Let Kids Be Kids | 5 Minute Video

Lenore Skenazy, President of Let Grow, encourages parents to do what parents have always done: follow basic safety rules, and then let their kids be kids.

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Script:

Summer—glorious summer!

Time to dig in the sand, gulp from the hose, play at the park, and leap with joy! Unless you’re a kid—in which case, find yourself a comfy sofa in a dark, quiet room and settle in.

This is the season your parents are bombarded with the kind of warnings previously associated with incoming torpedoes.

The basic message: Don’t have fun—it’s too dangerous.

“Remember when digging in the sand at the beach was a fun activity for young children?” asks the website KidsTravelDoc. “Sorry. No more. Based on recent findings, only with lots of do’s and don’ts is frolicking in the sand a healthy activity.”

The blog’s author, Karl Neumann of the American Academy of Pediatrics, lays out his own don’ts: “Studies show that children playing in the sand are more likely to become ill than children merely walking on it. And the risk of illness increases with digging in the sand, being ‘buried’ in it, and digging in wet sand.”

Got it. Keep your kids on dry sand. No, wait—“Dry sand presents problems, too.” So, Dr. Neumann warns: “Discourage children from lying directly on the sand.”

While you’re at it, “Walking barefooted is another ‘don’t.’ Have children wear lightweight, ventilated, hard-soled footwear that covers the toes. This helps prevent stubbed toes, lacerations, puncture wounds, and burns from hot sand. Ideally, footwear should be worn for wading in the water.”

In fact, why take your kids to the beach at all? Better to keep them at home on a hard, nonporous surface, free of dirt and obstacles, checking frequently for venomous spiders, disease-bearing insects, and sewage. Children should also be in steel-toed work boots. Come to think of it, chain-mail wouldn’t be a bad idea.

But even that isn’t enough. Simply keeping the kids at home doesn’t ensure they’re safe either, especially if they make it into the backyard. Parents Magazine warns that “bees are attracted to flowers, so don’t put fragrances or floral-patterned clothing on kids.” Surely, you’ve seen swarms of bees chasing children in floral prints.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that if your moppets still insist on playing outside, the little daredevils at least should “limit sun exposure during peak intensity hours—between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.” That shouldn’t put a crimp in anyone’s day, should it?

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