Free the Cottonwool Kids

The "fun-less cult of over safety" story that brought strongly positive support from readers, has been echoed by the recent Metro article about over protected city kids.

The damage to these kids and our society from this cosseting is wider than was suspected.
The obvious signs of child obesity from lack of the exercise that formerly would have come from riding the bike or walking to school is only the tip of the iceberg. The hopeless jamming of city streets before and after school as anxious mums deliver precious kids is causing central government to commit to spending vast sums on roading infrastructure to solve a problem that disappears during school holidays.

This irrational protection from supposed ‘stranger danger" is not based on any statistical analysis of the actual danger. It is so rare for children to get into trouble from these "bogeyman" people that each case still achieves celebrity status.

The real worry to thinking Kiwis is what sort of adults these "cottonwool kids" will become.
First obvious result will be increasing the already wide gap between city kids and their more relaxed and worldly country cousins, who still enjoy the freedoms of the ability to roam, get wet and dirty, and know a wider cross-section of society than the repeated sameness of the socio-economic base of the surrounding suburb.

The career choices of these cosseted kids is likely to be narrow and risk averse, probably reflected in yet more lawyers, town planners and accountants, the very same non productive professions that have brought on so many of the idiotically protective rules and behaviours.
The country needs to export more and more if we are ever to get out of the cycle of continuing foreign currency deficits. We need to be producing risk takers, people with verve and enterprise and it is hard to see how kids who are never let out of their parents sight can grow up to embrace this sort of culture.

Anyone who has headed offshore, not for a holiday, but to export will know how hard it is to break through. You have to meet strangers, not only on our streets, but on theirs and it takes courage and determination. These are not character traits that usually develop later in life, but are developed from those who show early signs of such individuality. We need kids who question the restrictions placed on them by well intentioned but ill advised parents.

We need to foster the creators, and that doesn’t just mean the arts, which have so many champions these days. It means the creators of new ways of making, delivering and selling products and services. These require stretch target thinking rather than risk averse thinking.
We will need new leaders to come through with a wide view of life and its possibilities and it’s hard to see the city kids growing into such leaders unless we actively expose them to the thrill of the bumps of life.

A little more honesty from parents as to why the kids live such protected lives is worth having. The idea that they have moved to the city for the kid’s education sounds better than what is often the truth that the family is in the city to improve the parent’s job opportunities.

Some of our country towns have excellent schools. Take a look at Kerikeri with one of the best state high schools experiencing all the zoning problems of Auckland Grammar and the town also boasts a challenger for NZ’s best private school, being Springbank College.

Kids emerging from such schools have experienced more freedom and been exposed to a wider cross-section of humanity than their city counterparts. They emerge as well off academically but more street wise and economically engaged. The old trip to the country needs reinstating. School swaps between town and country, and holiday swaps will do a power of good. Could this be a more worthy set of good works than what our service clubs currently get up to?

It is not surprising that our better rugby teams are coming more and more from that part of society that hasn’t had the financial luxury of cotton-wooling the kids. The rewards for these risk takers often way outweigh the supposed dangers of injury.

President Bush rattles on aimlessly about freedom. Let’s give our kids some!

WAYNE BROWN