"It's Easier to Bury a Tradition Than a Child"

[gemini5362]

RobJ i was not even going to post this but after your post I will. I shudder to think of what would be said now about one of our favorite things to do as a kid. I lived in kansas and all of my relatives owned a bunch of land that they farmed wheat on. During harvesting season we would ride on the steps of the combine. If the combine scared out a jackrabbit we would jump off the combine and go chasing after it usually in front of the combine. Maybe that is my problem after doing things like that as a kid I find that just ridnig in a cab with LOCKED doors is pretty tame and not that big a risk

 

[Soundguy]

Probably alot of us here that did that kind of stuff.... rode on tractor running boards, down the road.. etc.. pile don a tractor to go to the jiffy store before you were old enough to reach the clutch without standing up..

Looking at todays crop of kids ( and crop of twenty-somethings)... I'm convince dthat is one of the things that seperates the generations.. IE.. one of the distinctions... lotsa shelterd ( but safe! ) kids growing up now..

As to whether that's a good or bad thing in my opinion... Uh.. I'll just keep that to myself...

soundguy

Soundguy

 

[N80]

Looking at todays crop of kids ( and crop of twenty-somethings)... I'm convince dthat is one of the things that seperates the generations.. IE.. one of the distinctions... lotsa shelterd ( but safe! ) kids growing up now..

I think you are right but I think there is a qualifier. The kids are too sheltered from some things and not sheltered enough from others. They seem to be all to comfortable with underaged sex, pornography, drugs, media violence etc, and yet seem far too sheltered from the basic things in life, particularly those involving work and the outdoors.

And quite frankly, that nasty little list above (of the things they are exposed to regularly) can be far more dangerous (deadly even) than grabbing a ride on a tractor or learning to shoot a shotgun or riding a 4 wheeler.

 

[ASGAR]

There is a lot of passion on this topic. One of the few pieces of advice I took to heart was 'You have to be smarter than what you are doing'. You need to be respectful of the risk you are taking in the work you are doing.

I have let my kids ride and operate my tractors sitting on my lap, but on not in the woods, not on hills. Scooping and moving wood chips on the flats I found was a pretty great way of teaching the kids how to operate the tractor. Scooping and smashing our old punkins seems to have brought me closer to my 3 year old as well as my chickens who also take a keen interst in smashed punkins.

My 50's jeep does not have seat belts so the kids sit on the floor in the back, not on the seats... ok the back seat, in the middle, holding on is ok at 8yrs. I also don't drive around doing 40 in rush hour in the jeep. I do let them drive on my lap in low low around the house and on our dirt roads.... at 4yrs. I'm a bad dad I guess. I know if we get hit by a car we are dead. They should all be in kid seats in minivans. What good is there in going for ice cream with no doors and the windshield down?

.. and for that matter why learn to set points, work a choke, feather a throttle, fix an engine, change a tire, cut, weld, trench, hammer, build... these are all dangerous activites. My hope is that they learn to be a bit self reliant, to be able to fix pipes that leak, wire a lamp, work a tractor, back a trailer....

Likewise, they will learn to shoot, to respect the power of a gun. I'll show them how a .270 punches holes through plate steel so they don't think bullets bounch off of trash cans like in the movies. I would be happy to see them on a rifle team, to learn the disipline of shooting. I'll also keep the guns in *my* safe so that they don't make a mistake they can't undo. We may find an intrest in hunting together which would be a great way to pass my older years in the future.

When I see *real* ranch / farm kids (like on pioneerwoman' blog) I am really impressed. I give my 8 year old a hard time when she complains about somthing silly and point out the pioneer woman's kids are driving F350's pulling hay wagons across muddy ranches at 8 years old. Even younger kids drive the feed truck as dad tossed feed off the back.

I guess ithat how you feel about risk and safety is based on what you are used to.

 

[RobJ]

Looking at todays crop of kids ( and crop of twenty-somethings)... I'm convince dthat is one of the things that seperates the generations.. IE.. one of the distinctions... lotsa shelterd ( but safe! ) kids growing up now..

Sheltered, maybe, there are a lot more bad guys out there now who now have easy access to child **** and play it out. As a kid It was rare to catch a glimpse of a Playboy..in a store, or somewhere (not actually looking at one that is).

Today kids have more things to do inside. I had 3 good channels and 1 fuzzy one. The hottest thing on tv, afternoon or evening was Ginger on Gilligins Island!! (I was actually a Mary Ann fan ). no computers, no video games except in the game rooms. No cell phones, text messages or IM. We rarely even talked on the phone! You wanted to talk to a buddy, you got on your bike and rode to his house. I'm 48 so this was 70's stuff. See I'm not that old!! We had bikes and stuff!!

 

[Soundguy]

I think you are right but I think there is a qualifier. The kids are too sheltered from some things and not sheltered enough from others. They seem to be all to comfortable with underaged sex, pornography, drugs, media violence etc, and yet seem far too sheltered from the basic things in life, particularly those involving work and the outdoors.

