Let Them Jump!

Let them jump!

Do you miss see-saws and tall jungle gyms? How about those swings with the really long chains or long and tall slides?  It turns out our kids may be missing an important part of development when they are not given physical challenges that feel a little scary but that they can learn to master. Some researchers believe that the lack of challenge, risk and perhaps physical danger may actually make them fearful. Here is an interesting statistic: “A child who’s hurt in a fall before the age of 9 is less likely as a teenager to have a fear of heights.”

I remember hearing about a pediatrician who would always look for bruises on a child as a sign of a good amount of physical activity. From a developmental perspective, young children (through age 6 or 7) really should fall. Their balance is still developing and when they try new or faster movements, or come across a crack in the road, they are likely to fall some of the time.

Over the last several decades, we have seen many playground areas change to much safer “toddler-friendly” areas and diving boards have been taken away from pools. It turns out diving accidents are extremely rare and injuries from playgrounds hardly ever cause lifelong physical or emotional damage. Yet we have higher standards on playground equipment, federal regulations and more fearful parents and attorneys who have led us in to “safer” playgrounds. Don’t get me wrong, all playgrounds are an asset and a wonderful chance for children to move and socialize. Some children have families who hike and ski and do other physically challenging things but we just don’t have as many spaces where older children can be challenged as we used to. And, when you think about it, risk is an important component of life and teaches us to move forward and be resilient.

The good news is there is plenty we can do as parents to counter-balance this era of “over” safety (are all those straps in the baby strollers really necessary?) and luckily we still have some places close by where we can find challenges for the older children. The playground on Ocean Avenue still has swings (that kids can jump off) and we still have low and high diving boards at some of our local public pools (Mc Gaugh, King and the Belmont Plaza pools to mention a few).

I know some of you reading this may have the child or children that have always been courageous and you don’t have to look for these types of challenges. Perhaps you have the child who climbs anything they see or who hops on a bike seeming to barely notice one wipeout after another and then conquer riding in no time at all.

Whenever I learned a new sport –windsurfing was one – my older and wiser sister would always say “you just have to fall and you’ll be fine.” Sure enough, falling always took away the fear of well, falling, and I was able to learn the sport.

 Many of you reading this have probably heard of the tradition or experienced it yourself where the youngest Long Beach Junior Lifeguards (9-11 years old) and their parents (yes we signed a waiver) jump off the Belmont Pier. It is good, safe fun with that lovely fear factor wrapped in. The jump is just higher than a high dive to give everyone a feeling that they have done something a little scary. I know for some it was not daunting and the fear factor was low but there was no doubt that for many, it encompassed that feeling of “I really don’t want to do this.”  But then, it's quickly . . . “Wow I am so glad I conquered that fear and jumped.”

Like any accomplishment that appeared beyond reach, it thrills and builds confidence and that's all good.