My dad's health

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

LOL!  Cheesy poofs... I see you are also a South Park fan.

I think the latest wave of body-involved video games is a plus, though-- Microsoft's kinnect and Nintendo's Wii, and even play stations' body-movement controllers-- these require the kids to get up off their over-sized butts & at least hop about the living room floor a bit.

That can only be a good thing-- at least, they are moving around, and getting the heart rate up a wee bit as a result.

If the trend continues, full body immersive experiences can only be around the corner-- not unlike the fabled Star Trek's holodecks.   You can literally hike the Appallation Trails without leaving the safety of your nest cave err-home.   If they can figure out how to make the virtual hill have the same workout as a real hill, that is.  Perhaps attaching to a treadmill of some sort?  With variable-rate inclines, of course.

Now, if they can only figure out how to duplicate the smells you'd experience too... that would be something.



(Now why am I suddenly experiencing a flashback to Asimov's The Naked Sun?   Hmmm?    )

[Aggie]

Now, if they can only figure out how to duplicate the smells you'd experience too... that would be something.

You'd need total molecular re-creation of the atmosphere, to get the benefit of fresh air, IMHO.  Plugging sensations into the brain wouldn't do the same thing, would it?  Hard to say, the brain has a powerful influence on the body.

I'm   enough to believe that the sum of human experience cannot be simply replicated by plugging electronic signals into the brain-box; there are physiological stimuli that create a body-experience which feeds into the whole.  Of course, a sophisticated enough system could replicate these experiences in the brain, but one would need to shut the brain-body feedback loops down to achieve it... Matrix style. I don't want to be a bag of guts fed by tubes or a brain in a vat, when I could instead choose to live a stimulating life full of real experience.  

Exercise-replica programs are a very complicated and (IMHO) bullshit way of substituting for simply kicking kids out the back door and into the outdoors.  If one is a proponent of Occam's razor, by corollary, shouldn't a simple way of achieving a result be more desirable than complex technological constructs to partially replicate an experience? As a prosthetic for those unable to otherwise experience life, sure.  Otherwise, I reject the inevitability of needing to experience life through a technological filter.  Without dropping thousands on the latest gadgets to entertain oneself, one could afford that hiking trip to the Appalachian Trail, and would probably be in shape to do so as a result of getting out and about to discover one's living environment.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

LOL!

I totally agree-- kick the kids outside to play-- preferably unsupervised with their peers.   I grew up that way, through most of my grade-school years.  I met my occasional fight (those I couldn't talk my way out of-- I was a smart-ass for sure, and pretty good at talking around and above the bullys), I had my friends, and we stayed outside as long as possible, rain or shine.   The rain simply provided different opportunities to interact with our outdoor playground.

I was fortunate, though, I usually lived close to either a park or a large, undeveloped chunk of land to explore and play in.

I doubt there is nearly as much of either, these days.  Mainly, I suspect, because there are more people than when I was little.

I do worry, though, about modern kids-- they never get bee-stung, they never enjoy the delicious delight at seeing real bugs up close, doing real buggy things, they don't get to experience running barefoot through the grass, with the occasional delicious danger of possibly getting your foot cut.  Or experiencing stepping barefoot, in dog-doo.  Or lots of seemingly "dangerous" things modern kids are insulated from these days. 

I remember being too cold, but staying outside anyway-- rarely got sick for it.  Too Cold? Run faster, to warm up.  Get a minor cut or scrape?  Everyone takes a bit of notice at the "cool, you're bleeding" bit, then shrug it off & continue to play.   Raining?  Big deal-- lots of cool puddles and delightful mud to play in/with. 

... meh.

It was a simpler time, I suppose-- none of us kids even knew what a "child predator" was, let alone to worry about meeting one.  We were admonished to avoid strangers, but to us?  All adults were a little strange, but we all knew each other's moms well enough.  And strange men just didn't figure into our world picture-- we never encountered any, I guess.

But today, there is all this intensified fear foisted upon the kids, that it's a wonder they are allowed outside at all.

[Opsa]

One of the scariest things we have to deal with as parents is to just trust the world. We have to let our kids go, let them get hurt, let them deal with it. It's so important to their learning. They are not our possessions. They have lives of their own. We have to let them go and live them themselves.

[Sibling DavidH]

Right!  I think we managed that to a reasonable extent, but it was hard.

[Aggie]

It was a simpler time, I suppose-- none of us kids even knew what a "child predator" was, let alone to worry about meeting one.  We were admonished to avoid strangers, but to us?  All adults were a little strange, but we all knew each other's moms well enough.  And strange men just didn't figure into our world picture-- we never encountered any, I guess.

But today, there is all this intensified fear foisted upon the kids, that it's a wonder they are allowed outside at all.

I doubt that child predators are necessarily more prevalent now than then - it's just more publicized, and something that wasn't probably talked about.  Then again, with the rise of child prawn on the internet  perhaps it is more of a concern.  That being said, the biggest danger for sexual abuse of children isn't the stranger in a van, it's someone known and trusted by the child.

I was lucky to grow up in a 'subrural' area (small breeder community in the countryside), so there was always plenty of space and minimal traffic. All us kids had large backyards to play in, and most had veggie gardens to muck about in and follow bugs around.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Actually?  We have quite a bit more people now, than when you and I were kids.

With the increase in total population, there is a commiserate increase in people at the fringe-ends of the bell curve, meaning more child predators now, than then.

But you are correct:  we do talk about it more now, than then too.  Which I see as a good thing myself.  In spite of the fact that some weak-kneed parents act overprotective as a result.

[Opsa]

Eh, don't knock the parents, please. Parental love is even more protective than romantic love, since we feel responsible for our offspring.

I agree, that we hear more about it nowadays, even if it was probably just as prevalent in the good old days.

Another problem we have now is that in many households both parents must work and cannot be home to watch over the kids and the neighborhood kids. Th'Opsalette is a teenager now, and it still bothers me to leave her alone at home, but I bite my lip and go. I swear though, if anything bad happened to her I'd probably never forgive myself. That's the thought that haunts me and lots of other parents.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

.... I swear though, if anything bad happened to her I'd probably never forgive myself. That's the thought that haunts me and lots of other parents.

Of course it does!  But you let her go anyhow.

That's the difference-- your feelings are no stronger or more noble than those who hover and refuse the kids any freedom of any sort.

Good parenting is also letting the kid get into occasional trouble, with the occasional injury---that's how they learn too.

Any kid that's never suffered a scraped knee, or a busted arm or leg?  Either has some sort of physical issues (it can happen) that prevents them from risking such things, or else has a bad parent.

Kids need to get dirty-- dirt is good for their immune systems, for one thing.   And getting sick from swallowing something mildly noxious is yet another of life's useful lessons.  (Note, I'm not speaking of swallowing common household poisons here!  A good parent knows when to keep that stuff locked away until the kid has learned the lesson of "you can't eat everything".)

But at some point?  The good parent has to trust that the life-lessons took root somewhere within the kid's brain, and let those lessons do what they were intended to do:  let the kid fly on his or her own.

That's gotta be the hardest thing a parent has to do, IMO.   

... well, apart from burying their own kid, that is... that's the ultimate "letting go" that no parent should ever have to face--but all too often, does.

*sigh*

In a perfect world, that would never happen.