Allow your Kids to do Dangerous Things

My two older sisters and I all got lost at some point in our childhood. Debbie got lost in Taipei when she was around nine years old, Brenda in a department store, me at the beach.

And yet I still think my parents got it right – our generation of parents are so protective of our children that they have no idea how to do things themselves.

The Argument for Doing Dangerous Things

• Allow kids to learn how to assess risk.
• Learn to respect things by seeing the consequences first hand if you aren’t careful.
• Teach your kids to be independent. They will feel empowered knowing they can deal with hard/challenging/dangerous things in a safe way.

Gever Tulley’s TED Talk

Take a listen. I heard it back on a TED Radio Hour episode entitled “Growing Up”. It’s absolutely made a difference in the way I parent. My husband disagrees because he doesn’t want to risk one mistake to catastrophically change the lives of our kids forever, but I believe the risk is lower than he perceives.

What do you think about allowing your kids to do dangerous things? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me!