Quoteas long as I was home when I said I would be home

same here.  And for Sue. She was in trouble when they returned from living in Australia (age and stopped out until dark.  She had no idea that it was nearly 10 at night. 

I had a collection of pocket knives. The best are now owned by Lucy, but she keeps them in a draw largely.

We have helicopter parented her compared with my life.  We have tried not to. But at 6 I was playing down the fields until evening, and at 14 I was brewing my own beer. The mate I go sailing with was bought a shandy at 10 years old. It never crossed my mind she should be doing any of that, and she never showed signs of wanting to break out. We always tried to spend time with her, so there was no time for her to go feral. We played in the streams together, climbed in the Lakes district, went campig, rides on my motorbike, trips out off road cycling, swimming in the river etc etc.

Has it harmed her? I do think so in some ways. In that she is definitely less resilient than I think I was at her age.... but University has made he grow up quicker in the last 3 years. Car crashes, relationship issues, money management and work related problems to overcome.

So perhaps it just comes later.

What are the risks of helicopter parenting if thats what we did?

Off the top of my head, I think  the Inability to stand on your own feet, make your own decisions and stand by the consequences. Having the confidence to move forward, and believing you can do.  A big chunk of that is a nature as well as nurture.  You are supposed to be the sum of the 5 people you spend most time with.  Well if 2 of those have been Sue and myself, then I am happy with that.

We will only hear about the bad stuff in the media, and I believe the world I live in is a better place than the one I lived in 40 or 50 years ago. People got away with bad stuff then. now its less likely.

I wonder if the big problem is not so much the parents driven by fear, but the tech. A parent can now ignore their children, and instead of running off to play with whoever is out there, said children sit playing on their ipad or phone doing nothing.

related to the insulated childhood sub-topic:

U.S. playgrounds are boringly safe. New designs add a whiff of danger

https://www.fastcompany.com/90874228/playground-design-innovations-danger-risk-diversity?partner=rss

>>U.S. playgrounds are boringly safe

This past weekend we were taking our kids out to go on a hike, play at a park, etc. and as I was driving I was trying to think of any good, old school playgrounds with a wooden play structure, metal slides, metal bar climbing structures, and other stuff I used to play on as a kid and couldn't really think of any in the area. There is a park about 40 minutes away with a pretty good wooden playground so we went to that but it was still a much "safer" design than the old school stuff.

A couple years ago we were visiting friends and went to their nearest park. It had a playground I would have loved as a kid. A low kiddie climbing wall, but high enough to sprain an ankle. Some complicated structures that you could climb and play and swing and definitely get hurt on. Honestly, all six adults spent quite a bit of time playing. So they definitely exist.

And BTW, this was a very very rural and very very small mountain community.

>low kiddie climbing wall, but high enough to sprain an ankle. Some complicated structures that you could climb and play and swing and definitely get hurt on.

I know of one playground in Isle Of Palms SC that is built with a low walking wall and teetering balance beams. The main structure is rebar, steel, and logging chain. Very well done, but looks different and challenging --almost ominous. Perfect!


School playground equipment in the year 1900 : pics

https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/50h4ne/school_playground_equipment_in_the_year_1900/

Okay... not as dangerous as a 1900 playground, but frankly, that looks genuinely dangerous for little kids, especially when fights break out on the high bar.