Are we hurting our kids by protecting them too much?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, recently, in an effort to keep children from hurting themselves, the City of Toronto banned tobogganing at 45 hills it deemed to be too dangerous. This is the latest example of a decades-long trend where parents, schools and governments have taken action on all sorts of things, to supposedly make them safer for kids. But is that actually good for our children?

Dr. Marianna Brussoni heads up the Play Outside Lab at the University of British Columbia. She says that these overprotective rules do kids more harm than good.

“So we’re in a situation right now where we’re making decisions as a society to help control adult fears rather than focusing on what the kids need for their health and their development and well-being.”

Is over-coddling depriving kids of important development experiences? And how do we get back to a place where they can just play and have fun?

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