1 day ago: One year for Christmas I bought my 4 year old son a small shovel, a hammer and an inductive flashlight. For Easter of 2010 I bought him a bow and arrows. I teach him how to use spray paint, tools, and even let him help me start the fire in the winter. I am a HUGE proponent of everything this man says. We have become too protective and afraid as a society in the USA. The rest of the world is going to knock us down, take our lunch money and fly our pants from the flagpole if we don't start letting our kids take chances again.
via www.ted.com
I'm crafting a talk for an economic development group in Oakland County Michigan - and one of the themes I'm going to address is "How can you have a bleeding edge ... if you're afraid of a little blood?" With the evolution of helicopter parenting, we've exiled the concept of risk - and reward from too many heads of children.
Too much planning for the sake of eliminating risk is likely to make for a very predictable future. It also means that most of the real innovations and breakthroughs are going to come from those who have not been afflicted with such fears of risk and reward.
http://www.fiftydangerousthings.com/ - makes me wish I were a kid again - though I suspect that I was from a favored time when I did a lot of those things, and have a favorite few scars to prove it.
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