Have you ever stuck your hand out of a moving car? Gever Tulley, author of Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do), encourages children to do so (with adult supervision).
Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) encourages children to explore the world through a range of “dangerous” activities from climbing a tree to building a fire. Some may be put off by the word “dangerous” in the title; nevertheless, it has received rave reviews and kudos from parents on Amazon.com. It also follows the success of adventure books, such as The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls.
Author Tulley explains the thought behind his book in an interviewwith GeekDad of Wired magazine:
“In many ways, the book is a deliberate effort to start a national (and global) dialogue about what we are really doing when we overprotect children, which is to keep them from having the kinds of experiences that lay the foundations for creative genius.”
Tulley fears that overprotecting children leads to an inability to judge risk for themselves. He advises readers to supervise their children while they learn and create. However, child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg feels the book’s activities are still too risky, and wants to ban the book in Australia.
While I wouldn’t lick a 9V battery (one of the more dangerous suggested activities), Tulley’s ideology is sound and he has sparked an intriguing debate about parenting style: Is it better to protect children from risk or let them learn from their mistakes?
All books are available at Amazon.com. See links above.
Photo courtesy of sean_dreilinger of Flickr.
