5 dangerous things you should let your children do

I agree, I loved taking apart stuff as a kid, and that gave me a mechanical interest today. Getting a pocket knife as a kid is a great memory.
 
Good Post!... Sad that some folks need to be told this. I'm sure their heart is in the right place, but you know what they say the road to hell is paved with...
 
The grade school my daughter attended took an annual trip to the Wyandotte caves every year. While this is rather a common the tour this school arranges is not. Most of us have either been on a cave tour or our kids have. But this was different. The school has the kids taken on the long tour. This mean hard hat, lights, pads, mud water and crawls as we went far past the strung lights of the short tours.


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I was a chaperon for my daughters trip and there were crawls like the on pictured where my back was scrapping the ceiling and my stomach was on the floor and I had to keep my head turned sideways for 30 yards. There was boulder climbing to deal with.

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and pipes that required the person below you to place your feet because they were too tight to be able to look down.


I took a tumble and opened a nice gash on my chin and several of the kids were scraped up and bruised. By the time the tour ended they were exhausted, muddy, cold, wet, filthy, and a little beat up.

Me
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my daughter
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a tight exit
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But as we were exiting the cave in all the caving gear we walked by a group of kids the same age going on the standard school tour...about 2 hours (we were in there for close to 7). They were wearing nice school clothes and just stared at us. Finally one of there teachers asked "where did they go" pointing at us. Their guide simply point towards a long drop pipe and said "they went down there".
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The teacher looked in the hole, which is chained off, looked at us and said "no way".

Our group stopped to let the other group clear the entrance stairs and as the kids walked by in their nice clothes I heard one of the girls from my group say "pussy tour...." under her breath but in a cave it still was loud enough for everyone to hear.and every kid in our group burst out laughing, and so did the guides...even the teachers were trying not to laugh. The kids who made that tour seemed to have found something in themselves and the confidence gained stayed with my daughter as I am sure it stayed with the other kids who made the trip. Sadly the school had to stop the tour, insurance and the school board decided it wasn't worth the risk...a real shame.
 
Absintheur said:
Our group stopped to let the other group clear the entrance stairs and as the kids walked by in their nice clothes I heard one of the girls from my group say "pussy tour...." under her breath but in a cave it still was loud enough for everyone to hear.and every kid in our group burst out laughing, and so did the guides...even the teachers were trying not to laugh. The kids who made that tour seemed to have found something in themselves and the confidence gained stayed with my daughter as I am sure it stayed with the other kids who made the trip. Sadly the school had to stop the tour, insurance and the school board decided it wasn't worth the risk...a real shame.
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And that is what started us down this path to pathetic... Every society had developed a right of passage for children to reach into adulthood. Granted some societies were probably wrong is what they did, but they did them for a reason. Spending $2000 on prom night is not a right of passage. :grumpy:
 
zenheretic said:
And that is what started us down this path to pathetic...
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Oh, don't worry. They'll show a video of Dora the Explorer traversing the cave. The kids will like that.



Every society had developed a right of passage for children to reach into adulthood. Granted some societies were probably wrong is what they did, but they did them for a reason. Spending $2000 on prom night is not a right of passage. :grumpy:
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How about "winning" a "participation award" trophy for soccer?
 
Spending $2000 on prom night is not a right of passage.
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Unfortunately, I know some people that did just that around my city. Such a waste, I could do a lot more that have one night of fun. In fact, I hate wearing any type of dress clothes.
 
I haven't graduated yet, but Im not sure if I want to go to my prom (we call it grad here)

I would prefer a casual barbecue at a lake with the grad class.

My metalwork teacher would like it if kids like me were allowed to make knives and other such tools in the metal shop, but that has been spoiled too. It is possible with the right forms though.
 
Keith_H said:
I haven't graduated yet, but Im not sure if I want to go to my prom (we call it grad here)

I would prefer a casual barbecue at a lake with the grad class.

My metalwork teacher would like it if kids like me were allowed to make knives and other such tools in the metal shop, but that has been spoiled too. It is possible with the right forms though.
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Don't take my example wrongly Keith, nothing wrong with Prom. (I'm not sure if it is the same thing as Grad, a prom is a formal dance, usually with a formal dinner beforehand). Like anything in life taking a prom to excess is just silly. A suit jacket and tie for the male, a nice dress for the female, a modest but nice dinner date, some dancing, done. NOt this renting an expensive tux and a limo, and the best restaurant in town stuff. Kids need money to start their post graduation lives and/or go to college with that money.

My point is mostly that there seems to be a lack of a rite of passage these days. Something that takes courage to overcome; and a sense of pride and accomplishment once it is completed. Much like the spelunking expedition detailed above.

I didn't realize it at the time, but one such personal rite of passage was an 80 mile hiking expedition I did through a wilderness. I was 14 at the time, I went with 3 17 year olds and no adults. We lived. ;)
 
I think it would be good to add a few things to the list; namely-


6. Attend a political function, such as a town hall meeting.

7. Go camping with a minimum of supervision, and a minimum of supplies.

8. Volunteer at a retirement home.

9. Visit a prison.

10. Witness an autopsy. (Maybe.)

It would open up alot of kids' eyes, seeing how the bigger world works, not to mention how to be a survivor in it. Plus, the consequences of our actions would be instilled in them, more so than just telling them 'old people die', or 'murdering is bad', etc.
 
zenheretic said:
Don't take my example wrongly Keith, nothing wrong with Prom. (I'm not sure if it is the same thing as Grad, a prom is a formal dance, usually with a formal dinner beforehand). Like anything in life taking a prom to excess is just silly. A suit jacket and tie for the male, a nice dress for the female, a modest but nice dinner date, some dancing, done. NOt this renting an expensive tux and a limo, and the best restaurant in town stuff. Kids need money to start their post graduation lives and/or go to college with that money.

My point is mostly that there seems to be a lack of a rite of passage these days. Something that takes courage to overcome; and a sense of pride and accomplishment once it is completed. Much like the spelunking expedition detailed above.

I didn't realize it at the time, but one such personal rite of passage was an 80 mile hiking expedition I did through a wilderness. I was 14 at the time, I went with 3 17 year olds and no adults. We lived. ;)
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I understand, but it is not really for me, I will probably go anyway.
 
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