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