Beware wet sand! And dry sand! And sun!
Summer is the “time to dig in the sand, gulp from the hose, play at the park, and leap with joy … unless you’re a kid,” wrote Lenore Skenazy in a Wall Street Journal column, which (for those of us without access to the Journal) was summarized by the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Parents are bombarded with warnings, wrote Skenazy, founder of Free Range Kids. Basically: “Don’t have fun, it’s too dangerous.”
Karl Neumann of the American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents of the hazards of sand:
“Studies show that children playing in the sand are more likely to become ill than children merely walking on it. And the risk of illness increases with digging in the sand … and digging in wet sand.”
Dr. Neumann also warns about dry sand. It’s hot.
Kids shouldn’t be in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the Academy advises.
For parents who let their children play outside, there’s a water bottle with a Wi-Fi connection that lets them to monitor how much water their child is drinking.
“Being a kid these days is no walk in the park,” Skenazy wrote. “But that’s just as well.Yet another Parents magazine masterpiece warns that to keep children safe at the playground, you should “walk away if you see cement, asphalt, dirt, or grass: These surfaces are linked to head injuries.” “So are walls,” Skenazy said, “if you bang your head against them.”
Skenazy’s summer advice: “Tell your kids they can’t swim alone, get into a stranger’s car, or let their parents buy them a high-tech water bottle. And then stop reading other safety tips.”
The Art of Manliness suggests 23 dangerous things you should let your kids do. Included are jumping off a cliff (into water), standing on a roof, sticking your arm out the car window and squashing a penny on the railroad tracks.