this made us tougher, stronger, and better because we've dealt with injury before.

This posts lesson: Let your kid fall off his bike and scrape his knee, let them play tackle football in your backyards, let them wrestle and horse around. Allow your children to have the experiences that teach them about the risk of injury and what it's like when it does happen. Your children will be tougher because of this and they will have a better life in the long run.

DISCLAIMER: I do not support reckless child endangerment nor am I encouraging it.