50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do — Endorsed by the NY Times! [View All]

[HuckleB]

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/50-dangerous-things-you-should-let-your-kids-do-endorsed-by-the-ny-times/

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/opinion/03sun4.html?_r=1

"Rearing a child is already a journey through self-doubt and guilt, and now here comes Gever Tulley to say we’re doing it wrong, and that what we really need to do is hand our young ones power tools and let them lick nine-volt batteries.

Mr. Tulley is a pedagogical theorist, though not an academic one. He wrote a book, soon to be out from Penguin, and founded the Tinkering School, near San Francisco, whose students do their work with PVC pipe and two-by-fours.

His argument: Children should get out more. They should learn to work with their hands, not just their Nintendo thumbs. Because if they don’t, they risk stunting their independence, ingenuity, curiosity and competence.

Mr. Tulley’s book, “Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do),” is a rebuke to a world of blunt-edged scissors, insipid molded-plastic playground equipment and perpetual parental anxiety. He believes parents don’t recognize what is most likely to endanger children (car trips, corn syrup). And he says that by engaging in seemingly (or mildly) risky exploration and play, children can become better problem-solvers and judges of risk. Children who don’t get acquainted with trivial danger (No. 5: Stick Your Hand Out the Window; No. 28: Climb a Tree), he says, don’t recognize real danger or can’t handle it when it comes.

..."

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Link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Dangerous-Things-Should-Children/dp/0984296107/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286173755&sr=8-1

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In our world of fear, and that world may be even more overbearing for parents, it's good to see a few voices of reason. Let's let kids be kids, and people be people. (And, no, that doesn't mean parents and kids should shirk responsibility or go sky diving without a parachute.)

:hi: