Thoughts: A War on Childhood.

            So some doctors are saying that trampolines aren't safe for children.  Sigh, just another 

weapon in the arsenal of the war against normal childhood.  How can we expect children to 

grow up well rounded and functioning adults if we shelter them so much?  If you’re sitting 

there reading this and thinking, “Wow what a nut, pfff war on childhood?” Then let me shed 

some light on a few things.  First attack, merry-go-rounds.  That’s right, bet you forgot about 

that beloved piece of childhood magic, and why did you forget about it, because its been

 BANNED FROM ALL PARKS! 

              That’s right sometime in 2009 parks across the country started “upgrading” parks and 

removed the merry-go-rounds.  Second piece of info a little less known, recently a mother 

was arrested for allegedly being negligent because she lets her kids play outside while she 

was inside.  Are you kidding me?! I remember running to the end of my street to play a game 

of tag with the neighbors all the time!  People, children get hurt, they fall they scrape their 

knees they get cuts and bloody noses they may even break a few bones!  All that is not a 

reason to wrap them in packing foam and keep them under lock and key!  Children are 

resilient and they learn best from experience, hell we all learn best from experience!  Think 

back to when you were a kid and you decided it would be really cool to jump from that high 

place, or climb that really high tree, or light that firework in your room, (oh you haven't done 

that last one? well whatever).  Now remember what happened next?  You broke your arm, 

you cut your knee, you burnt your hands!  Now, think about your experiences after that, you 

learned how to jump starting with lower heights, you learned how to tell if a branch was safe, 

you never lit fireworks in your room ever again.  This is kid stuff. 

            Stuff like riding a bike at an early age, playing down the street with neighbor kids, and 

yes jumping on trampolines and riding merry-go-rounds, are all essential parts of a 

childhood they learn through play.  Parents spend every waking hour these days worrying 

about whether or not the slide is safe for their child to use or that their kid is going to fall and 

cut themselves and then they might get an infection.  Do you know how many children have 

died from trampoline injuries? About 11 from 1990-1999 thats 1.2 deaths a year! Do you 

know how many people die in car accidents?  About 5,000, a day!  Do they ban cars? 

Nope!  That would be ridiculous, cars still at least to most people, out weigh the bad with the 

benefits, but if car accidents kill 5,000 a day why are they ok to have your kids in but a 

trampoline or a merry-go-round not?  You want to protect your children from something? Stop 

letting them drink soda for every meal, hell stop letting them have soda.  Stop caving when 

they ask for sweets, teach them the importance of a healthy diet and an active life!  These 

are the things they need to be taught.  You can’t tell a person how to learn from mistakes, 

you need to let them make them, fall, and get back up.  So please, PLEASE, stop this war on 

childhood, and start letting them grow.  

Kids will be kids, have their back, but don't be a bubble to live in. 

James C. Romo