The overprotected kid

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by kevman

Oh man so true! All kids need is some dirt to play in.

And a stick. You gotta have some kinda stick.

[CubicleGeek]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Do they still have piles of dirt?
The best playgrounds ever were the dirt farms in new communities with all that sifted topsoil that cushioned every fall no matter where you jumped from.

Haha! I hear ya. I grew up in small town Alberta and my parents worked a lot, so I grew up mostly independent. Just remember childhood of going to school every morning by myself as early as Grade 1, playing with my friends until it got dark - curfew was how much of an ass-kicking I was willing to take that day.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Mother Teresa

That thing was amazing, I remember how intimidating it was at first. I was hoping you'd say Midnapore elementary so I could tell you it was ours and you were trespassing.

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

That thing was amazing, I remember how intimidating it was at first. I was hoping you'd say Midnapore elementary so I could tell you it was ours and you were trespassing.

Hahaha... That was always such a feud lol. I remember the monkey bars being very high off the ground and in the winter we'd jump off the top of them into the snow.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

Why the strong reaction? My kids are not in those programs, but I've often thought it sounded like a good idea.

Kids doing 15 hours a week in hockey or dance or whatever are probably spending 2-3 times the amount of time on that than math, or reading or whatever. It's always felt a bit backward to me.

Learning to be competitive, work on a team, take direction, etc are life skills are NOT taught in a classroom and correlate with success and happiness as much or more IMO.

We focus on academics too much I think. Certainly applying yourself in school is crucial, but social skills, teamwork skills, competition, leadership, perseverance are unique learnings with extracurricular activities.

Take a look at some of the most successful people you know. How much of their success is due to academics?


We need to stop judging kids future success by academics. It's much more fluid than that.

As my Mom told me when my oldest son was 5 "Don't worry about having the best 5 year old. Help him be the best 30 year old you can"

[burn_this_city]

They had no claim, it was on our side of the field. If I remember correctly they staggered recess so we wouldn't fight over it.

[getbak]

The playground at my elementary school was made entirely of old tires. It was great, but in the summer, it became extremely hot under the sun. I'm sure many kids suffered burns from it.

[Daradon]

Ours sounded very similar. Three tiers. Maybe 3 feet each, some parts at the top a good 10 foot jump if you wanted to get crazy.

I remember a time even before they put they pebble gravel in, there was just mud. Which given our winters was frozen most the school year. By the time I got to grade 3 or so, they added a layer of gravel for safety cause too many kids were twisting and breaking things doing jumps onto the hard ground.

That was our safety improvement. Gravel! Hah!

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

So

Study shows that studies show what studies show...

i beleive that only 4 out 5 studies showed this. The studies were deemed to be 90% accurate 8 out of 12 times......

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Jacks

In the late 70's we were told to get the hell out of the house and don't come back until we are hungry, hurt or it gets dark.

Had tons of cuts, bruises, stitches, etc. These days they would probably be investigating for child abuse.

This might fall into "cool story bro" territory, but my parents actually were investigated by the CPA at one point. I'm the oldest of 5 boys in our family, and we played sort of rough. Nothing crazy, but there was always one of us getting hurt. I remember during a one month span four of us ended up going to the hospital for various things. Fingers getting slammed in doors, falling off bikes, suspected concussion from riding our bikes down the stairs in the house......finally I ended up in the hospital when my parents ran me over with their car.

We were living in Utah at the time and it was winter. My mom was leaving to go to the store and I ran out to say something to her and slipped on some ice, then slid right under the car. She ended up backing out over my legs.....then when she felt the bump put the car in drive and ran over them again. She completely freaked out when she got out of the car and saw what she ran over. Rushed me to the hospital, and while I was getting x-rays someone from Child Protection Agency came over and talked to her. Apparently a hospital worker reported her. They came out to the house a few times after that to inspect the environment we were living, found nothing worse than a bunch of rambunctious boys and eventually left us alone.

Fast forward twenty years and I've got two kids of my own, and a wife that was raised in a much different environment. Her mother is a worrier, and passed the gene on to my wife. We constantly have disagreements because we have very different opinions on acceptable risk with kids. Fortunately we're both very good at compromising, and I think in the end the kids have a good mix of adventure/safety in their life.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

I remember during a one month span four of us ended up going to the hospital for various things. Fingers getting slammed in doors, falling off bikes, suspected concussion from riding our bikes down the stairs in the house......finally I ended up in the hospital when my parents ran me over with their car.

Haha, and they worry that a kid might fall a few feet at the park.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Daradon

We had one of those too, tore it down a few years after I left, went to visit it and was saddened.

St. Wilfred?

St Wilfred was awesome.

[RedCoffee]

when did this happen? when did unorganized sports become organized sport?

how many of you were hit in the head by a swinging tetherball?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by RedCoffee

when did this happen? when did unorganized sports become organized sport?

Edmonton Oilers?

[Bunk]

The discussion from parents on facebook and stuff on this seems to revolve around the difficulty when there are so many other overprotective parents. Only kinda works when others have others with similar perspectives on parenting. Otherwise, your kid will be out and about by themselves, and judgmental parents apply the peer pressure that you're somehow neglectful.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by fotze

This study assumes that academic performance is the end all and be all. Why use that as the barometer?

I know folks whose children's extra-curricular activities do not include sports but are Kumon and math/school related. These are not because the child is struggling either. That makes me want to vomit. Something tells me this study would be confirmation of that behavior.

I agree with your sentiment, and I think a bigger problem is the reverse. Kids are so over-burdened with homework that their parents take them out of all sports and activities. I do think that 13 hours a week seems a reasonable target to stay under though.

[SeeBass]

Every time I hear the words "play date" I just want to slap them

[getbak]

Originally Posted by RedCoffee

how many of you were hit in the head by a swinging tetherball?

I was playing tetherball one time and a kid punched me in the nose after I beat him. When the teachers saw me bleeding, we said that the tetherball hit me in the face.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by getbak

I was playing tetherball one time and a kid punched me in the nose after I beat him. When the teachers saw me bleeding, we said that the tetherball hit me in the face.

Always let the Wookie win.

[Badger Bob]

More and more, the standards are set by engineers and technical experts and lawyers, with little meaningful input from “people who know anything about children’s play,”

Very little, if any, of the current situation would be directly because of engineers or technical staff. Instruction comes from up above. They're just doing what's they're told.

The wild card, here, is the lawyers. So much liability and fear of getting sued. That's infected other aspects of the culture.

Then look at all the emphasis on bullying. This is not a recent phenomenon. Bigger kids shoved smaller kids into lockers as long as there's been schools. Threats, intimidation and harm can't always be avoided. It's better to equip children with problem solving skills, which will better serve them later in life.