Child safety products ... it's a huge industry. There are safety gates to prevent children from going places. They are even self-closing so you don't have to think about it. There are baby monitors, complete with audio and video, so you can watch your baby in the crib. In fact, there are some that are Internet versions so you can watch your child while you're not there. The original concept of the baby monitor was based on SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a frightening thought for most parents, so the idea was that if there was no sound, they could rush in and ... well, do something. Of course, there is a problem with that. It isn't called "sudden" for no reason. And, truth be told, "no sound" is fairly common when a baby is sleeping safely and soundly.
You can get safety shields to protect your electronics from baby's hands and safety straps to prevent the child from pulling heavy things on top of him or her. You can get rubber bumpers for every corner of the room, from furniture to doorways. At my house (I have no children at home) it was mandatory that they install window locks on all the windows at the back of the house so that children couldn't slide the windows open and climb out to the pool. You know, of course, that you simply must have those little plastic plugs in the outlets to prevent children from sticking things in there. And what home is complete without a toilet lock? And did you know that you can buy your child a watch or a back pack with built in GPS equipment so you can locate them anytime?
Surely you aren't one of those uncaring parents that doesn't use anti-bacterial cleaners for everything that your family might touch, are you? Germs, you see (or don't see), are a big problem. You really ought to be carrying a Gummi Grip if you take your child to the grocery store. It's anti-microbial, germ-free, and soft so your child can chew while you shop. You have to keep those babies free from germs, you know. (I won't bother to tell you that anti-bacterial devices don't have any effect on viruses, the more common problem among children.)
Two facts come to mind when I consider all of this. First, how did anyone survive, say, 50 years ago when none of these safety devices even existed? Kids didn't have door locks, electrical caps, monitors, window guards, or anti-bacterial soaps. How did a single child make it out of adolescence? But that's just a question from experience. The other fact is that science tells us some interesting things regarding kids today. Science tells us that they're worse off than they were before. What?! How can that be??
Well, according to the latest studies, problems like ADHD and childhood obesity are skyrocketing. One Harvard report said that we ought to expect young adults to be spending much more for health care because their health is much worse than it used to be. For instance, in 1960, less than 2% of U.S. children and adolescents were reported to have a chronic health problems that limited their activities. By 2004, that number was at 7%. In 1974, 5% of children were obese. Today it's at 18% and climbing. Asthma rates have doubled since the 80's. ADHD was unknown in 1968, but now it's diagnosed in something like 6% of kids.
All of this ought to be stunning. I mean, haven't we really achieved child safety with all our fantastic devices? Well, no. It appears that the culprits for these things are not the stove or the electrical socket. It turns out that the dangers lie in computer games, fast-food diets, watching TV, and a lack of family and community. Seriously! Obesity, ADHD, asthma, diabetes, all these and more are chalked up to our most popular methods of raising our children -- set them in front of a video and let them be.
It makes me wonder. First, when do today's kids get to learn about the real world? The real world is trial and error, success and failure, "in sickness and in health". It includes getting dirty and allowing sufficient risk not to maim or kill, but enough to learn. It includes enough bacteria that their little immune systems learn early how to handle all sorts of situations. On the other hand, it makes me wonder about what we call "parenting" today. We think of "good parents" as the ones with the rubber baby bumpers on the doors and the electrical plug blocks and the Gummi Grips to keep that poor little one safe. These "good parents" are using their televisions and computers to "teach" and babysit. Those lousy parents are using archaic methods such as books and spending actual time with their children. They make their kids play outside and cut them off from much-needed television interaction. It makes me wonder about child safety and where it really lies.
6 comments:
This made me think of something. I worry about our children's low level of activity due to the time they spend in the house, even when it's not 115 degrees outside. The reason we are protective of them going outside is our fear of them simply coming up missing; taken; at the mercy of someone who just spent the last 18 hours sitting in front of his computer looking at pictures.
Where do you suppose that fear of missing children comes from? We get it from the news. The news reports unusual events. (If children were being kidnapped all the time, reporting it would be useless.) So we've bought this "news" as a genuine, daily concern instead of treating it as we ought ... something to be aware of without living in fear of.
Also, wouldn't it behoove you to go out there with your kids? I'm sure a little time outside would be helpful for all of us. Then you kids can be safe under your supervision, and getting their much needed exercise.
Tell ya what ... when you have kids, plan on it. :)
I've given this some thought before today. I don't think I'm over protective, and I realize that, as you say, the odds of them being taken are not very good. But here's the probalem. If they get stitches, loose a leg, or are even killed on thier bycycle or something, that's one thing, and I think I could handle it. But for one of them to simply vanish, that is a totally different thing. There was a 12, or so, year old girl in Mesa AZ that simply disapeardand without a trace about five, maybe more years ago. They of course now assume she is dead, but as a parent I would never be able to put that to rest, and I know that they haven't either. You know that they will always be looking and hoping, everywere they go and in everything they do.
I do go out with them and even let them out of my sight. But not nearly as much as I would if I didn't worry about something like that happening.
According to the FBI ...
An estimated 800,000 children (under the age of 18) are reported missing each year.
Half of those are family kidnappings, one parent taking the child from the custodial parent.
Another 25% are "acquaintance kidnappings", when someone familiar with the family takes the child.
Given 800,000 reports, then, 200,000 are by strangers. In 2007 there were approximately 74 million children in the U.S. The chance, statistically, of a random child being kidnapped by a stranger is 2%. Or, let's put it the other way. The chance that your child (assuming you're not divorced in a custody dispute and are familiar with your friends) is quite safe is 98%. Or, to put it another way, 98 out of 100 kids in good homes are quite safe, thank you very much.
According to God, He "works all things after the counsel of His will". I think we need to be reasonably safe and avoid unreasonable chances, but since we aren't to be given to a spirit of fear, and since God is genuinely in charge, it would seem like worry and fear wouldn't be the rule of the day here.
Are you being over-protective? I wouldn't know. But if worry is a problem, I'd recommend another approach. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:6-7).
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