I have a picture of my son's face after he tried to do a superman off a ramp with his bike and ate asphalt face painting the road. It wasn't a pretty site, but he learned a lesson keep your bike straight while catching air. Yes, I did get a call from the school. I said boys will be boys. The kid down the street broke his arm falling 50 feet from the top of a tree he climbed. What did he learn? Don't fall out of the tree. No biggie people, we climb higher, land better, and jump things other peopl gawk at. Heck where would Evil Kneivel stopped if he hadn't gotten hurt and his parents coddled him?

On that note, my son and I are off to Big Pine Key, Sea Camp tomorrow for 3 days to swim the reefs, swim with sharks, and measure salinity in the Atlantic Ocean.

Goodtimes!! Am packing now.....

Oh the times I wanted to put five across some deserving foul mouth adolescent!!!



You are such a bad influence you know!!!

I'm in total agreement with you. My dogs don't get away with the crap kids do, and are by far better mannered. Why parents think everyone else's should have to deal with their "precious" is beyond me. I laid in to one kid who purposely spit water on the floor at Wal-Mart one time, made him go get paper towels and clean it up. His mother came screaming down on me, and wanted to ***** me out for it, but ignore the fact that her kid was just plain nasty and rude.

That is what white trash is for...to make us feel better about our selves.

Harsh but, true.

Are we making our future generations into sissies??

when I first saw this title I thought of my own kids. both played football and the younger one player LOTS of baseball and seemed to enjoy fighting, which of course I do not approve of, and they both grew up to be fine young men with no major problems from being "boys". now my grandson, who will be 4 tomorrow, is about as wild as they come, God I feel for his parents

did I say toO much?

I'm a teacher of 2 yr olds. If one of my kids falls down outside, gets back up and is crying ... I first inspect them for any blood. and if there's no blood I tell them to brush their hands off and then to go play. Sounds horrible but if the damages aren't worth a band aid and a clean up ... then I believe tough love should come into play. I was never a a fall down and cry kid. I just got back up and continued whatever it was I was doing.

Well, OP, I understand your indignation.

The article said, that it is dangerous to toss CERTAIN KIND of balls.

You, as a woman, are exempt of the blame of false indignation, and your indignation is forgivable, but think how a man could or would look at the situation differently. Maybe it was some balls that were tossed while the man was not attached to them. OR attached to them. Either way, it's very painful AND dangerous.

You have to know how to read the unwritten details of a news item which the print media does not DARE to put in a family newspaper.

Learning how to play dodge ball helped me to dodge cues balls. It also helped me understand why the catcher ducks down at a baseball game. Dodge ball is an interesting game because even when you are the last one standing the game isn't over until someone hits you. But even that helped me to understand the philosophy of snowball throwing: Trust no one.

Good thing you missed our Army/Navy brawl then as an army guy hit one of my shipmates and I hit him; however we were outnumbered two to one and I ended up with a broken nose. It wasn't about being the toughest but I wasn't letting someone I care about get hurt.

Those are the words of a real warrior!

HELL FU(WHOOPS)EN AYE YEAH!!!

MASSIVE RESPECT!

people still havent grasped that EXTREMES can be dangerous, even of things that we consider 'good'

people can actually die from drinking too much water

I believe, likewise, it hurts kids more than it helps them to be 'over' protective

balance is the test thats hard to pass, but we have to keep trying when it comes to children

Can't learn anything without failing first. This along with the mercy rule are two of the WORST things for kids these days. Losing and make mistakes build character, can't do that if you aren't allowed to fail. But then this is what they want isn't it? People who can't support themselves and depend on government to do it for them. It's like leading the lambs to slaughter......

I love that Krupa mentioned bike helmets. That has always been a pet peeve of mine, a symbol of overprotection. As a kid, I always used all my senses when dealing with traffic - look for cars, listen for engine or tire noise, sniff for exhaust fumes if the wind is blowing towards me....sometimes you can even feel the vibration from a particularly large truck. To me it was common sense. Stay alert, but multi-task. Eventually it becomes second-nature. As a result, I've never been hit by a car or had to dive out of the road to avoid being hit. I still ride a bike as an adult, and there is A LOT more traffic now than when I was kid.

