78 Replies to “The Children Are Our Future”

  1. Gah! It’s even worse than you think! It took me 30 seconds of looking at the picture before I noticed the helmet. That’s how accustomed I’ve become to seeing kids with helmets but no hockey gear.
    I remember my frigid, frosty Saturday mornings at the Dartmouth Curling Club at this kids age. My helmet was where it belonged – in my hockey bag, in the back of my Dad’s car, waiting for us to head to hockey after the curling.

  3. I have heard of studies saying that bike helmets result in more head injuries,something I always suspected,anyone know anything about that?

  5. While I’m inclined to agree with the popular sentiment that as a society we’re going way to far with the saftey aspect, in this case I can’t get the ‘ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ adage out of my mind.
    I’m guessing that the risk of any severe cranial injury sustained during a fall on a curling sheet is quite low. A cost/benefit analysis of wearing a helmet however seems pretty straight forward considering youths are wearing sliders on an already slippery surface.
    That said, I think it should remain a parental discretion and not that of the state to decide.

  6. If we save one child from a bumped head it is worth it. (rationale used to justify the LGR, so it should work here?).
    mike

  9. I’m with PhilM. Just keep the state out of it.
    In NS, of course, with the current socialist regime, this is nigh on impossible. Helmets are compulsory on NS ski hills, with fines to boot.

  10. As a kid monkey bars were set in concrete, maybe gravel underneath don’t remember. Never saw a kid get hurt.
    I’m an assistant manager at a paintball field. One patron told me of a school field trip to another field. One kid showed off his bruise to mum. No more paintball field trips at that school.
    This has more to with litigation by over bearing parents (bubble wrapped and kept in a closet) than an individuals safety. No injuries at any cost! Just how are kids supposed to grow up if we raise them in an enclosed environment?

  11. If you are interested, the number of bike injuries has risen in the US sharply over the past five years but deaths have fallen. (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811386.pdf) This correlation could mean that people who wear helmets have more accidents because they feel safer but they survive the accident because of the helmet. It could also mean that drivers become more aggressive when a rider has a helmet on. I read an anecdotal “study” conducted by some Harvard guy who rode his bike back and forth to campus 5,000 times, half the time wearing a helmet and half the time not. He recorded significantly more incidents with traffic with while wearing the helmet.

  12. Of all the things to b!tch about… Is the kid active? Absolutely. Maybe he had a bad spill last week, who knows? $10,000 says he could out-draw half the commenters here, with or without the lid. Move along…

  13. I tend to view this as a case of the glass is half full rather than half empty. So the kid is wearing a helmet on the ice while curling… perhaps that is overly protective. But at least there is a parent interested enough to be at the rink while her kid is learning a sport. The kid is smiling and appears to be enjoying him/herself and despite the helmet is having fun. Beats the heck out that kid being parked in front of an X Box or a Wii pretending to curl. And as a final positive there is no cell pnoe or blackbury evident in anyones hand.

  15. I’m just too old. When I was a kid no head lids and some kids played games of ball with real bats. [made of wood] We played hockey with no pads and used real pucks.[very hard when frozen]. Life was good and parents left us alone to have a good time. I pity the kids of today.

  16. “If we save one child from a bumped head it is worth it. (rationale used to justify the LGR, so it should work here?).
    mike”
    Makes me wonder why helmets were never mandatory for hunters. Maybe they weren’t interested in saving our lives.
    When I was a kid we used to play hockey without helmets. Society owes all of us some compensation for the terrible danger we were in.

  17. The general theme of risk-aversion rots society from its core outward. Can any thinking person believe that there can be “progress” without risk? Can adaptation to a changing environment take place successfully without risk?
    Scratch a leftist, find someone paralytically fearful of competition and the risk of failure.
    The irony is that Nature, which the left embraces as the model of purity, is nothing if not a highly complex system of balanced risk-reward subsystems.
    Thought du jour: how is a junior hockey helmet like a wind-turbine subsidy?

