Parents don’t want to see their kids get hurt (at least not the decent ones). But it is an important part of growing up to experience splinters or scraped-up knees. The important part isn’t the injury itself but the “risky” play the kids were doing that created it. Learning how to assess and manage risk is critical for kids to grow and develop to become confident adults and leaders. Kids that understand risk also grow up to be more resilient, problem-solvers, independent, and can better regulate themselves and their emotions.
As parents, we help our kids understand the difference between being reckless and risky. Proper risk assessment and mitigation will help reduce the likelihood of injury or accidents, but it will never completely eliminate them. Wearing their helmets will not prevent a crash. But wearing their helmets will help mitigate a major head injury. Trying something new and testing their limits will feel uncomfortable but the only way to grow and learn is by experiencing the uncomfortable and overcoming it.
Our middle child learning how to do donuts at Grandpa’s house. We may owe him some grass seed this spring but the confidence our kid had after successfully learning this new trick was worth it.
Parenting is hard. Life is hard. We don’t expect it to be easy for us or our kids. All we can do is our best in the moment.
Risk Deficit Disorder is a term that has been studied over the past couple of decades by childhood researchers. Some notable ones include Mariana Brussoni, David Eager, and Shirley Wyver if you are interested in learning more.
My Offroad Family 