I caught this on TED Talks (a feed to which to subscribe if there ever was one). It’s 10 minutes, but it’s completely worth watching. (After you read the post)
The 5 things?
- Play with fire
- Play with knives/Own a pocket knife
- Throw a spear
- Deconstruct Appliances
- Break the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
- Drive a Car
Quotes:
“But, you know, they’re young, they heal fast”
I would (and intend to) add
- Ride a bike in traffic
- Sail a boat/paddle a canoe
- Kill, clean, and eat an animal (or a fish)
What would you add?
CRITICAL UPDATE
Dave, from EagerFeet points out that getting lost is a wonderful life skill, too. The lesson to be taken from getting lost being: “(H)onestly, how lost could we be?”
As a soon-to-be father this is an interesting question.
I also notice your list of 5 things has 6 elements.
I further notice that calling a list element an element is definitely a sign of a particular kind of geekdom :).
But “taking things apart” is definitely a winner for me.
One of the things I think was instrumental to my ideas on life, and which isn’t necessarily part of “dangerous things to let your kids do” was to get lost. I remember riding bikes around our town with my mother and brother, and literally getting lost. As a kid, this was total panic time. We had no idea where we were. The truth is, we were within the town limits, and honestly, how lost could we be? Of course we found our way to a major road. But something about the totally calm way my mother said, “Let’s go this way,” and when we asked, “What’s this way?” and she answered, “I don’t know, let’s find out…” it was a moment I still remember, and a lesson I hope to find a way to pass on to my kid(s) when the time comes.
obviously thought up by city folk, children growing up in rural areas get to do those things and most not considered dangerous. i got to do all of those as a kid except for the spear part but learned to handle a gun shooting instead(that part was not playing with)