Fear is Shaping Our Children

Patricia Pearson:

The helmet perfectly symbolizes childhood today. Nothing is safe, kids should be wary of everything, pass the Ritalin. This phenomenon would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

“Summertime,” goes that wonderful old song by the Gershwins, “and the livin' is easy.”

Well, it used to be, anyway. This past one seemed fraught with peril, as they usually do, these days, for parents. Allergies, skin cancer, air pollution, injuries, drownings, heat stroke, West Nile virus … oh my.

Gone are the golden afternoons of my own childhood, when I left the house without a hat, or sun screen, to noodle about on my bike (without a helmet) and play hide-and-seek in the bushes (without benefit of mosquito repellant or pedophile spray) and invariably stayed out until supper (which consisted of fattening foods).

Now, my children cannot exit my home from May through October unless they are dressed in the equivalent of a hazmat suit.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 5, 2006 9:37 PM
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