As those who have read some of my past posts may know, my mother tended towards being overprotective. I played rugby in college as a way of rebelling against her not allowing me to play football in high school. But I also did many things as a kid that she never would have allowed. I was her "problem child".

Quite honestly, I'm proud of the things I did as kid that my mom didn't like. Since that does not read well, let me illustrate.

I climbed to the top branches of 40+ ft tall trees. I learned how to balance my weight so that I could sit on the thin top branches without them snapping. If I hadn't used my head then, those branches would have snapped under my full weight, and I would have fallen. I never did.

I loved to explore rocks, especially caves and overhangs. My mom was worried I would encounter a den of snakes. I didn't let her fear stop me from doing something I enjoyed, especially since my father had always had a fear of snakes which I never shared. I also never encountered snakes while doing it. I may have just been lucky, but now as an adult, I know more than I did then.

Given the areas I went, encountering a mass of snakes while crawling through rocks was highly unlikely. If I did so near the Connecticut River, along the shoreline of Long Island Sound, or in the central to northwestern part of the state, disturbing a nest of snakes could have been a real possibility. (There are rattlesnakes in some parts of Connecticut - the Eastern Diamondback - as well as Copperheads near wetlands.)

I went cliff jumping, and it was one of the most surrealistic experiences I have ever had. Despite the fears I had at the time, I never regret doing it. I would do it again. But as a teen, if my mother had ever known that I jumped off a 75 foot cliff she would have gone ballistic. She would have done anything to prevent me from doing it, and I would not have been the same person.

This all said, I do have some confidence issues, but I am also smart enough to know how they came to develop. Even if I struggle with myself, that doesn't mean I can't use my own understanding of the problem to prevent others from making the same mistakes. Unfortunately, I do see a rise in the number of parents making those mistakes, and they are righteous about it.

We are becoming a nation of fear, amongst other things.

Even Bam Magera and Rob Dyrdek wore equipment when learning to do new dangerous tricks. I allow my boys to choose dependent upon what they are doing I do not even ask them to wear protective equipment. They usually opt not to wear it as they feel its consticting or makes them crash doing trick.....I believe Bam Margera's protective gear was a mattress placed on the ground as he did tricks from his roof. Back int he day there was a time when football player wore zero equipment, Dale Earnhardt did not wear a harness nor would he, and scars and injuries were a badge of honor growing up.

Funny how aspects change, as the toughest of the tough protect us, sports heroes learn from trial and error, and we were tough because our parents allowed life to make us tough. Reigning in on the newer generations hurts that generation somewhat in my opinion, as every generation thought before our. I am absolutely sure that they have something learned that we didn't have though.

..i don't think it's a matter of making boys wussies..as it is probability of liability..and insurance purposes..that would be my guess...

See, this is what I do with manO. If there's no blood I tell him to get right back up and play. Sometimes he cries and pouts around, but eventually he walks right up there and gets in the jump rope line again.

You are too kind my man. To bad this site doesn't have audio; I would give you the Xena war cry.

NavyGirl My Ex wife used to defend me all the time

"Are we making our future generations into sissies??"

They already are! When I was growing up we used to throw punches if somebody pizzed us off and all was good. Now they drive past and shoot each other. Unless now they're just too lazy. Ok, probably both....

Isn't life truly funny at times?

I mean here THEY (the school systems) CANNOT STOP the DRUGS and KNIVES, and GUNS from coming into our Schools,,YET,,they want to make an ISSUE out of paper made toys that the kids MIGHT injure an eye with,,for THEY couldn't hurt someone any other way with them?

Now THATS just SAD,,,and unreal,,,but THATS OUR PROBLEM!

HEY SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS THE GLOBE,, TRY THIS......

STOP letting parents ABUSE THEIR CHILDREN.
STOP letting KIDS BULLY OTHER KIDS IN SCHOOL.
STOP letting TEACHERS SEXUALLY ABUSE THEM.
or PHYSICALLY ABUSE THEM.
STOP letting guns, drugs, bombs and knives ENTER OUR SCHOOLS.
STOP letting children PASS when they HAVEN'T REALLY LEARNED.
STOP letting EVERY CHILD HUNGRY,,BE WITHOUT FOOD TO EAT THERE.

OK,,,I swhall step down off my platform of -------HELP----- and
be calm again,,,,