Picket Fence Post

That’s the conclusion of Philip K. Howard, who, in a Wall Street Journal piece entitled, “Why Safe Kids are Becoming Fat Kids,” said that by trying to rid our children’s lives of risks on the playground, we’re not only sucking fun out of their lives, but we’re driving them to the relative “safety” of TV, video games and computers where they sit, sloth-like, munch on Cheetos and gain another half-pound with each tick of the clock.

Quoting the American Academy of Pediatrics as saying that unstructured play is crucial to children’s development, Howard wrote:

“The harmful effects of our national safety obsession ripple outward into society. One in six children in America is obese, and many of them will face a lifetime of chronic illness. According to the Center[s] for Disease Control, this problem would basically cure itself if children engaged in the informal outdoor activities that used to be normal. But how do we lure children off the sofa? One key attraction is risk.”

He added that when we adults seek to eliminate pediatric risk — like the potential risks involved in falling from playground equipment, sledding or playing tag at recess — we rob the kids of their chance to figure out how to navigate such hazards in the future. And he’s right. If children don’t try to test their limits while under the care of engaged parents who do not hover and suffocate them, what are they going to do when they’re finally on their own, like, for example, at college?

Certainly I don’t want my kids to break their limbs, require stitches or sustain concussions, but I likewise don’t want them to be reticent to go outside in their backyard or school playgrounds and figure out how to play on their own without having adults there to guide their activities.