  19. syncrodox wrote —
    Shoulda given the kid a fifth of CR…
    Crown Royal, correct? I have to say that I sort of prefer Canadian Club. What say you?
    As for the photo, I don’t mind the helmet. It’s the mom hovering over the kid that creeps me out.

  21. We even fell out of trees with no nets to catch us. Not only did we had fun, no one died. Life was good in those days.

  22. Kids should wear helmets on the ice. Head injuries are easy for them when they’re curling. I’m a paramedic, this just makes sense folks.

  23. The more shocking thing is that the mother in doesn’t have a helmet on. IF the risk of head injury on a curling rink is high, then surely the mother wouldn’t want to have her son group with a brain injured mother? Do adults heal faster then children now?
    Helmets may make the world safer, just don’t fool yourself into thinking safer equals better.

  24. My 8 year old daughter is in curling (first year) – they don’t make them wear helmets here, though. Seen enough spills for the kids in their first year, and nobody has been injured badly (seen a few for those in 2nd/3rd year, too, the odd time when I watch. Got to leave the kids alone with their peers so they can learn themselves how to work in/with a group, and not have their parent hovering around all time, eh?).
    I can hear the argument now – “if it saves just one child”, blah blah blah. Tell you what – if you’re that worried about it, wrap your kid in bubble wrap/turn them into a bubble child and leave them trapped in their room at home.
    How about

  26. The first thing I thought when I saw the pic was, “what kind of gymnastics do you have to do to hit your head on the ice while curling?”
    I can see falling back on your butt, slipping out to the side and landing on your side, but your head? How out of control can you get at .5 mph on ice?
    Olde Spice, I am an avid paintballer and part of the “fun” is seeing what wierd place you found a bruise after you get home. Gotta love it, and hate it, when the ball don’t break. Hurts like hell, but you get to keep playing!! LOL
    There are places and times for safety equipment. The paintball field with balls coming at you at 290 fps is one of them. Only a moron walks onto a paintball field without a mask. The only safety requirement needed at any curling rink I have ever been to is a breathalizer at the door.

  27. Sorry, don’t have a problem with this. Kid’s out curling? Good on him and good on his folks. I can’t believe some of you judge people for that — his peers are at home playing their DS.
    Just going by experience, I think curling, when you’re a kid, would be more risky for head injury than tobogganing.

  28. Speaking of nonsense, last week a note came home with my kids that was bizarre. The school is taking them to the public skating rink (CSA approved helmets required, of course). Parents are invited to watch and/or skate with their children and are asked to help with skate tying but only if they first submit to a police background check. A police background check to tie skates in the open at a public skating rink. I usually help out with skate tying but I object to that level of invasion of privacy for a benign activity such as this.
    I am not sure if I am allowed to watch but not skate or tie laces; to watch and skate but not help with laces; or if I cannot attend at all. Can I tie my children’s skates but no one else’s?
    Screw it! The kids are skipping school and we’re having a family fun day instead. We’ll drive to the city, eat a greasy unhealthy lunch and then go to a movie. Of course I’ll explain to them why we are substituting this activity for the school activity. They’re used to the speech – it’s the same one I use to explained why Halloween became Black and Orange day, why there is no Christmas concert this year, the reason I oppose the mandatory-or-you-don’t-qualify-for-a-prize Litterless Lunch days and why the modern environmentalism they are learning at school is often wrong. Basically, it is that teachers and bureaucrats have gone insane.

  29. “What?! No face mask!”
    Yup.. that helmet really should have a face shield. I hear they throw rocks in that crazy game.

  31. If you find something “wrong” with the picture of a mother starting her kid out curling….well, suffice it to say, you must find a lot of stuff wrong in your world.
    That having been said..(Posted by: LC Bennett at December 13, 2011 1:19 PM)has it right.