And quite frankly, that nasty little list above (of the things they are exposed to regularly) can be far more dangerous (deadly even) than grabbing a ride on a tractor or learning to shoot a shotgun or riding a 4 wheeler.

I completely agree.

In fact.. i met my cousin for lunch today.. we were looking thru the newspaper when i noticed a bathing suit advertisement from beals ( spelling).. the 2-piece suits they depicted on the teenager's in that add were what i would term, unacceptable for a minor to be wearing. My cousin is about my age and has children of her own and she agreed. the bathing suite was.. well.. virtually non existant... That kind of stuff.. and TV as a baby sitter.. that undermines society as a whole.. from the inside out...

soundguy

 

[N80]

Well, I'm going to admit something here. I recently read a 'self-help' book on this topic (and I realize we're going way off topic here, my apologies to Paul). I hate self help books with a capital 'H' but my B-I-L (the farmer guy with the three daughters I talk about a lot (my neices)....the one's he rides on the tractors, etc) gave me this book and 'told' me to read it. Its called Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters. If you have a daughter, its worth a read. It has some religious (Judeo-Christian) content, but it is not a religious book. It is about the virtual assault that contemporary society has put on our daughters and the important role of strong fathers in protecting them.

There's nothing ground breaking in it. A good many surprising stats. Most of it is common sense, but it puts it all together in a concise easily readable package that kind of puts in perspective how important dads are for daughters.

Again, I'm ashamed to be promoting a 'self help' book, but this one's worth a look.

 

[JoelD]

Great post.

Fascinating to see different takes on the topic of safety.

My tractor manual states:
1. Operating Safety
1.10 Never allow passengers on the tractor. Keep bystanders away from the tractor during operation.

That's enough for me.

My idea of preparing my daughter on how to handle risks in life is not crushing her in a roll over, or running her over with my tractor.

I'd rather teach her the practical lesson of reading directions, following instructions, etc. As they are typically there for a reason.

I've taught her, since she was 18 months old riding her mini-bike with training wheels to wear a helmet, she now knows nothing else and wears a helmet for everything, skating, motocross, quad, ski-mobile, bicycle.

Don't want to teach her, via concussion or brain injury, what happens when you don't wear a helmet.

Do I say, "no" you can't ski, nope, I say, sure, as long as we take the proper precautions. How silly would it be for my daughter to get seriously injured, when, within a reasonable amount of effort, there is something I could've done to prevent that injury??

How tragic would it be for me to be the cause of that injury??

Did I ride my bike without a helmet, yup, is there some valid logic in saying that that makes it OK for her not to, NOPE. Same argument that "my dad inhaled asbestos at work and he's ok, why can't I inhale asbestos??"

Super important to learn from others mistakes.

 

[Soundguy]

Hard to make everything in life an absolute.. too many variables to write it all down line by line is a safety manual.

Ultimately.. our best piece of safety equipment sets on our shoulders holding our hat up.. if you don't use that one.. no other piece of safety gear, or rules in a manual can help ya.

It all boils down to common sense.. and then the dice roll. remember.. you can follow all the rules, do nothing wrong, and still have your number come up early.

I'm all for being safe.. even really safe.. I'm also for living life.. not hiding from it.

soundguy

 

[gemini5362]

Great post.

Fascinating to see different takes on the topic of safety.

My tractor manual states:
1. Operating Safety
1.10 Never allow passengers on the tractor. Keep bystanders away from the tractor during operation.

That's enough for me.

My idea of preparing my daughter on how to handle risks in life is not crushing her in a roll over, or running her over with my tractor.

I'd rather teach her the practical lesson of reading directions, following instructions, etc. As they are typically there for a reason.

I've taught her, since she was 18 months old riding her mini-bike with training wheels to wear a helmet, she now knows nothing else and wears a helmet for everything, skating, motocross, quad, ski-mobile, bicycle.

Don't want to teach her, via concussion or brain injury, what happens when you don't wear a helmet.

Do I say, "no" you can't ski, nope, I say, sure, as long as we take the proper precautions. How silly would it be for my daughter to get seriously injured, when, within a reasonable amount of effort, there is something I could've done to prevent that injury??

How tragic would it be for me to be the cause of that injury??

Did I ride my bike without a helmet, yup, is there some valid logic in saying that that makes it OK for her not to, NOPE. Same argument that "my dad inhaled asbestos at work and he's ok, why can't I inhale asbestos??"

Super important to learn from others mistakes.

Joel I agree with you wearing the proper safety equipment is the proper way to go. Does she wear the proper pads when she goes riding. It is more that just a helmet. Does she ride a motorcycle on the streets if she does is she in a full leather riding outfit or does she wear jeans. Jeans are actually unsafe if you dump the bike. Does she wear every piece of safety equipment for the risk she is taking or does she look at the risk and make an independednt evaluation of what euipment she needs.