Can A Playground Be Too Safe?

Have we gotten too protective of our children when it comes to risk of injury? Is it possible that the current generation of children are more afraid of getting hurt than willing to try something that has a small element of risk?  Are we raising a generation of "soft" children or are we protecting them from real danger?

I have done some reading about this topic and have discovered some interesting articles that tackle this issue.  The first, from The New York Times, is an article called "Can A Playground Be Too Safe?" It suggests that children need to encounter risks to overcome fears.  While some worry that a child who suffers a bad fall will develop a fear of heights, studies have shown the opposite result occurs. The article suggests that a child who’s hurt in a fall before the age of 9 is less likely as a teenager to have a fear of heights. "Paradoxically, we posit that our fear of children being harmed by mostly harmless injuries may result in more fearful children and increased levels of psychopathology.”

My favorite line in the article was said by a ten year old:

"If you just think about danger you’re never going to get ahead in life.”       


Read the full article here.