  32. I’m a paramedic, this just makes sense folks.
    You’re appeal to authority would carry more weight if you were an expert in prevention…

  33. Wait til they legislate helmets on the golf course…or steel-toed hi-top boots for mowing yer lawn and full body armor when shopping at Wal-Mart on Black Friday!!!!!!!!!

  34. wiggs wrote “Kids should wear helmets on the ice. Head injuries are easy for them when they’re curling.”
    After reading the posts referring to curling with a fifth of CR or CC I think it’s the old codgers that have been engaging in the aforementioned spirits that need to wear the helmets, and keep them on when they crawl back into the 4×4 for the long drive home!

  36. Re Brian Mallard at 2011 11:31 AM Due to the improvement in treating head trauma the number of paraplegics has increased dramatically.

  37. Funny story. Back in the day, I played hockey for an elite private school that was known for its hockey program.
    One winter afternoon, the coach decided to give me the day off practice due to minor bumps and bruises I’d accumulated. Half jokingly, he suggested I tag along with the fledgling curling team who were also practicing that day, just for something to do.
    I went, and frankly, it was a lot of fun. I was given a broom and shoes and shown how to play. I was actually getting the hang of it after a while, and thoroughly enjoying myself!
    Towards the end of their practice, I was shown how to sweep and then given the task of sweeping the next rock thrown. About 3/4 the way down the ice, in the midst of some aggressive sweeping, I lost my balance. Afraid I was about to fall forward into the stone, I pushed hard against my broom in an attempt to straighten up. Unfortunately, I was over-zealous: now my feet were leaving me, and I was falling backward in a hurry.
    I smashed my elbow on the ice, shattering it. My feet, moving forward, burnt the stone. And my broom somehow ended up broken in two.
    Upon hearing the news, my coach was furious; furious at me, furious at the sport of curling, but mostly furious at himself for suggesting the idea in the first place.
    I was on the shelf for the better part of a month, but recovered – we went on to win the championship that year.
    To my knowledge, no hockey players have ever been sent curling since. 😉

  40. I’ve wondered for some time now how many generations will it take til the human scull is mush and we will all where hulmets from birth.

  41. When I was a child,there were some in the medical proffesion that said,”if a child has not broken a bone while growing up,they were over protected”.

  43. After a few “Bonspiel Coffees” anyone can take a spill. I haven’t seen anyone hit their head though.

  44. In my opinion, this “safety first” obsession is aggravated by our socialized health care system. It is frequently supported by the argument that it saves health care dollars.

  45. My youngest brother suffered a fall that resulted in cranial injury and ultimately cerebral palsy that affected his entire life (he’s in his 40s now). Anyone want to joke about that? Should he have simply been allowed to die?

  46. Anyone want to joke about that?
    Absolutely not. We should all wear helmets. All the time. Body armour wouldn’t hurt…Just in case. Safety first, no matter the cost…
    And, don’t forget, safety people to enforce the rules. Those who can’t do a real job need employment too…

  47. Oh my, I actually didn’t notice the helmet….
    When I was curling at his age we were throwing(pushing as hard as we could) the rock to see if it would drag us across the other hog line.
    Sometimes parents with a couple of highballs in them would help motivate kid and rock…
    We had a blast.
    I weep for the fact that helicopter parents are killing childrens SOULS.

  48. I really don’t have a problem with this. It’s probably even a liability issue now for the facilities…or if it isn’t, it soon will be.
    Ottawa just passed a rule that all kids (and weak adult skaters) must wear helmets during public skating. That isn’t so bad…but the city is also subsidizing the helmets. Facepalm.

  49. I really don’t have a problem with this
    A sheeple wouldn’t. A good sheeple doesn’t accept personal responsibility for incurred risk.

  50. “You’re appeal to authority would carry more weight if you were an expert in prevention…”
    I’ve been a paramedic over 12 years now and I’ve seen many many more people with head injuries curling than playing hockey. It turns out ice is slippery. Kids are especially prone to head injuries because their heads are proportionally larger than adults.
    Also, your appeal to authority would carry more weight if you used the correct “your”.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation