I allow my child to ride a bike, despite the risks of her falling off and getting serious injuries. However, I mitigate these risks by making sure she wears a helmut, knows the rules of the road, only rides on very quiet streets or bike paths, etc. If I truly wanted to avoid all risks, she wouldn't be able to ride her bike at all. However, I don't think that that is in her best interests.
Every time I take my daughters in the car with me, I take the risk that we will be struck by a drunk driver. The risk of this occurring is much greater than the risk of my daughters getting kidnapped and murdered by a stranger in wal-mart (particularly when they are there together, holding hands). And yet, we still go out on the roads. I accept these risks because I think it is better for my children and I to go out into the world rather than stay home avoiding every potential risk.
I also feel that the value of children learning some measure of independence in reasonably controlled situations also outweighs what I perceive are the minimal risks.
It's not that I don't worry about these things - I am human after all, and trust me - despite comments on this board, I doubt that any parent could love their child any more than I love mine (certainly as much though
). However, I refuse to my life (and have my children live their lives) in constant fear. We are all aware of the risks, do what we can to minimize them
within reason , and pray to a higher power that we manage to avoid what we can't control.
As a previous poster mentioned, parenting is about balance. Balancing the risks vs. developing a healthy sense of independence. While I can certainly see how parents can become obsessed with keeping their kids safe by avoiding all risk, I just tend to think that as a society, our risk-taking is all out of whack. The same parent that won't let their child go to the bathroom alone, may let their child ride in the front seat of the car, or feed them a high fat diet that may lead to serious health complications (certainly not referring to the OP, just in general!). None of us can avoid every risk in life.
To be honest, when I made my original post, I didn't really mean to stir up so much controversy. It's just that the seemingly constant posts about NEVER letting children out of parents' eyesight is a sad commentary on our perception of society as a whole.
I don't recall reading anyone suggesting they were a better parent than the next person. We all want to keep our children (or grandchildren in my case) safe. It's how we get there where we don't all agree. There's nothing wrong with a healthy discussion.
And actually SHE didn't really call people lazy parents, she just suggested maybe that was the reason people weren't watching their children appropriately!!!
