So anyway- I think you misread or at least misunderstood my post. There have been whole shows on tv and radio written around ridiculous lawsuits in the United States. One that comes to mind- when you buy a Husqvarna Chain Saw in the US, there is a disclaimer on it saying, "Do not attempt to stop chainsaw with your hand." Okay. DUH??? But apparently someone DID, and someone SUED, and now to cover their asses, chain saws sold in the US have this disclaimer on them.
So the radio host was asking a man from Sweden if the chain saws there had the same disclaimer, and his response was, "Are you joking? If anyone in Sweden was stupid enough to try to stop a chainsaw with his hand, he would be so embarrassed at having done something so idiotic that the last thing he would want is to let people know that he had done it. So of course he would not sue the company!"
Frivolous lawsuits have nothing to do with protecting kids- PARENTS are supposed to protect kids. So- for instance, I would let my kids have one of those wonder eggs with the toys inside- but not when they were two years old and might choke on it. I wouldn't give it to my kid and not tell them to eat it carefully, etc. And like I said later on (and I was being ironic and sarcastic) I don't know how I survived my childhood, climbing trees, jumping off of buildings, going down metal slides (try to find a metal slide in the US- they are all plastic now), and so forth. I fell out of a tree at the park and broke my arm, and my parents did not sue the city for "letting" me climb the tree. I got a cast on my arm, and I continued climbing trees with the cast on (don't tell my parents).
In my opinion. the "over saftifization" (made that word up) is resulting in a generation of children who are going to have no agility or strength and no sense. There is a park down the street from me, and when my kids were little they had some very high metal slides, a metal jungle gym, an incredible redwood structure of forts and catwalks, a big rope web, and an old-fashioned merry-go-round (the kind my parents used to refer to as "ankle busters"). My kids played on that stuff all the time and yes, maybe they fell off and got a scraped knee, chipped a tooth, etc. but they lived to tell about it and were more careful the next time.
My children are grown now- and the last time my younger daughter (24 years old) was home, we went up to the park to feed the ducks. All the old structures are gone, and in their place are those big plastic climbing structures, none of them more than four feet off the ground, with padded rubber mats underneath. My daughter was sad, and pissed off about it.
As far as being progressive- Holland has a very big reputation for that, and everyone I know thinks it is great and wishes it were more like that here.
So do NOT be offended because it certainly was not meant in the way you interpreted it!
Now....GROUP HUGS!!!!
