Parenting past and present: Balancing a child's safety with the need for free exploration 16 Articles

by Trudi Buck

Children are naturally inquisitive little beings. Their desire to explore the world around them plays a major role in their development. Through exploration they learn about textures, sounds, fine and gross motor skills, a...read more

by Michael Mccormick

From the time I was a young child, my parents instilled in me the thought that a child should be allowed to explore their own world and learn from mistakes. My Dad told me, "Best to learn from small mistakes, better to fal...read more

by Nicolette Romero (nom de plume)

Young children are naturally curious about the world around them. It behooves the child to explore, as it promotes brain development and encourages building of neural pathways throughout the central and peripheral nervous...read more

by Bjc Chartier

Why aren't we all dead? I am now 49, despite aging, I still recall many things about my childhood and about growing-up. I slept in a crib, painted with lead-based paint. The walls of my bedroom were painted with CIL...read more

by Branwen Smith

I grew up in a world of childhood innocence and freedom. My sister and I played and went where we wanted, without fear. Mum and Dad would often only see us at meal times, content in the knowledge that wed let them know if ...read more

by Dawn Hawkins

Parents across the centuries have worried about their children. Sometimes we can be over protective of our little tykes. After all, what good parent wouldn't want to make their child free of cuts and bruises. There is a...read more

by Tammy Lee White

In my opinion Mark Wills says it best in his song 19 Somethin'. "Now I got a mortgage and an S.U.V. And all this responsibility. Makes me wish sometimes. It was 1970 somethin'. In the world that I grew up in." When I...read more

by Callista Meyer

When I was about 12, I remember playing outside in the snow with my cousin. A few hours later I had a sharp pain go through my knee, I ran in the house screaming to my daddy that I hurt. So off came the snow suit, boots an...read more

by Phillip Ellis

The greatest mistake you can make in this life is to be constantly fearful you will make one The biggest dangers to children are in the home. It's a simple as that. Unless they have a distinct need or fetish to play wit...read more

by Linda Braymiller

I ALWAYS LOVED YOU BEST . . . I was in awe as you took your first steps and slowly began to move about the house. Your little steps turned into little tumbles. I wanted to take those tumbles for you because I always...read more

by Pat Merewether

I hadn't thought of my house as a dangerous place until my first grandchild was born. All of a sudden sharp corners formed on coffee tables, electrical cords snaked around the living room, toilet seats were left up (that's...read more

by Sandra Seigle

It's a sad fact - gone are the days when you could let your 8 year old go a few blocks away to play baseball with his or her friends and not have to worry about anything but a possible scraped knee or lost ball. These day...read more

by Alissa King

"Marlin: I promised I'd never let anything happen to him. Dory: Hmm. That's a funny thing to promise. Marlin: What? Dory: Well you can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not...read more

by Ann Marie Dwyer

As my nephew ran screaming into my kitchen, where I and his mother were enjoying a cup of coffee, he was bleeding on my tile from a large cut on his shin. His mother screamed and stood transfixed. I left the room and ret...read more

by Jennifer Cook

Today's society has parents ridden with fear for the safety of their children. Where do we draw the line between being protective and being overprotective? Well to answer that question, today a parent cannot be too safe. ...read more

by Jessica Oelke

I grew up in the late 80s and 90s. A typical day involved leaving the house, running outside, meeting up with friends, and playing all day. My parents had no idea where I was, what I was doing, or when I would be back. I p...read more