I was looking out my back garden this morning with my cigarette and cup of
coffee, pondering the morning and the day. I was looking into what I could see
of my next door neighbour’s garden. They have two small children, approximately
3 and 5 or thereabouts. They have the sail cloth that three other gardens I can
see, have, they have a swing and slide set, and a trampoline. They have a
trampoline that looks something like this:
I’ve seen them before and a part of me understands
the purpose of the enclosure, it keeps the kids safe, it means that mom doesn’t
have to watch the kids or keep warning them to be careful, it means the kids
can’t use the trampoline without an adult knowing they are using it. It also
prevents trampoline companies from being sued for children’s injuries.
I’ve looked at one of the
trampoline company’s safety instructions and got the giggles. Some of these
things I had never even thought of doing. I wonder how many people had not
heard these before so gave them ideas !!!! For instance: “Do not use
the trampoline as a springboard to or from other objects.” What a kewl idea !!
“Do not use the trampoline in wet or windy conditions” My son used to turn the
hose on the trampoline to make it slippery because it made it more exciting.
What do children learn/achieve from jumping on an enclosed
trampoline
-
Physical exercise, always good in our techno
times
- Play
- Confidence in their bodies skills and
capabilities to a point
-
Increase in motor skills, balance, and
coordination to a point
-
Skills learning with no danger of physical harm
-
Improvement in breathing (don’t kids do that
normally)
- Stress and tension reduction (hadn’t even
thought of that one)
-
They learn that the world is a dangerous place
and we have to be protected all the time
-
They learn that someone or something will
protect us or stop us from taking risks
-
They learn that any form of risk taking is
dangerous
-
They learn a sense of lack of control and lack
of empowerment
-
Big brother is responsible for what happens to
me
What do children learn by using an unenclosed trampoline?
-
How to be physically challenged
-
How to protect themselves from injury
-
How to take risks safely and cleverly to prevent
pain
- I also suspect there are physical skills they
don’t learn with the trampoline totally enclosed.
-
That the world can be dangerous, but you can
learn skills to make it less dangerous
-
a sense of being empowered
- I am responsible for what happens to me
As a child, at the age of 6, I
tried riding my older sister’s full sized bike. Now I was a small kid. I
couldn’t reach the pedals if I used the seat. I was told I could ride the bike
up and down the driveway but to not leave the yard. Being an adventurous little
thing, I took the bike down the road. Really enjoyed myself until trying to manoeuvre
back into the driveway, and fell into the ditch. I cut my head quite badly.
However, my mother, instead of saying, get back on the bike, refused to let me
have a bike - ever. Consequence: I can’t ride a bike, I’m scared to ride a
bike.
Who’s scare was that initially?
My mother’s.
Who’s scare is it now? Mine.
Who was responsible for my
accident? I was.
Not my mother for not protecting
me. Me!! I had boundaries. I crossed those boundaries and had the consequences.
If I had been allowed to continue riding a bike, I would have learned that you
can ride a bike safely. I would have learned the confidence in my own physical
skills. I would have learned that I am physically a capable person. Instead I
learned to be anxious about my physical capabilities and still have that
anxiety to this day.
This is what we are doing to
children – we are teaching them our own personal scares and anxieties. We are
giving our anxieties to the next generation.
I found some forum on the net about trampolines and only one
person seemed to see that childhood injury was normal.
“We have had a broken arm,
stitches and a few grazes as a result of the trampoline... (6 kids) But the
benefits out way this 100 times! I think
over all.. with supervision, and some basic rules... Let them be kids... the
spills are part of learning how to live. We cant molly coddle them their whole
life.”
http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=27606&page=3
Everyone else was talking about
the horrific injuries that they had seen or someone else had seen. I find this
sort of talk very interesting as no matter what we do, including driving our
cars to work every day, walking around our house, we can find someone who has
had a horrific injury. However, no one ever looks at the number of children who
have jumped on trampolines and had nothing more than cuts, bumps and bruises
and the occasional broken bone.
As someone else said on the same forum:
“I
nearly broke my nose and also ended up with stitches in my chin from playing on
my trampoline as a child... UNSUPERVISED.. Never had any problems when mum was
outside watching us though.”
So
what am I saying here. I am saying that protecting our children, overprotecting
our children has nothing to do with the fears and anxieties of the children.
They are the parent’s anxieties. I suspect that many parents feel the way I do,
but fear social recriminations from other parents, they fear the title “unfit”
parent, “uncaring” parent, or try to protect their children from any harm.”
I wonder if some of the
adolescent risk taking done today, would be done if as children they had been
given a small trampoline and learned to take their own risks, to get bumps,
bruise, cuts and scratches and possibly even broken bones. Some children are
more prone to risk taking than others. However, if you allow children to take
responsibility for their own actions, isn’t that going to impact on how they
are in society as adult? Doesn’t that make for more responsible adults?
Madeleine
Thursday, 13 March 2008
