A different View of Safety

[3930dave]

Any activity like farming has risks. Hardly a week goes by, w/o a serious injury or death getting posted here on TBN. Total Bubble Wrap might work, if you could control EVERYTHING, but that's rarely possible.

So, what's the right balance ?

I grew up around family and friend's farms. Rode open-fender tractors, back of p/u boxes, side-step of the stepside p/u going slowly down a farm lane, rode the top of stacked small-square hay wagons, jumped of high-beams into hay mows, rode stone-boats behind horses......

In all of that, I only had one slightly close call in my teens, jumping onto a bale-stacker late one summer evening. I'm grateful for what lady-luck handed me..... but I also learned that day to spend the money on high-traction soled boots for use outdoors, and gained an appreciation for what can happen working tired.

Muscles atrophy w/o use. Brains the same.

What happens today when you end up out-of-bounds ? Either by circumstance, or choice ? No manual to follow, or somebody else to make a decision for you ?

Looking back on my childhood, I learned a healthy respect for machinery and animals, and gained the ability to think on my feet. I'm grateful for that ^ experience.

Rgds, D.

 

[jjp8182]

Or playing baseball or football in the side yard.

Part of that is the heightened awareness of kidnapping -- and some people thinking that children should always have an adult hovering over them (and are willing to call the police to have their views enforced under the auspices of "child neglect/endangerment").

Had a coworker who had the police show up at his house while he was at work because his kids were playing in the front yard (taking a break during homeschooling) while his wife was keeping an eye on them from in the house through the window ...and the eldest child was in his teens/preteens, and even the youngest knew enough to stay out of the road (even in the middle of a residential development). Since then the kids have only been allowed to play in the backyard where they can't be seen by the neighbors......

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
Now I'm confused. Kids aren't allowed to play outside anymore? I had no idea that things had digressed that far.

 

[/pine]

The line between unnecessary and acceptable risks widens and narrows depending on the activity...most accidents can be avoided...

 

[Industrial Toys]

Teach the kddies that a baseball bat has other uses, other than hitting a ball.

 

[jjp8182]

^^^^^
Now I'm confused. Kids aren't allowed to play outside anymore? I had no idea that things had digressed that far.

Depending on the neighbors ..... yeah, it's pretty much gotten to that point where kids/teens can't play outside without an adult being very visibly around - though of course, it's propagated in the interest of "the children's safety".

Between that and just how drastically the public school systems have changed even since I graduated high school almost 20 years ago -- forget school fights automatically being referred to the justice system (which was just starting to happen when I was in school) at this point even hugs and basic human contact can (depending on the school district) be punishable (under the guise of "sexual harassment").

So while I'm not exactly old by most measures, the nonsense that has been implemented in schools since I was in school .... well, I'll just say given the amount of dehumanization that has occurred (in the interest of reducing legal liabilities) it's really no wonder there are so many anti-social individuals running around.....

Really makes me wonder how anyone is expected to learn anything (to include how to actually be safe rather than mindlessly following "safety rules") when they aren't being allowed to fail in a relatively safe environment.....

 

[Industrial Toys]

REALLY, the odds of there being danger and inapropriate content on their "DEVICES" inside the house, is probably far greater than there being a threat outside.

 

[jjp8182]

REALLY, the odds of there being danger and inapropriate content on their "DEVICES" inside the house, is probably far greater than there being a threat outside.

True in most cases, but try and explain that to some paranoid "concerned citizen" who is more likely to call the police than the parents...... especially when it comes to individuals who always have to be "right". :confused2:

(personally I've gotten to the point where I actually enjoy being wrong about things at times as it usually means there's more to learn, and that my more cynical nature hasn't yet become the completely realistic side --- but that just might be me :confused3

Just my :2cents:

 

[coobie]

True in most cases, but try and explain that to some paranoid "concerned citizen" who is more likely to call the police than the parents...... especially when it comes to individuals who always have to be "right". :confused2:

(personally I've gotten to the point where I actually enjoy being wrong about things at times as it usually means there's more to learn, and that my more cynical nature hasn't yet become the completely realistic side --- but that just might be me :confused3

Just my :2cents:

I would tell the busy body neighbors to mind their own business.

 

[Frankenkubota]

The topic of safety is an interesting one I guess, because I have a different approach to life...

I grew up riding the fenders of tractors, and my farmer-neighbors never once shooed me away, or even mentioned liability concerns. But then again, that is why I am a farmer, and mind you, not one with 2 goats and an apple tree either, but a real working farm. Still without those farmers back in the 70s and 80s letting me ride on their tractors all day, I probably would not have the love of agriculture that I do.

Today we shoo kids off tractors, and wonder why when they turn 18 they have no desire to work at all. Our goal as parents is not to coddle our children, but to teach them to be responsible adults. 200 years ago they were married and having kids at 15. Now they are not even "adults" at age 30, and we wonder why.

It is nice to see tractor manufacturers put buddy seats in cabs today, but good gracious man, the kids riding on tractor fenders today, will be the ones that feed us tomorrow. It seems people have forgotten that.

Incidentally, I do know what it is like to lose a son, but as you can see in the photos, now only having daughters does not stop me either, and at least one of my four daughters is headed into agriculture...

Yup

Just to add 1 thing. Kids are still having kids at 15, just not married. Average age of a grandmother in some federal housing is 32.

Actually, our virtual universal marriage in a fairly new phenomenon. It wasn稚 that long ago that most people did not get married. Most is over 50%

I知 much more worried about the single parent households, mostly female, raising our boys. Nuff said!