[at-l] what is safety, and/or America's wimpification?

Thu Mar 8 11:04:01 CST 2007

So true - so true . . . and what we as parents and voters and jurors and
citizens need to keep in mind is that there WILL be some (very, very small
as a percentage) number of deaths, injuries and accidents associated with
living an exploring, adventuresome - meaningful - life . . . and we need to
be better prepared to fight with our own words, votes and actions so that
this simple, tough reality does not scare us off from what is such an
important part of growth, development and LIFE itself!

Thru-Thinker

I. Clark Wright, Jr.
Ward and Davis, LLP
409 Pollock Street
New Bern, NC 28560
252-633-1101
252-633-9400 (fax)
252-229-5900 (cell)

   _____  

From: pudscrawler at aol.com [mailto:pudscrawler at aol.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 8:03 PM
To: icw at wardanddavis.com; at-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] what is safety, and/or America's wimpification?

Very persuasive argument, Thru Thinker.  I, as a retired middle and high
school teacher as well as the mother of three adventuresome daughters, back
you 100% in your goals of letting your children test the waters and find
their mettle.  They will build character in doing so, and that will help
them live their lives well.

Kinnickinic

-----Original Message-----
From: icw at wardanddavis.com
To: at-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 3:31 PM
Subject: [at-l] what is safety, and/or America's wimpification?

In reading the thread triggered by scouting tents and such, I am reminded of

one of the most important, and difficult dilemmas of our time - namely, our

desire - whether as a parent, scout leader, government official, medical

services provider, teacher, coach or insurance adjuster to AVOID danger and

protect those in our charge or care, versus what I believe is a critical

need that we INTENTIONALLY EXPOSE our children (and ourselves) to danger in

order to help them grow and learn and better be able to take care of

themselves and others as they grow older.  To me, a VERY important lesson

can be found in the science of vaccination . . . at the risk of trying to

sound like a "doctor" who knows what he is talking about only by virtue of

being the son of one and through 40 years of experience with various forms

of outdoor advenure, camps, etc.[and perhaps also by virtue of having stayed

in a Holiday Inn Express last night! :)] - anyhow, as I understand the

science and medical art of vaccines, the whole idea is to intentionally

expose your body's immune system to danger in the form of a greatly reduced

form of the deadly disease so that your body's immune system can toughen up,

grow up, and otherwise learn how to fight that disease off.  While it is a

bit of a simplification, and varies from vaccine to vaccine, the general

gist of the process is that once your body learns how to fight that disease,

that knowledge remains valuable for life.  The issue of oversue of

antibiotics and resulting emergence of superbugs that resist treatment is

sort of the opposite end of the same issue . . . in short, one of the

lessons of medicine is that your body needs to be exposed to some illnesses

and diseases in order to better grow into a competent disease fighting

machine - and, up to a pretty high point, the more "bad" stuff you are tough

enough to take, the better off you are for it afterwards . . . 

I believe as a society that we face the difficult and daunting task of

trying to apply these same principles to our everyday lives -  and

especially in our critically important efforts to promote exposure to

outdoor experiences for all children, and all adults, too.  How do we best

find ways to allow controlled exposures to danger in order to reap the

incredibly important life-long positive benefits of improved physical

fitness, improved sense of self-worth, improved understanding of the harsh

and beautiful realities of nature, and improved abilities to get closer to

the incredible experience of self-reliance - how do we best accomplish all

that in a day and age where we also are much more knowledgeable about the

potential adverse effects of too much danger, whether in the form of

epidemiological studies that tell us for CERTAIN that SOME kid (or adult)

somewhere WILL DIE as a result of . . . [you name it - fill in the blank

here with:  vaccinations, tough football practices, challenging playground

equipment, letting your kid ride his or her bike around the neighborhood,

long distance hiking, long distance running, not treating every flu symptom

with an immediate dose of antibiotics, etc.] . . . some kids (and adults)

WILL DIE!  On the other hand, we never try to study how many kids (and

adults) in essence DIE - literally and figuratively - due to the ABSENCE of

significant challenges in their lives, whether physical, mental or

immunilogical.  It is not so easy to measure those deaths, but I am

confident that they are grossly in excess of the very small percentages in

the "dangerous activity" categories I mentioned above.

In the end, the key is for us to better educate ourselves, our governments,

and our scout, church and other group leaders about the true risks of NOT

offering these challenges and risks.  We need to find ways to reasonably

reduce unnecessary risks, but at the same time to embrace controlled risks

as perhaps the most important teaching and growing tools of all.  I don't

have any easy answers, and I sometimes lapse into a nattering nabob of

negativism decrying all the insurance forms, ridiculous governmental

protectionism, etc. - but then I remind myself that it is US, whether as

jurors, voters, local leaders, uninvolved sideline carpers versus involved

participants, etc. - it is US that ultimately and collectively decide on

these matters.  I think we need to find positive ways to educate our friends

and fellow citizens about the critical importance of finding ways to ALLOW

more risk in our lives - at least in certain situations where we know from

experience that the rewards greatly outweigh the potential costs.

In the end, I think of my summer camp days in the NC mountains back in the

1970s where I was allowed to learn to rock climb - and not just to do some

overprotected top-roped route, but to advance and qualify through rigorus

training and testing to the point where I was allowed to actually lead

non-trivial routes on some large NC mountain faces . . . ditto re our long

distance hiking experiences, whitewater canoeing, lifesaving courses - and

later our scout troop's willingness to go outside the traditional scouting

trip framework for other adventures . . . those relatively brief but intense

and incredibly rearding experiences as a bright, but geeky kid facing

adolescence did more for my at the time very vulnerable senses of

self-worth, self-confidence and ability to face the future than anything in

any book or classroom every could have done . . . I would not trade them for

anything, and it will be my lasting effort as a parent to give my two kids

the same experiences, and to me that is one of the most important

experiential lessons of a thru-hike for kids of any age!

Thru-Thinker

I. Clark Wright, Jr.

Ward and Davis, LLP

409 Pollock Street

New Bern, NC 28560

252-633-1101

252-633-9400 (fax)

252-229-5900 (cell)

-- 

No virus found in this outgoing message.

Checked by AVG Free Edition.

Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.7/713 - Release Date: 3/7/2007

9:24 AM

_______________________________________________

AT-L Mailing List.  

Go here to unsubscribe or change your options:

HYPERLINK "http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l"
\nhttp://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l

   _____  

AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from
AOL at HYPERLINK
"http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=ht
tp://www.aol.com" \nAOL.com.

--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.7/713 - Release Date: 3/7/2007
9:24 AM

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.7/713 - Release Date: 3/7/2007
9:24 AM