Kids taking risks

Derek at Penmachine.com has a great take on kids taking risk and how we raise kids.

Life is risky, and one thing kids need to learn is how to recognize and manage those risks. It's a tough task as a parent, as our daughters grow into their early grades at school, for my wife and me to find the line between protection and overprotection.

Check out his full post and the comments. It's enlightening, particularly in this 'post 9/11' age when our preoccupations have become preventing risk. Though I would not suggest this is a recent thing.

Letting our kids take risks requires us, as parents, to take risks with them – we naturally hate the negative consequences of their actions, so must learn to let go.

Somehow, I suspect that allowing our kids to take risks is linked to helping them develop resilience, that latest great catch-cry of contemporary child-rearing. Kids who learn to fall also learn to bounce back. Hopefully.