Safeguarding

With the recent abduction and subsequent killing of a teenage girl in our area, all the parents here are on full alert. Witness exhibit A...my wife and I going to the park with her parents and some of their friends from church. The couple from church were completely freaked out about having their children playing on a toy set not thirty-five feet from where we were sitting. We had them in plain view for the duration, although admittedly the toy's immense size did leave a few angles blocked from complete view. However, I just thought this was so over the top.

Don't get me wrong...the girl's plight is horrible, as is the thought of losing your own child (and if I had kids I might act the same way this couple did), but at some point don't we have to let people live their life and stop coddling them? I mean, I work in an industry where we design toys for kid's meals and it's well beyond ridiculous the amount of "dumbing down" we have to do to toys to make them safe to every single type of possible injury. We are so concerned that a child might harm themselves with a toy that we have become sissified. The very same threats have always been there...abduction is nothing new, kids choking on toys, etc. It's just nowadays, we place kids in a protective bubble so stifling it's amazing and we neatly package it as "protecting their best interests" or "making progress where previous attempts failed".

I say it's bullshit. The world has become lazy in it's parenting. Take for example the couple from last night. If they were so concerned about their children's possible abduction (from one of the safest suburbs in the area), instead of limiting them usage of this big toy why not get up off your butt and go play with them? Why not frolic in the park with them and be, oh I don't know, a PARENT!? Why is it the child has to suffer because people are too stupid or lazy to raise their kids? It's just like the safety precautions we follow with our toys we design. When I was a child I could have easily choked on a toy gun or accessory from a G.I. Joe figure or Transformer. But I didn't. And do you know why? Because my parents were smart enough to instill in me the good sense not to do that sort of thing. They also watched me and paid enough attention to me until the could sufficiently trust me to play on my own.

They did not let the TV babysit me, nor did they look to invent lawsuits for get rich quick schemes (like suing a fast food restaurant for your kid choking on a toy part when you, the parent, weren't paying attention). We always say the WW2 generation was so tough (and they were), then we say my generation was tough as kids, but this new generation is learning to be sheltered from everything. They cannot play with certain toys because toys have been redesigned because of lawsuits. They cannot go play down the street or across the neighborhood because of abductions. These threats have always been present, but we as a whole did a better job of raising our kids earlier than we do now.

We have to do better, because if we don't, not only will this generation become used to being sheltered and coddled, but what will future generations turn out like?