Five Dangerous Things All Students Should Do

The other week my wife Lisa and I went out on a group date with my older brother and sister and their spouses.  Since we all live far from each other this was uncommon, in fact I think it was the first time we’d ever done something like this.  At dinner, as you might expect, we started to reminisce about our childhood, doing things that most kids don’t get a chance to do these days, like bike across town without a helmet to the outdoor swimming pool when we were only 6-years-old.

However, since I spent the first 10 years of my life on a farm we had a list of adventures most parents (including myself) would have a hard time letting their kids do these days.  There was jumping from the 3rd story barn rafters into the hay loft below, climbing around the 10 story silos, using the electric bandsaw in the basement unsupervised, blowing up the power line transformer with a perfectly placed kick from a basketball to the power line, and my favorite, flipping over the handle bars of a trail bike (basically a motorcycle) going 25 mph after getting shot in the neck by a BB gun.  To say the least, life doesn’t seem as dangerous these days for kids.

I recently listened to a TED talk by Gever Tulley titled: 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.  They include: play with fire, own a pocket knife, throw a spear, deconstruct appliances, and drive a car.

Tulley is the founder of the Tinkering School, a summer camp outside of San Francisco that gives kids a chance to tinker, explore, fail, and learn, all with strategically placed (and sometimes out of sight) adult supervision.  He originally founded the school after discussing with friends how different their childhoods had been compared to the way their children were being raised now.

Perhaps it’s because my childhood seems similar to Tulley’s, but his talk and the idea that kids are strengthened through these experiences resonates with me.  So despite living in a world of constant litigation and school liability committees I propose we create a list of dangerous things all students should do.  So far my list includes: go camping, learn to weld, create a business.

What else should we add?

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