Children are over valued in many respects - I know that sounds harsh but it is a fact - in as much as many have commodified them, use them as a form of trophy or live vicariously through them -

for some they are symbols of our own success - and because we have so few of the bugggers those we do have must be "good" hence we sue every bastard we can if we get a dodgy one - whether its bad luck or negligence it is of utmost importance these days to get compensation.

Accidents no longer happen - merely copmensable events.

We mollicoddle them against the dangers that were ever present - no more now than in the past - its just that we hear of every little disaster that befalls us frail humans these days and think there's one around every corner - The only thing some kids inherit is communal paranoia and a perverse innapropriate sense of granduer

All my kids have had as much if not more freedom and opportunities to take risks and experience life than I ever did and they're not dead yet - or whacked out on dope - or victims of pedophiles - or terrorists for that matter - the greatest threat they face is instituionalised dept from spiralling HECS fees and house prices 4 times the average annual income of most Australians.

The world is going slowly mad and this is just a symptom

One only needs to look at the ridiculous punishment of little boys, accused of sexual harassment or assault. This is not to say that there is sometimes inappropriate behaviour, which in the past may have resulted in a whack across the backside.

Kids who are lazy
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21007150-5006029,00.html

It really sounds like in order to protect children we are not allowing them to grow up and as a subsequence will more than likely produce a generation of neurotic adults incapable of taking responsibility for their own behaviour and are forever dependent and reliant on their parents.

There is no doubt that kids need to make their own mistakes from a very early age. Various people I know were horrified when my (then) 14 month old got a blood nose because she did a face-plant off a kids lounge. I could of (and should of according to this lot) simply stopped her from standing up on it in the first place. My preferred approach was to constantly tell her in a "warning" voice that it was dangerous, she would get hurt, to sit down please. But of course being a toddler, she continued on and inevitably took a dive off. Result: LOTS of tears and the first bleeding nose. It would have really hurt - I'd hate to have it happen to me! But the point is, that at some stage she will get hurt doing something, and so much the better that she learns early that when Mum or Dad warn that something is dangerous, or to sit down, that they are saying it for a reason. Result - now 18 months old, she rarely hesitates to follow a sit-down instruction. She learnt the hard way (but not in a situation that would seriously endanger her), that parents warn about things for a reason.

In the same way, kids need to be allowed to make mistakes about all aspects of life. Preferably they should make those mistakes early, and in the supervision of a caring adult, who can help pick up the pieces (hopefully unbroken) and put the situation in context.

The Australian Scout Jamboree is on in Victoria at present. Anyone who has ever been to a jamboree and seen what the youth members (11 to 15 year olds) are capable of would never sit in judgement of children as being lazy, less resilient or less caring than previous generations. Of course children want to contribute and they also want outdoors excitement and adventure. There is a visiting day, go and look.

What many peoople forget is that to become resilient children have to be allowed to take risks (within reason) and have some decision-making capacity to encourage their growing independence. They also need to have ongoing contact and support from mum and dad. That is more than an hour or so a day when they and their parents are tired.

However the TV and videos are used to baby sit from a young age, not because the parents are always busy doing necessary things but often because they do not know how to include children in the mundane, but enjoyable and bonding, things of life. It is not all about 'chores', children love to help with the cooking and shopping.

Once the grandparents, aunts, uncles and older cousins had more of a role and 'parenting' was shared by many relatives. So a child could spend time helping uncle while he cleaned out the garage or tilled the vege garden. Boys and girls observed and took part in caring for infants - how many people over (say) 50 can remember the fun of learning child care through helping out in the extended family?

What is going wrong has nothing to do with the children, rather it is a consequence of a society that is obsessed with material things and values individuality above community.

The 'wrapping of children in cotton wool' is only illusory, what is really happening is that some parents expect carers and teachers to perform their parenting role for them and they will take out their guilt on these professionals where it (the parenting) is not being done 'satisfactorily'. Teaching and care professionals reluctantly react with more 'rules'.

sneekeepete,
An old meatloaf song "you took the words right out of my mouth" we have become a lunatic litigious society, again following the yanks in everything they say or do. I lament this because we once had an "Australian" identity, which had it's own language and a preety fair standard of living for all, how times have changed, I feel sorry for our children.

If generating a risk-free environment in the community (child care, preschool, school, public spaces etc etc) is regarded as necessary and achievable then the concept of an accident becomes virtually redundant i.e. there must be a foreseeable cause for an adverse event and the failure to recognise and act on it, in advance, is proof of negligence.
Such a philosophy negates the need for taking personal responsibility for what happens to you while you are outside your home. Even then it might be the fault of the builder, the land lord or the supplier of services or appliances.
We really have gone totally mad. The cost of the pursuit of avoiding risks has not been evaluated against the benefits that might accrue from equal effort in other quarters. Teaching self reliance and respect for others could be a good starting exercise.
The promulgation of me and my rights to a hazard-free environment does not promote responsible behaviour.Why do we persist in referring to outrageous driving behavior that culminates in serious injury or death as a road accident? Maintaining your vehicle and driving to prevailing conditions is hardly onerous.
I am not advocating abandoning "reasonable" precautions . It all hinges on what is reasonable. The community seems to have lost control of the definition of reasonable to those who seek a living from litigation, those who are fearful of litigation and those who sell "safety" products. Safety is now used to sell product by generating fear of events that have an extremely low probability of occuring and would be of little consequence if they did.
I recommend Sally Gare's latest book "The Triumph of the Airheads" to anyone interested in shifting our community back toward reality.